Welcome back here in my blog.
For my today`s post I have foreseen to give You some insights, how I made experience with different management and communication styles at the different places, where I have been living and working so far and with a special focus on how we Germans often see ourselfes and how other people in the different countries, where I made professional and personal experience, often see us.
And I will also mention a very funny experience related to these cultural factors, which I made when I just had freshly arrived at Toluca, Mexico, for getting started on my new job challenge as Managing Director of ElringKlinger Mexico`s gasket and other car components factory there on june 1st, 2003. I had moved there directly from La Coruna, Spain, where I had been responsible for Schwarzkopf & Henkel`s “La Toja” cosmetics plant during 3.5 years until I decided, to terminate my employeeship after 16 extremely interesting and successful years with Henkel.
At that time I was freshly divorced and had the strong feeling and desire, that this was the right moment for me, to brake out of my usual habits and environment and look for new horizons, experiences and further career growth.
Henkel at that time was very advanced in all cultural and strategical business dimensions and put a clear focus on everything, that was directly product and customer and – for sure – profit related. For me as an engineer thus there were not too many opportunities to get ahead and become promoted to positions with more responsability than for a production plant.
Besides this I thought, that 16 years as employee within one and the same company were much too long already for me and that it therefore did not make sence for me,to prolong this further. Therefore I followed the invitation from ElringKlinger, to become their new Managing Director in Mexico and quit at Henkel.
At our company, in Toluca I received during one of my first weeks on the new job 3 colleagues from our HQ in Germany, which were also involved in our North American business.
The intention behind it was, to know each other personally and for discussion of our joint new plans for the business development in this region.
My 3 visitors were – the same as me – all from the southern part of Germany, where many people typically are much more extroverted and talk a little more, faster and louder, than in other regions of my country and where people also have a certain natural habit, to gesticulate more when talking.
Now image the 4 of us in my glaswall office with the door wide open to the open plan administration office outside, where many of my new mexican employees had their descs. After lunch one of my managers took me to the side and asked me with a pretty concerned look “Why did You fight amongst each other? What`s going wrong? Are You fine? How can we help You against these others?”.
I stood there with my mouth wide open and did not know, what to answer. I was in the sence of the word speechless. Fight? Amongst us? Things going wrong? Need for help? What was that about? What did my employees see and interprete ?
In my eyes and the ones of my german colleagues, we just had had a very active, energy loaden, dynamic discussion and come to great ideas and conclusions. Means clearly, nothing had been wrong at all! There had been no “fighting” amongst us!
Because of the importance of this little anecdote from the start of my job at Toluca, I decided to show You a picture of me together with my management team at ElringKlinger Mexico 2004.
Greetings and a warm embrace to all my former team colleagues and friends. Hope You are all fine, happy and successful.
During the next days, weeks and months I recalled this scene and experience again and again and I also discussed it with my mexican employees and – for sure – with my german colleagues at our HQ.
This was an extremely important lesson learned for me as freshly arrived newcomer in Mexico. You cannot judge other people, other cultures, other habits without having gained deep detailed knowledge and profound understanding of these.
Since this time, I took this experience actively as a fundamental requirement when coming to a totally new country with totally different culture compared to the ones, where I had already made experience with. When my colleague Arno Ett, Sales Director for our industrial division Vulkan Drive Tech in Latin America (Mexico, Central America, Caribbean and all South America, with the only exception of Brazil) and I got started on our business development plans for the expansion of our until then practically purely brazilian sales to the whole Latin America region 5 years ago, I decided, to always spent a weekend “without work” (to be true, this doesn`t exist for us, we`re all nuts and restless and love our jobs at Vulkan do Brasil) for getting a little familiar with the local people, their habits, culture, food, drinks, sports, politics, religion, history, economy etc. in such new countries, where we travelled for the first time.
For me it has also become a very important and necessary activity, to eat some typical food and try some local drinks at “normal” places (not tourist traps), to have at least a quick glance at the most important local newspapers, watch some local TV programs and the evening news, to listen to local radio stations and to find out, how the people there distract themselfes during their leisure time.
Without getting at least a good clue of all this, I would not be preparde suficiently to meet business people and start business talks there. And this is definitely a handycap for certan other people, who do not live within the region, and arrive from far away of where the business, which they would like to do, shall happen.
Some of them do not find the time and money (companies must fund this within the business trips! this makes an important part of the business missions there!) or do not have the personal interest and/or talent, to develop such real discovery activities. I see so often strangers (“gringos”) arriving from Europe or the USA, rushing directly from the airport to their hotels (international, 5 stars, full with other strangers) and the other morning from there to the business meetings at the customers.
Many people still think that they can just apply their normal european or US american business style and culture. Handshake (2 minutes), coffe (5 minutes), bathroom (3 minutes), meeting (opening, agenda, conclusions, to do list), quick lunch (if perfect in their eyes: already on the way to the airport) and departure for the airport. Great meetings! No results but frustration on both sides.
And many times these visitors from far away report wonderful meeting results, about the huge market oportunities they have just discovered and the soon incoming big customer orders. Forget it. Just bla bla bla. For the birds.
But for sure, we are not the (only) owners of wisdom and experience with these cultural things. If You make part of the globally active business and market developping community, after more or less long time You will automatically feel like a familly member. You will from then on always meet the same people at different places, events and customers and make quite easily friends (with the ones You like and which like You) with many of them.
These “business friendships” develop over time and distances and extend Your contact and friendship network, which enables You, to increase the fun and productivity of Your job enormously. But this will definitely be explained in more details and examples in future posts. Coming back to the provocative title of this post.
Is it finally true now, that Germans have an aggressive business style? Some for sure, but that`s definitely the same for any other nationality and origin of people, which You might encounter at any place around the globe.
My personal experience as German in so many different countries and at so many different places during the last 30 years, is totally positive. I can hardly remember, that I had been treated badly, unfair, with prejudice etc. at any place and at any time during all my so tremendously rich in experience journey so far.
In the contrary – but this is true identically for us as Brazilians, who hardly find problems with people at other places around the globe for general, cultural etc. reasons. In the contrary – my strong own feeling is, that as a German, You very often start, whereever You go, with a quite high initial credit of acceptation, respect, trust and openness.
But it`s like with money. You need to look after it constantly in order not to loose it. And to loose it is so easy, believe me.
I have seen many people of many different nationalities fail terribly by not respecting the local people and their cultures, customs and religion etc. Nobody today in the whole wide world accepts, to be treated as 2nd class, underdevelopped, stupid, childish, unfriendly or even offended or set under pressure.
Thanks god I never stepped into such traps so far and made great friends forever wherever I travelled. That`s what enriches Your live and job incredibly and gives You enormous self esteem and power for following and realizing Your professional and personal objectives and dreams.
That`s the right moment for giving You one more literatur recommendation. This New York Times bestseller , first published 2012 by Randomhouse, explains at lot of interesting things: “The power of habit -Why we do what we do in live and business”, Author: Charles Duhigg. Hopefully some of You will read this and come back to my blog with comments for all of us, how they found it.
That`s enough for today, my dear friends, readers, followers and all others.
I wish You a great wonderful and powerful new day and lots of fun and success in all activities You`ve planned for today.
Don`t let me down tomorrow, please, and continue to support this project. Subscribe my posts in klausfhepp.blogspot.com (just write it into Your internet browser and this will bring You to my blog).
8 Responses
Wow, very reflective, dear Klaus – I agree with you that we Germans come across sometimes a bit loud and aggressive. One Asian Co-worker told me once: When I saw you the first time you reminded me of Hitl..er, now I see that you are a nice person.
Terrible not having mentioned the names of my former EK Mexico mgt team members: Laura, Francisco, Raúl, José, Fernando, Roberto and Martin. Please don’t stone me for this unintended omission. Wish You all the best.
My first comment: Congrats Klaus for this new project: Beautiful, light and funny. It is a realy nice intrument of knowledge… and I as told you – You have a lot of content to share, it is up to followers catch (or not) and enjoy. Regarding of this particular topic, Germans are not aggresive but can confuse brazilians definetly, is a matter of know better and getting trusted.
A little bit more: I have learned (at the source) how important is to "live" a different country, undestand and then do business. have a good day.
Thanks, my unknown brazilian friend and extremely well received commentator of my post. Yes – to have been living, at least for a certain period, in other countries, changes You and Your cultural behaviour tremendously forever. This will be subject o one of my next daily posts. Hope this made You curious enough, to become a firm and faithful follower of my posts and blog now, if You were not already one of them. Have a wonderful day, my friend.
This is Marco Santos 🙂
Wow, Marco. Great to find You here as well actively giving me feedback. Always welcome. Appreciated.
It’s getting really difficult to not continue reading your blog posts with all this great and rich content, thanks again Klaus.
The book “The Power of habit” is great, I read it this year again, after more or less 5 years, because you can always refresh your mind to a new year.
A book recommendation from my side: “The culture Map” from Erin Mayer, a great tool when talking about different styles of communication, that helps a lot to understand different cultures.
Thanks for Your warmly welcome and highly appreciated comments. I will definitely follow You book recommendation and read "The culture Map". Take care, my friend.