I spent Thanksgiving in Los Angeles with my aunt and uncle as my family and I have done for all my life except for a year or two. It's an extremely welcoming home that feels calm and tranquil, even when serving 31 people Thanksgiving dinner. Even after my parents separation and my brother's marriage this remains a tradition. My parents alternate years as does my brother and his family, but I generally always go. While I remain my parents child from a generational sense, I would not say that within the family it's regression, as there is a tremendous respect for the childrens' interests and intellect at all ages. I felt growing up, and still now feel love, appreciation and respect by my nuclear and extended family. Rather than regression I feel buoyed and lifted up after spending time with them.
It's fun to see generations of the family grow and change and have their own families. My aunt and uncle are so welcoming that families related through marriage, are welcome and come. One of my cousins was just married and she and her parents and siblings came along with her in laws and husband's siblings. I love this tradition, and the warmth of the home, but I'm slightly off the topic of Leadership.
Within the family I don't have (or really seek) much of leadership position. I think I'm a good contributor within the family.
In the Property Management trade association that I am the local Chapter President this year I think I have a shared leadership style that has been generally very effective. For most significant decisions I ask for the opinions of the Board of Directors, both at our meetings and via email if an urgent issue exists between meetings. I have been fortunate that this volunteer group is very engaged in making this group and our industry better, so many ideas are debated and the good ones executed. With only one exception I only have to ask Board Members once to do something and it gets done. I wish my own office was that efficient!
I manage my own office with an inclusive, but more decisive form of leadership. It is more direct, and yet more informal than my Association Presidency, in that my office is small with only 3 other people in it, so they see my frustration with issues, and get to hear me occasionally vent about people, problems or people creating problems. With the Association, I have a more distant relationship, and I believe that distance likely creates a false positive impression of my leadership.
I believe next year's President will be an excellent leader, based on my conversations with him and my interactions with him on the Board this year. (I must admit to a Hope-Bias in that I was the one who suggested him as the next Chapter President). He is thorough, inclusive and thoughtful. He thinks about all aspects of a decision and considers the many stakeholders it will influence, both currently and in the future. He is good at designing and clearly articulating a vision for the future, as well as taking positive steps to improve our chapter and the organization.
Re: Blog 11 - Seeing ourselves as others see us
In fact my results of how people see me and how I perceive myself were fairly compatible in the test/survey presented in class. The test was very helpful showing which leadership qualities I am doing well and which ones I should improve.
Often it is hard to get an authentic feedback when the majority of people want to tell you what “you want to hear” or flourish too much when doing a constructive feedback. Usually I am very harsh evaluating myself, and it helps me. Also, I try to get feedback from people who disagree with me, or that are not fan of my working style. In fact two of those people agreed to take the survey. It was very interesting that one of them wrote me an email after completing the survey saying that I might not get happy with his review and I told him that those types of feedbacks are exactly what I was looking for. It also reminds me about my one of my approaches getting a job when I put as one of my referrals someone that does not agree with my style.
Re: Blog 10 - Motivation
It’s very easy to motivate me: Get me passionate about something, show me the potential positive outcomes for me, for the company, and for society. Or, just challenge me saying that you do not believe I can do it: Trust me, I can get anything done, as long as it does not harm others.
I also like to believe that I know how to motivate others very well considering that almost always I got the outcomes deserved by my employees. Very very simple formula: You get to know them, understand their motivations and goals, and find a way to match them. Also, people generally lack attention, caring and love. The rare times where this simple formula did not work, I have a serious talk. When people see you as a loving, caring and energetic manager, a simple serious talk is enough for them to understand the gravidity of a situation and follow your instructions.
How I could improve the way I motivate people is a good question that my friends – perhaps Joi, Pryia and Adam – might be able to respond. I believe that sometimes I can get caught on a particular task or project and it might let me to forget for a moment about how employees and colleagues feel. Probably being as attentive as a hawk on my team and in what motivates them.
Re: Blog 8 - Predictable Irrational
Predictably Irrational was a very interesting class. When we are kids we have a misperception that older people are heroes that always know how to act rationally. Rationality was what I used to differentiate teenagers from adults. When I got older and integrated better with “adult’s world” I was surprised how irrational anyone can be. And today I believe that NO ONE is 100% sane or rational. Everybody has their own craziness. I also realized how predictable people can be, and in behaviorism classes, I learned how easy is to manipulate people’s decisions and actions when we discover that it is all about how confident people perceive us. Looking at situations as a whole, always being (or pretend to be) confident while acknowledging people’s irrationality and insecurities are certainly the most powerful tools to manipulate any outcome.
Blog 7 - Perception
Not surprising, but very powerful how the impression we have about someone, or the impression someone has about us can influence decisions and attitude. Those perceptions can totally shape the world around us. I am aware of the power of those mind bugs since early age: Since I was a child I always questioned why the bad guy or the witches from cartoons were ugly and the princes, princesses and heroes were always gorgeous. Being disappointed by “beautiful people” (or people who looks like a nice person) and positively surprised by others who look like “bad people” I try and in the majority of the times, I am good trusting people until they prove me wrong. On the same time I highly believe that building relationships is the best way to achieve any outcome so in order to have something done by someone I don’t know much I try to get as closer as I can. Not in a bad and manipulative way but believing that it is more likely that a positive outcome can be raised when people feel important and recognized.
Still, I have few times where my perceptions led me to astray. The only one that I recall is when I was working for Walgreens and I couldn’t believe that seniors were able to shoplift. On the other hand I had many harmful experiences in Brazil with people judging me for being gay: I was locked in a mental clinic for 7 months where people thought I was literally crazy for being gay, others who threaten against my life and even employers who thought I wouldn’t be able to efficiently work because my sexual orientation. Here I had a couple experiences where people thought I was not able to work well because my limitations with the language. The way I deal with those preconceptions is overcompensating and trying to be my best in all circumstances proving here and back home that my sexual orientation and limitations with English language has no impact in my professional and personal capabilities and values.
How others see us and the middle of the road
Overall, I am pretty shocked at the results from the leadership Assessment. First of all I was shocked at how often I was taking the middle of the road. Then, I was shocked when people agreed with this. For some reason I have always thought of myself as quite ostentatious, outspoken and yet a bit of team worker.
Then, when I took a step back and though about the results, I started to agree with this. Yes I can be loud, and headstrong, however I am more than happy to collaborate and listen, especially when I know I am not a subject-matter expert. However, I am still taken aback at how towards the middle of all these traits other see me as.
I am not sure if this is a weakness, if this means I have a lot to learn, if I am flexible or well rounded. Since I am just starting my career and I am relatively young, I think it is mostly that I have a lot to learn. I need to find out which management techniques work best for me and develop a preference based on my strengths.
Blog Topic 12: Groups and leadership
It is likely that over this long weekend, you are finding yourself interacting with friendship groups and family groups more intensely than you usually do. The holidays and celebrations typically bring people together - which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.
In class, we talked about adjusting your leadership for different kinds of groups - volunteer groups, paid groups, etc. Take this time to reflect on your leadership in the different types of groups of which you are a member (even if you didn't see them all this week). How does your leadership style change? Are you more effective in one group versus another? Do you fall into a pattern such that you are in the same role in all groups? Or, as is typical in family groups, do you find yourself regressing to the same role in the family that you've always played, regardless of other accomplishments? Think about other leaders in these groups. What do they do that is effective and how can you learn from them?
In class, we talked about adjusting your leadership for different kinds of groups - volunteer groups, paid groups, etc. Take this time to reflect on your leadership in the different types of groups of which you are a member (even if you didn't see them all this week). How does your leadership style change? Are you more effective in one group versus another? Do you fall into a pattern such that you are in the same role in all groups? Or, as is typical in family groups, do you find yourself regressing to the same role in the family that you've always played, regardless of other accomplishments? Think about other leaders in these groups. What do they do that is effective and how can you learn from them?
How others see us
I also was pleasantly surprised by the results of others perspectives versus my own. In the areas of Emotional Intelligence both my own view and they others surveyed gave me scores at the mid-5 range. The only category that I rated higher than others was "Use Own Emotions" which says that it's something I need to look at. I'm not sure if it means I don't use my emotions for judgement or if my emotions control me. I think I have generally a calm demeanor, but I know that I comfort eat as a way of dealing with emotions, so maybe I can find another solution.
In the Influence tactics, there was a greater separation between my and other opinions. I believe that I use pressure as a tactic much more frequently than others think I do, by a margin of 6.00 to 3.00. I thought I used Inspirational Appeal much less than others thought I did, which was flattering to me as I would much prefer to influence by appeal rather than pressure. I was also rated much higher by others in the use of Consultation and upward appeal.
In Transformational Leadership I was rated the same or higher on every element. I received a mid-five for vision articulation, which I hope that I have and a 5.75 on providing intellectual stimulation which is good in that I value being stimulated and am glad to be able to demonstrate that for others.
In the Influence tactics, there was a greater separation between my and other opinions. I believe that I use pressure as a tactic much more frequently than others think I do, by a margin of 6.00 to 3.00. I thought I used Inspirational Appeal much less than others thought I did, which was flattering to me as I would much prefer to influence by appeal rather than pressure. I was also rated much higher by others in the use of Consultation and upward appeal.
In Transformational Leadership I was rated the same or higher on every element. I received a mid-five for vision articulation, which I hope that I have and a 5.75 on providing intellectual stimulation which is good in that I value being stimulated and am glad to be able to demonstrate that for others.
Seeing ourselves as other see us - pleasant surprise
Last week the results of how my peers and senior rate my leadership skills was a very pleasant surprise for me. The ratings were better than my own ratings of myself. I do not know how many of the others in class had a similar experience. My results really had me thinking and pondering a lot. Of all the years I ve been in the technical industry and every organization that I have been working with, I have gone through the process of self appraisal. These appraisals are to be submitted on a yearly basis and takes into consideration all the tasks I had worked on for the entire year. The appraisals need to include my analysis of how I rate my leadership skills, team skills, task scheduling capabilities etc. My self appraisal scares me because I do not rate myself very well and never get to complete it due to my lack of abilities to do it very well. Once my boss actually said that my self appraisal was one of the most modest ones he has seen. I have had a lot of feedback on my self appraisal and its always to improve my appraisal skills. What I observed is that this is very much in sync with the questionnaires and self appraisals we have done in the leadership class. I really would like to work my way towards understanding my skills the way others do. In today's competitive world, it is key to market oneself to grow in the industry and although it does not help to be over confident of one's own skills but underestimating is not going to help either. I really feel that the exercise of getting to know how others see my leadership skills helped me a lot.
Blog Topic 11: Seeing ourselves as other see us
Last week, you received feedback on how other people see you in a leadership roles. Was anything surprising to you? You've had a few days to digest the feedback, how can the information you received move you towards your leadership goals? How frequently do you receive authentic feedback in your everyday life? How can acquiring honest feedback help you achieve your goals?
Motivation and flow
Motivation for people that I work with I find is best achieved through a combination of modeling and clear communication of a future vision. I can't ask others to do what I am not willing to do myself, so modeling good attitude, attention to detail and work quality is important. One of my clients, who manages a large office said that one of the first things he needs to teach new graduates in their first work experience is that you can't "just take a B" on any work project, you need to always work towards the "A" or in other words the best you can do. I repeat that to my staff when it needs reminding. I try to communicate a future vision of a bigger, more efficient company. With the people I work with, I generally have a good relationship and most are good workers, so there are not a lot of conflicts.
The tenants in properties managed by our company I also try to keep a good relationship with. Generally I start to try to motivate by asking for their cooperation, expressing a vision where a future relationship would continue to be good if they do what I have requested. For people for whom that does not work I have to use more of a fear/threat to be motivating. It's not my preference, but the law is very limiting to what can be done. While I was amused by the Glen Ross speech, I grew up in a Real Estate sales office, and I saw better results through organized inter-office competition than I would expect that speech to do. Certainly it takes guts and aggression to be successful in sales, but creating a hostime atmosphere is going to make people not want to be there instead of making them motivated.
The tenants in properties managed by our company I also try to keep a good relationship with. Generally I start to try to motivate by asking for their cooperation, expressing a vision where a future relationship would continue to be good if they do what I have requested. For people for whom that does not work I have to use more of a fear/threat to be motivating. It's not my preference, but the law is very limiting to what can be done. While I was amused by the Glen Ross speech, I grew up in a Real Estate sales office, and I saw better results through organized inter-office competition than I would expect that speech to do. Certainly it takes guts and aggression to be successful in sales, but creating a hostime atmosphere is going to make people not want to be there instead of making them motivated.
Motivation!!!!
Wikipedia defines motivation as an activation of goal-oriented behavior. The professor's post motivated me to look up something so simple as motivation on wiki. There are very few times we look up simple words in English language for their actual meaning or definitions. It takes something like this to motivate someone to do something they would not do otherwise. I hope something would happen to motivate my husband and me to start visiting the gym before the holiday season sets in.
On a serious note, a leader's motivational quality drives his members towards his visions and goals.Leaders are people with a set of visions and a vision can be attained with a set of near and far goals. No leader can get to these goals unless he can motivate his team to work towards the goals. Leaders like Martin Luther King have motivated people through a simple act of communication. Mahatma Gandhi motivated people just by reaching out and spreading an idea so novel that a country backed him enough to help him realize his visions. I have observed that it takes some one who is a good guide and a mentor to motivate me. I still remember how I used to have a tough time with Math until I had a very inspiring teacher who's way of teaching motivated me to work towards a better comprehension of the subject. Although I am currently in the corporate industry I know my long term goal is to start teaching since reading about E R Braithwaite. It takes a mentor to guide someone to do something they never thought they would attempt and make it their vision to excel.
On a serious note, a leader's motivational quality drives his members towards his visions and goals.Leaders are people with a set of visions and a vision can be attained with a set of near and far goals. No leader can get to these goals unless he can motivate his team to work towards the goals. Leaders like Martin Luther King have motivated people through a simple act of communication. Mahatma Gandhi motivated people just by reaching out and spreading an idea so novel that a country backed him enough to help him realize his visions. I have observed that it takes some one who is a good guide and a mentor to motivate me. I still remember how I used to have a tough time with Math until I had a very inspiring teacher who's way of teaching motivated me to work towards a better comprehension of the subject. Although I am currently in the corporate industry I know my long term goal is to start teaching since reading about E R Braithwaite. It takes a mentor to guide someone to do something they never thought they would attempt and make it their vision to excel.
Coffee is for fucking closers and I'm not joking
Motivation is a really difficult task and I believe as a leader you have to gauge what your staff needs. Certain types of motivation are beneficial in the right situation, like Glengary Glen Ross. A lot of people think this is dramatized, but sales organizations have used fear tactics in the past and have had great results, so why not "put the fear of God" in your employees on a day to day basis? Burnout.
Some times people do need a little kick to get them going, but the popular images of being chained to a desk or slaving a way for no purpose come from managers who either under-motivate or use too many scare tactics. So, how do you know what to do? Well, I think everything we have learned so far in this class leads up to this. To name a few examples, EQ helps you understand what is going on with your staff, good communication will allow you to understand what your staff needs and then the proper delivery comes from the image your staff has of you which comes from rapport building, your "power" and connections to the team. If you do all of this, then you can tell if your staff needs a kick, needs to be nurtured or left alone.
The key thing is nothing is perfect and if you are unsure, a softer approach may be the best one to start with so as to not scare anyone off and create a hostile environment. However if you know your staff, and the situation is bad... it may be time to bring out the brass balls and scare the hell out of them.
The one thing missing from the Glengary segment we watched is what to do as follow-up. From working in various sales type organizations, I have found that if you use the "hard" tactics, you need to follow up with some form of nurturing tactic to really make it work. I don't think you can truly scare some one into working these days, all though the economy is bad, and situations are tough, people can still walk away, and that is the last thing you want to do. So, what do you do? Well, if I were in a situation where I felt that the only thing that would help my staff was a strong dose of reality, I would not end the meeting with that. I would help present a plan of action and what I would do to help the staff meet their goals because at the end of the day, the manager is a team leader, and if the team fails, it is the manager's fault. You sign up for that when you step into one of those rolls and you cannot pin it on your team.
So, scaring the living heck out of your team, nurturing them or leaving them alone are always to help team motivation, and the core is knowing the team, but how does one self-motivate? I feel like this is the bigger, harder question because it is all on yourself. I cannot tell myself to really do something if I have set my mind against it, unless it is going towards a cause I believe in. So, I would say that I can only motivate myself when I am working towards my goals. I guess the trick here is to set challenging goals, but stack the cards in such a way that you know what you are working for. An example would be my current job. If you look at the basic task, calling and emailing prospects to engage them in a sales cycle and then pass the lead to the field team, it is not glamorous. Looking at my job that way makes me not want to get out of bed, let alone make 50 phonecalls a day. However, when I step back and look at the bigger picture, and realize this is a good path in which I can learn how to motivate others, and myself, I get excited about the challenge. I look at my job as a learning experience and say hey, what I do today will help me manage a team tomorrow, then it doesn't seem mindless at all.
I guess this goes back to our core values and learning is one of my top priorities. If i can make something into a learning experience, it is almost always worth it!
Blog Topic 10: Motivation
In retrospect, our discussion of motivation in class went in two directions: how to motivate others and how to motivate oneself. The two aren't necessarily unrelated, but it is helpful to consider them separately before combining them. The videos below concern self-motivation, but could also be applied to understanding your followers.
What do you think motivates you? Are there times when you are just trying to get by and are there times when you are striving something really great? When do you experience each kind of feeling? Which feeling are your more comfortable with?
Having considered what motivates you, think about how you might motivate others. Can you shift gears between different styles and types of motivation when working with your followers? Can you use fear? Can you use anger? Can you use inspiration? How can you improve your motivational repertoire?
What do you think motivates you? Are there times when you are just trying to get by and are there times when you are striving something really great? When do you experience each kind of feeling? Which feeling are your more comfortable with?
Having considered what motivates you, think about how you might motivate others. Can you shift gears between different styles and types of motivation when working with your followers? Can you use fear? Can you use anger? Can you use inspiration? How can you improve your motivational repertoire?
Geography of Though... hmmm
This is quite interesting, because all my life I have felt like I was the strange one, even though it is hard to notice. The majority of my youth was spent between two countries, the US and Malta. Most people I meet don't even know where Malta is and it has lead to many fun conversations. The thing that made me feel weird was for the longest time I felt like I didn't fit anywhere. When I was in the states I was told I sound funny because of the mixed accent, and when I was in Malta the same happened. This made growing up/puberty a real chuckle, but in the end I spent more time in the States and got a California accent.
Over the years I noticed some strange things about people's preconceptions. One is similar to Joi's of how back home, if you were from the next town over, which sometimes was less than a kilometer, things would be radically different, where as the states, well you usually have to travel quite far... and it doesn't help that the country I am from could probably fit in the Bay. Malta has always been split in a Northern vs Southern way and it has lead to odd conflicts, but since the island is so small, one thing can be agreed upon, travelers without money are not welcome. It always came across as the Maltese disliked foreigners unless they had open checkbooks! There were other issues at hand, but since I was too young and not there long enough, it was hard to see.
Now in California, I would like to believe I didn't live a sheltered life, but in reality, there was a massive bubble that I lived in. The town of Los Gatos, is really privileged and is predominatly white. Fortunately my parents are into community service and found other ways to expose me to the world, so I feel like I was relatively well rounded. However, I won't lie, it was a little strange when I left private religious schools, for a public college, I was a little blown away when I realized that not everyone was catholic. However, I quickly realized that was part of my upbringing, but I also remebered how my parents have always said not to prejudge anyone based on appearance or lifestyle.
That lesson has made life easier, however it isn't always an easy thing to practice. Since we are bombarded with stereotypes on a daily basis, one slip into an us vs them way of thought and that would be disastrous. I think since it is impossible to escape, the most important thing is acknowledge that, and then push passed it in order to function/do your job right.
Geography of thought - What influences culture
Cultural awareness and sensitivity is essential in Leadership and yet forbidden in my work. The Department of Real Estate (who regulates the practice of Real Estate in CA) is very clear that all people should be treated the same, without regard to "race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, familiar status, marital status, sex, sexual preference, age, source of income, or disability." This policy not only recognizes the current law, but exists to combat decades of discrimination and steering (where certain minorities are kept out of specific neighborhoods) etc. So I don't ask work related people where they are from, what languages they speak or anything that would indicate awareness of race, because in the Real Estate world a conversation about race/age etc. opens the door to a discrimination lawsuit.
When I first started with the MBA I was surprised to hear people talk about where they were from. I was also very perplexed by the value judgements placed on location, like "they are from the North, not like us." I wonder if that is because Americans tend to move more frequently and farther from their birth place than people in other nations. I spoke to a man in New Zealand who told me he relocated when he got married and settled down in his wife's city. The distance from his hometown to his new place was 25 miles, I know people who commute further than 25 miles. I would never say that all occupants of Fremont are... because I couldn't accurately generalize.
After I graduated from college I spent 5 weeks in Europe. I didn't realize how much of my personality was influenced by my culture until I left the US. Some things like the American ideas of independence and self-sufficiency are different than much of Western Europe. In some ways this benefits the US in that we tend to be very creative, driven and innovative. In other ways this hurts the US in that sometimes we protect the independent idea at the expense of the majority.
I could not easily think of a time that culture differences created a negative interaction from my point of view, and I think that's due to an underlying belief that blaming difficult situations on a person's race or culture is discrimination. So even in my mind any difficulties I attribute to myself or the other person specifically.
However, after reflection, I think I probably have left a negative impression on other clients by addressing them by first name, especially clients who are older or from more formal cultures. Addressing business people by first name is something I have done throughout my life, from my earliest childhood memories, and I know from both class discussions and my travels that that is not true throughout most of the national and international business culture. It didn't even occur to me to consider changing the formality of my emails and conversation until I was talking to a friend about the honorific -san, and how he addressed his Asian clients vs. Indian clients, vs. Western European clients.
When I first started with the MBA I was surprised to hear people talk about where they were from. I was also very perplexed by the value judgements placed on location, like "they are from the North, not like us." I wonder if that is because Americans tend to move more frequently and farther from their birth place than people in other nations. I spoke to a man in New Zealand who told me he relocated when he got married and settled down in his wife's city. The distance from his hometown to his new place was 25 miles, I know people who commute further than 25 miles. I would never say that all occupants of Fremont are... because I couldn't accurately generalize.
After I graduated from college I spent 5 weeks in Europe. I didn't realize how much of my personality was influenced by my culture until I left the US. Some things like the American ideas of independence and self-sufficiency are different than much of Western Europe. In some ways this benefits the US in that we tend to be very creative, driven and innovative. In other ways this hurts the US in that sometimes we protect the independent idea at the expense of the majority.
I could not easily think of a time that culture differences created a negative interaction from my point of view, and I think that's due to an underlying belief that blaming difficult situations on a person's race or culture is discrimination. So even in my mind any difficulties I attribute to myself or the other person specifically.
However, after reflection, I think I probably have left a negative impression on other clients by addressing them by first name, especially clients who are older or from more formal cultures. Addressing business people by first name is something I have done throughout my life, from my earliest childhood memories, and I know from both class discussions and my travels that that is not true throughout most of the national and international business culture. It didn't even occur to me to consider changing the formality of my emails and conversation until I was talking to a friend about the honorific -san, and how he addressed his Asian clients vs. Indian clients, vs. Western European clients.
Geography of thought - sometimes leading to comical and sometimes to awkward situations!
It is interesting how a leader needs to look out for the ethnicity, culture etc when dealing with others. Not as a leader but as a general person I have had a few experiences which proves that communication can go wrong or misunderstood in these contexts and this can lead to such situations when leading people as well.
One of the key tasks of a leader is communication and it is extremely important for a leader to be understood correctly. I have had experiences which turned out quite comical but in a professional environment such mistakes can lead to unwanted costs.
One day in my MBA class, we were having a discussion on when each of us had graduated from undergrad degrees. During the discussion, I shared that "I Passed out" in 2003. This had the qhole class go quiet and look at me either with bemusement or shock. I failed to understand people's reaction and kept asking what I had said wrong when one of my class mates asked why I had passed out? Was I a victim of some health issue? That is when I realized that "Passed out" is an Indian term for "Graduated". Passed out for people here means fainted or blacked out. When I translated this to the class we all had a hearty laugh but this just showed how people from different ethical and cultural backgrounds can be misunderstood in their conversations even though they speak the same language.
I have noticed that at work, there are times in a meeting when things get referred to in the language of American baseball. The baseball slang. For people who are not aware of the game because they are from a different cultural background, this can alienate them from the discussion. There have been times when I have been positively offended wondering where the conversation was leading since I have been unable to follow it.
On a serious note, when I first started managing projects of ODMs in China and Taiwan I noticed that our ODM team members, half way through the meeting, broke into their local language(generally Chinese). There would be no preemptive feedback that the teams were going to start conversing in their language amongst themselves. No "Excuse me"s or "Give us a minute". Initially I used to find this extremely rude and request that they translate it immediately. I later on realized that they were not trying to be offensive by alienating me from the conversation but its just not in their culture to excuse themselves before discussing amongst themselves as it is in mine having worked in India and the US. As a leader of the project, I should have been prepared to confront the Chinese culture by learning more about it rather than coming across as a rude person myself and demanding people speak in English or translate as mentioned above.
Culture, ethnicity, geographical background etc play a key role in people's outlook and communication.
One of the key tasks of a leader is communication and it is extremely important for a leader to be understood correctly. I have had experiences which turned out quite comical but in a professional environment such mistakes can lead to unwanted costs.
One day in my MBA class, we were having a discussion on when each of us had graduated from undergrad degrees. During the discussion, I shared that "I Passed out" in 2003. This had the qhole class go quiet and look at me either with bemusement or shock. I failed to understand people's reaction and kept asking what I had said wrong when one of my class mates asked why I had passed out? Was I a victim of some health issue? That is when I realized that "Passed out" is an Indian term for "Graduated". Passed out for people here means fainted or blacked out. When I translated this to the class we all had a hearty laugh but this just showed how people from different ethical and cultural backgrounds can be misunderstood in their conversations even though they speak the same language.
I have noticed that at work, there are times in a meeting when things get referred to in the language of American baseball. The baseball slang. For people who are not aware of the game because they are from a different cultural background, this can alienate them from the discussion. There have been times when I have been positively offended wondering where the conversation was leading since I have been unable to follow it.
On a serious note, when I first started managing projects of ODMs in China and Taiwan I noticed that our ODM team members, half way through the meeting, broke into their local language(generally Chinese). There would be no preemptive feedback that the teams were going to start conversing in their language amongst themselves. No "Excuse me"s or "Give us a minute". Initially I used to find this extremely rude and request that they translate it immediately. I later on realized that they were not trying to be offensive by alienating me from the conversation but its just not in their culture to excuse themselves before discussing amongst themselves as it is in mine having worked in India and the US. As a leader of the project, I should have been prepared to confront the Chinese culture by learning more about it rather than coming across as a rude person myself and demanding people speak in English or translate as mentioned above.
Culture, ethnicity, geographical background etc play a key role in people's outlook and communication.
This past couple of classes been very interesting and has a lot to do with things that I have been thinking a lot lately. Everybody has a little of insanity inside. When we have a chance to get to know people deeply, looking closely, we can see uncertainty, lack of emotional balance in different areas and insanity, even the most down to earth and the most powerful people. What differs the successful and not so successful ones in the ability to be confident, to keep your emotions balanced and to take right decisions building which is called personal marketing - branding yourself.
The question presented is very interesting: What do and how we explain a decision that make sence in the predicably irrational way but does not make sense in the traditionally rational way? I try to be as rational as I can in my decision, but of course it is part of the human nature and it is important for a leader to trust his/her own instincts while making decisions. It is all about how you present, how you handle the situation and how you get others involved. Innovation and the most exciting findings came to life when people start thinking and acting in a non tradicional ways, figuring out different approaches and being passionate about something.
Of course, some of those decisions can backfire and which differ a good leader is the ability to, when failure happen, recognize, debrief and fix it. It's important to recognize when someone have a better idea or that a decision taken was not the smartest one.
Usually when I take a decision moved by passion instead of being rational, I analyze the situation and (1) if I recognize that it was not a smart move, I think about how I should have handled, I communicate w my team and supervisors and move forward or (2) if the idea makes sence, although not the most rational one, I do go forward trusting my instincts and convince people about the importance of "thinking outside the box" and things work! I convinced my group that we should bring a run-way show w real models to class to present a marketing project, and although it was not the most rational decision, it was wonderful! Full grade, full attention from class, full level of creativity, and full satisfaction from the team members, professor and classmates.
I remember one time where my boss told me that I should be more strict and handle a customer firmily, not trying to please her but actually invite her to leave and don't come back to store. This particular trouble maker client was known for insulting my employees and make a "show" in store. This particular time she offended a client making a racial comment and I should invite her to leave the store right away, unfortunately that was not my approach and the employee did not feel protected by me or the company. Of course I did not know about the racial comments that she made otherwise I approarch would be different.
The question presented is very interesting: What do and how we explain a decision that make sence in the predicably irrational way but does not make sense in the traditionally rational way? I try to be as rational as I can in my decision, but of course it is part of the human nature and it is important for a leader to trust his/her own instincts while making decisions. It is all about how you present, how you handle the situation and how you get others involved. Innovation and the most exciting findings came to life when people start thinking and acting in a non tradicional ways, figuring out different approaches and being passionate about something.
Of course, some of those decisions can backfire and which differ a good leader is the ability to, when failure happen, recognize, debrief and fix it. It's important to recognize when someone have a better idea or that a decision taken was not the smartest one.
Usually when I take a decision moved by passion instead of being rational, I analyze the situation and (1) if I recognize that it was not a smart move, I think about how I should have handled, I communicate w my team and supervisors and move forward or (2) if the idea makes sence, although not the most rational one, I do go forward trusting my instincts and convince people about the importance of "thinking outside the box" and things work! I convinced my group that we should bring a run-way show w real models to class to present a marketing project, and although it was not the most rational decision, it was wonderful! Full grade, full attention from class, full level of creativity, and full satisfaction from the team members, professor and classmates.
I remember one time where my boss told me that I should be more strict and handle a customer firmily, not trying to please her but actually invite her to leave and don't come back to store. This particular trouble maker client was known for insulting my employees and make a "show" in store. This particular time she offended a client making a racial comment and I should invite her to leave the store right away, unfortunately that was not my approach and the employee did not feel protected by me or the company. Of course I did not know about the racial comments that she made otherwise I approarch would be different.
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