The WAY to WOW Shows
Sound Leadership Recognizes Cultural Patterns
October 17, 2023
Automatically generated from YouTube captions; names and wording may contain errors.

[0:15] hello and welcome to business lessons from the military one of the way to wow shows I'm your host Kevin bemel and we're here every Tuesday at 11:00 am Pacific time at 2 pm eastern time with an hour in for Central and Mountain Time think about that for a second and our purpose for being here each week is to talk about military Doctrine military history the leadership skills of of military great military leaders um and apply them to the business world so that

[0:50] we can improve our own businesses or those that we uh work with and and I I should quickly add when I say business businesses really any organization it doesn't have to be a for-profit company um it could be a nonprofit could be an academic Endeavor in any case these are lessons that that we can use uh throughout our professional lives in order to accomplish more work with people better and um in the end achieve the goals of our organization so like

[1:27] any good military um discussion um you have to have a PowerPoint and here is uh our PowerPoint for today um right business lessons for the military and uh everything we do as I've mentioned before revolves around the three pillars of attainment um in particular today we're working in the Pursuits pillar finances Realm but we're also dealing with um relationships

[2:04] primarily friends and colleagues especially since our topic is cultural differences so um we're going to actually wrap up this um this larger topic from Marine Corps War fighting Doctrine on Cultural Literacy dealing with cultural differences last week we talked about cultural norms EXC EXC me and if you'd like to see uh that episode please go to our YouTube channel at

[2:42] youtube.com theeway to wow and you can see that in all of our other previous episodes so there were seven cultural norms that we talked about so I want to wrap up now in talking about cultural patterns these are the ways that different cultures deal with um different uh topics isn't really the right description deal with different ways of of Behaving I guess is the best way to put it okay and we're going to

[3:18] look at four cultural patterns um there there's there are actually more in in Marine Corp War fighting Doctrine I believe there's six or seven in total um these four are the ones that relate um most directly to um the civilian professional world and um I think these are the ones we want to keep in mind um as we deal in U sort of crosscultural or Multicultural environments

[3:54] now excuse me um it's obvious if we're going to a foreign country that um were likely to deal with a diff different cultural patterns than our own okay but even here in the United States uh we can encounter people who come from a different cultural background have different cultural patterns than ours and they may even have been born in the United States but because they were uh raised

[4:30] in a um sort of cultural Enclave if you will so the cultural patterns they exhibit um will be different than more mainstream American culture and so whether we're dealing with um perhaps someone from another country who's in the United States temporarily maybe they're uh working on a project with us or they've recently come to the country and they're looking to the United States they're looking to um settle here or or at least be here for a long period of

[5:05] time and yet they haven't um absorbed American cultural norms um or we're in another country I having a sense of cultural patterns will make our interactions with other people better and more productive so merely because someone is in this country that doesn't mean that we should expect them to know um how things generally work here in the United States um they may be attempting

[5:40] to learn and understand that but that doesn't mean that they already do and so minim minimally we want to recognize these and help the people we're working with understand um how to navigate different cultural patterns just as we do the same especially as Leaders we need to model the behavior we want the people where leading to uh to demonstrate as well okay so I'm going to talk about each one of

[6:16] these four cultural patterns and we'll we'll talk about some examples um and and and and hopefully this will give you some um practical um takeaways in terms of dealing with cultural differences so first of all attitudes toward conflict so here in the United States um we we tend to be um fairly conflict adverse averse so we don't go looking for

[6:54] conflict in most cases especially in the workplace now I'm I'm I'm going to Focus specifically on the workplace in other Arenas one could I think um effectively argue that there are places where Americans specifically look you know try to try to create conflict but I'm going to stay up with a workplace Focus so um in the American workplace um we tend to avoid conflict um sometimes to our detriment so that when there are problems arising ing um they're um

[7:33] overlooked or sort of shunted to the side in an effort to keep things more congenial so that may not be an effective uh conflict U an effective way of dealing with conflict okay H however once a conflict arises in the workplace as Americans in general we tend to deal with it forthrightly so if conflict is there it's not unusual for the conflict to be acknowledged and and and and for the the two parties to sort of deal with it head-to-head um in in some cases um

[8:12] there can be you know flaring tempers there can even be yelling those kind of things although they're not appropriate for the workplace um none nonetheless those things can happen in in the American workplace now in other cultures for example um in in the in the Far East in um Asian Far Eastern Asian cultures so um conflict avoidance is a a cultural an ingrained cultural

[8:49] pattern to the point that even when there're is a conflict and it's been identified that a conflict exists you won't see the two parties go head-to-head okay it'll be dealt with obliquely or perhaps through a third party or in other cases it can be allowed to simmer and simmer and just keep going on um and and and not you know make any progress at at resolution okay

[9:24] so um that's it's a very different way of of dealing with conflict so if if you in the workplace dealing with someone who has a different cultural pattern okay approaching them in the sort of typical American way may make them not just uncomfortable um but it it it it may you know push them out of the company because they can't they can't deal with that very sort of iny yourface way of

[9:59] handling conflict okay so if you have to deal with with conflict in the workplace rather than dealing with the conflict first it it would be wiser to talk with the person about how they feel about conflict how how they could be comfortable in dealing with conflict and you might offer them some options face to face or through a through a third-party mediator and and what would

[10:34] be for them the best way to deal with it okay and um now if the conflict is between you and somebody um you may decide um if if you're concerned about differing cultural patterns between you and the person with whom you have conflict so then you may decide to have a sort of neutral third- party approach that the other person and have this discussion with them in order to reduce the chances that uh that either the conflict will come out in sort of you

[11:10] know open conflict you know egregious conflict and or that the other person will feel embarrassed or they'll feel demeaned or some other negative um uh you know self-perception that may come from um having to deal with conflict in a way they're not used to or not not uh sort of in a pattern to do okay so attitudes toward conflict a very important cultural pattern to deal with um and and and I mentioned this last week we don't necess we don't necessarily have

[11:45] to learn the cultural patterns of every culture with which we might come in contact rather we want to recognize that these cultural patterns exist in these situations and deal with them in the context of perhaps there's a different cultural pattern here rather than the individual is somehow deficient okay so let's let's look at the next issue of approaches to completing tasks so again in the United

[12:20] States we tend to be very task oriented so if there's a meeting people sit down typically the first thing they're talking about is what what is the task at hand and how do we get it done and that's that's very much um part of of the cultural patterns in the United States other groups put a much higher um value on establishing relationships and connections first okay before they get to the

[12:55] business of dealing with the task at hand okay so um um C Central and South American cultures oftentimes are are much more um relationship Primacy type cultural patterns than here in in uh United States okay I remember um back when I was in the real estate industry um an associate of mine took me to meet um a um a Persian man he was um he had you

[13:32] know come to the United States from Iran and the first thing we did is sit down and have coffee and just just talk about things that had nothing to do with business okay that is very common for sort of Middle Eastern and and and S South Asian cultures so they don't jump they don't jump right into business business um they want to get to know the people that they're dealing with first okay and so to the extent that um you

[14:09] find someone in your group who doesn't seem to be you know on task all the time perhaps it's because they feel alienated from the other people in the group and they're not they haven't quite gotten their relationships relationship bearings set yet okay and they need the time to do that in order to um help them build the kind of relationships that then will allow them to focus on task completion okay so again approaches to

[14:44] completing tasks the cultural patterns related to that very different um across different different groups okay decision making Styles so here in the US um it's fairly common to make decisions fairly quickly okay and and fairly decisively and once a decision is made to consider that the decision is made and and that's sort of the end of it and and since everybody's agreed to that so

[15:20] then we you know we it's done and we move on now in other cultures that is not um how it necessarily works so um in in many cultures again Middle Eastern cultures you see this the initial decision making isn't hard and fast it's setting kind of the guidelines through which things eventually will be accomplished but there is an understanding that these are not hard

[15:55] and fast decisions they are open to renegotiation they're open to change this is not them being dishonest this is the cultural pattern where again relationships have Primacy over task completion and so while decisions may get made they're not chiseled in stone they are really just you know part of the the you know the the business of life so to speak

[16:32] and especially in in the pursuit of relationships um decisions are subject to being changed okay and I and for Americans I think this this causes um a a a fair degree of um um I'm not sure what the word is but discomfort if you will because we want to feel like okay we we we've negotiated we've made a decision and that's done and the decision can even be um um put down on paper um but that doesn't mean that um

[17:09] the decision is hard and fast so um I'm I have a a a group that I'm dealing with and they're dealing with some folks in the Middle East and they have a written agreement as to how a particular project is supposed to happen and partway through um the uh um you know the the parties um shifted how how the whole overall deal was going to come together and it caused some um the the the the american-based people

[17:46] were perturbed by this um and I explained to them that this is not the other side being dishonest this is the cultural pattern they have in terms of dealing with decision making and so you know one has to recognize that um and and and frankly the idea that you know they'll Sue on the contract or what they view as a contract as opposed to sort of a memorandum of understanding while you know maybe that will work um is is is unlikely to to bear fruit um and is more

[18:25] likely to just make the the whole um project fall apart than it is anything else so um unfortunately there wasn't a recognition of these differing cultural patterns before they went into the matter it would have been better for for everybody neither side really recognized that I don't think and and neither side spoke about it overtly um and so now you know they're they're dealing with that and and working working on working it through figuring it out so let's take a quick

[19:02] look at time here okay we're good all right so decisionmaking Styles Comm now um another example um is um if you look at um Japanese culture so in Japanese culture um typically the um youngest person present in a meeting um will be asked to give his thoughts first first okay and then the next youngest and the next youngest and the next youngest okay and the reason is in

[19:37] Japanese culture it's considered rude at the least for a younger person to say something that differs with an older person or not an older person someone who's older than they are okay so in order to create um as much openness as possible the younger people the youngest people go first they go in order of age in other words now here in the United States that that seems very strange so if the you know oldest person in the

[20:12] room says x no for the most part young people don't feel compelled to say x they may say you know no I disagree with that I think blah blah blah blah blah now of course that varies with individuals but there's no cultural norm preventing a young person from disagreeing with someone who's older than he is okay so again in you know in a meeting like that um one needs to be aware of these in a meeting where there's uh cross-cultural um cross-cultural patterns or potentially cross-cultural

[20:48] patterns one needs to be aware of these issues um and and you know if if if you're the senior person in the room um you might start out uh if you're going to give your opinion you might you know give your opinion and say now um I do not intend for any of you to agree or disagree with my opinion I want to know your candid thoughts about it if you disagree with me that's perfectly acceptable um and so you know while while you know it may make you uncomfortable or whatever um the

[21:25] expectation in this meeting is everybody will speak their minds freely will that work I it depends how um deeply imprinted cultural patterns are on any particular individual um but it it certainly won't hurt to express what the cultural pattern being followed in the meeting is and it could potentially relieve someone of um what they see as their responsibility to follow the cultural patterns in which they were raised okay finally attitudes toward personal disclosure

[22:02] so America United States is a very open Society in fact you might argue it's it's too open people will say things in public today that are kind of like wow why would you you know why are you telling us about this this is you know none of the Public's business okay but this sort of but this this very sort of um open expressive um open expressiveness has become a cultural pattern um in much the United States now I I I can tell you when I was much younger um you know the

[22:37] idea of talking about the kind of things in public that people talk about was was a non-starter so that's been a cultural pattern here in the United States that's changed over the last half century or so now merely because here in the United States people talk so openly about um what what used to be considered personal matters doesn't mean that the rest of the world has adopted this particular cultural pattern and one two should be careful not to assume cultural

[23:12] stereotypes indeed represent cultural patterns so um I I remember talking to um I I I I used to um um have a French teacher and I was we were talking about cultural patterns between um the United States and France and one of the things that came up was how um the sort of the attitude toward um um extramarital relationships and and and and and talking about um sex in general

[23:48] that sort of thing um even promiscuity and the the the impression I think a lot of Americans have is that the the French are very open about extramarital Affairs they're they're more promiscuous than um than Americans um etc etc um and and that is not at all the case um the the the the the sort of French um uh the the I should say the sense on the part of Americans that the French are more open sexually has more

[24:23] to do with their literature um than it does with the behavior of the typical um person in France and indeed the French look at the at Americans as being um much more sort of sexually open um and and promiscuous um than than they are um and I I you know it's it's hard to say I mean all I can all I can say is that there are a lot of Mis misperceptions

[24:59] toward um how each country deals with personal disclosure and and one should be careful about assuming that a a person from a another culture will be as open to personal disclosures um as we are here in the United States so um many cultures especially as you move into cultures where um traditional religion for example is much more prominent so in places like South Asia the Middle East

[25:35] um personal disclosure that that sort of openness is is not at all part of their cultural patterns rather they are they are much more modest much more discreet in those kinds of things especially between men and women okay so um you know one needs to be careful about the those kinds of things in the workplace to begin with even here in the United States where um a sort of request for personal disclosure um could be viewed as as as hostile um but but um even even

[26:13] outside of the workplace in this case um one would need to tread very very carefully and so um rather than assuming that a person is is is open to um personal disclosures let's let's say you're you know I don't know in the lunchroom and you're you're sitting with a colleague and um you know you might ask uh if you're if you're concerned that there that there may be a different cultural pattern there said um would would you be interested in you know telling me about your family I'm I'm

[26:48] interested to know and um you know and if and if I've you know overstepped a you know a boundary please forgive me I'm not looking to intrude myself into your personal life I you know just am you know curious to know more about you or something like that so give them the ability to essentially decline knowing that they won't be insulting You by doing so okay so being open and sensitive to other people's cultural patterns that's really what we want to do especially in the workplace

[27:25] and recognizing these four are as of particular concern in cultural patterns and dealing with them in in that uh you know sensitive way that gives gives the other person the opportunity to decline to answer um saves them from embarrassment will go a long way toward successfully navigating cultural differences okay and I think yeah we're we're coming up on on U on being out of time so um if you if you have questions comments good bad by all means feel free

[28:02] to contact us here's a few places to do it all of these will be in the show notes um you can always post on social media especially if it's something you think would interest other people um by all means um uh do uh you know do you know put them in social media where we can all um make take advantage of the comments I know I've got some viewers in um far fun places uh Kenya um I think uh Pakistan and and and especially in in in this discussion of cultural differences

[28:38] if if you were if you felt comfortable um sharing some thoughts on how um we you know we might deal more successfully with uh folks that have the kind of cultural patterns that you have um those would be particular particularly appreciated it would help us add to you know our our body of knowledge and uh and and and and success professional success so I think we just got our y just got our legal stuff okay so taking out of sharing so that that wraps up our

[29:17] set of shows on Cultural Literacy cultural patterns and it it look it's an it's an Ever uh a constant learning process it never ends and um we are going to make mistakes from time to time um and as long as we're um um open to um understanding we are going to make mistakes and and and we're willing to make amends for the mistakes that we make so we should be able to n navigate these issues successfully um and and and by and and

[29:54] by the same token when if others make those mistakes make cultural pattern mistakes in in in dealing with us we should be open to um understanding that that that's what they are um they weren't there wasn't any ill intent um presumably and and and in a spirit of um learning and mutual growth uh deal with them and and then you know next time hopefully um you know such such a mistake can be avoided so I thank you very much for tuning in today um

[30:31] tomorrow is um my show um PE people making money and I think it I I I planned to do this quite some time ago but but I think the topic is very timely and that is I'm going to talk about whether it's right for you to buy or rent your home um with interest rates um at at a a high level um compared to just a couple of years ago I think it's more important to look at this question um and and you know look you may be priced

[31:06] out of the purchase Market um and and and may feel bad about renting um nonetheless renting may still be the right decision um and and you may be better off doing that um than you know trying to really stretch yourself to to to buy a house so that's what we'll be talking about tomorrow 12:30 PM Pacific time so please join me and then next week on Monday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific will be the next Edition the next episode I should say of trusts and Estates weekly and then seven days from

[31:41] today we will be back with a new topic we're going to be talking about intelligence not intelligence smartness but intelligence in terms of gathering information that can help us um build our businesses so that's going to be our our next topic going forward for the next several episodes of business lessons from the military at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday and that will wrap things up so again thank you very much for tuning in look forward to seeing you tomorrow and signing off Marie you are my bell

[32:18] all the best folks