TMA World Blog 2013 A Cultural Clash Can Make Your Image Crash

A Cultural Clash

Can Make Your

Image Crash

A Cultural Clash Can Make Your Image Crash

No one could have seen it coming.

It was the subtlest yet strongest gesture…

that was about to undermine a perfectly nice man’s…

image and business prospects.

Seán Brickell, Award-winning entrepreneur,

author and confidence &

communication expert, gives his personal

insight into the importance of cultural

awareness.


The other three men seemed friendly.

They appeared to be getting on well with each other, although it was obvious it was the first time they’d met.


The one Emirati man was wearing a dishdasha, the German a grey suit, white shirt and blue tie and the Brit was attired in a smart dark brown jacket and nondescript trousers and an open neck white shirt.

I was standing nearby at a business event I was about to speak at in Dubai…funnily enough on networking.


The perfectly nice man, an Indian with a mid-brown jumper, a blue jumper and grey slacks, walked straight up to the three other men and…

smiled, broadly and warmly, and then…

he made the first of his two…

Big Mistakes.


He didn’t wait until the person who was talking had finished. He just went straight up to them.

And then…

He handed out his business card like a croupier at a gambling table while announcing himself and what his business did.

The three other men were politely taken aback by this Woollen Topped Whirlwind of an interruption.

?

?

?

?


While the three of them glanced at his business card with politely concealed disdain, the man in the dishdasha smiled.

It was a crocodile smile.

He then put his hands together behind his back, while still holding the business card belonging to the Woollen Topped Whirlwind who, by the way, had not stopped talking at them…

?

?

?

?


And then…

He quietly dropped the card on the floor behind him.

Still smiling.

The Indian man never knew.

He misread the false smile of the man who had subtly yet significantly discarded his card.


And he misjudged the polite silence of the other two men, the Brit and the German, as being engrossed in what he had to say about his business and himself.

He didn’t realize that they had tuned out from him.

They didn’t care what he did – even if he did it well – and didn’t want to bother finding out, either.

It was a cultural clash that let to a perfectly nice man’s image crash.


He forgot the basic courtesy when approaching a group, certainly of strangers, of waiting until the person talking has either finished orating or has beckoned you, visually or verbally, to join them.

But, in this case, with so many different cultures present, he ignored the sometimes subtle yet significant cultural differences that can make your networking either work for you or against you.


We were in an Arab country with a lot of people from the Middle East.

And when doing business they like to get to know you and build a relationship.

Doing any hard sell or even soft sell, especially when you meet someone or a group for the first time, is a No No.


Too many people in business – and certainly the myriad of diverse networking scenarios – transmit and don’t ask and listen.

Not only does this make you come across as too self-focused and even insecure…


but it also…

doesn’t allow you to allow someone else…

to buy into you.

That’s why you not only need to ask questions of the

people you meet, but also ask questions of yourself

beforehand about the different types of people you might

meet and what cultural differences need to be

tuned into to have the impact you need.


An impact that can open new opportunities.

© Seán Brickell 2013 www.SeanBrickell.com The international situational confidence expert


Steven Parkinson Chief Operating Officer of TMA World, offers his opinion:

“ I see these challenges on an almost daily basis, as capable business people with a great record of success in their home markets make the most basic cultural mistakes when they step into the international arena.

Different expectations on communication styles, timing and punctuality, leadership and hierarchy, teamwork, project and risk management, the list of potential clash points goes on! And as in your example you may not even realize you’ve made a blunder.


Steven Parkinson Chief Operating Officer of TMA World, offers his opinion:

”

Most people recognize they’ll come across cultural differences working internationally but do little to prepare for them. It is important to think ahead and proactively manage these differences and to develop the ability to view a situation objectively rather than through our individual ‘cultural lens’.

It’s a shrinking world out there, let’s open our minds and build our cultural intelligence!


To learn more about how we can help your organization,

please contact us at

[email protected]

or visit

http://www.tmaworld.com/training-solutions/

TMA World Blog 2013 A Cultural Clash Can Make Your Image Crash

Business

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