How To Develop Your Cross-Cultural Skills
Last week I wrote about the different definitions I noticed people using for “culture” related words.
For example, occasionally readers do not immediately grasp the “business” slant of this blog because they read using their own filters for the “culture” related words used here.
Personal Filters Come To Light
There is another interesting thing that becomes apparent when you notice that someone else has different definitions to these “culture” words than you do. We might not realize it, but we all have different cultural filters.
- “Culture” words also quickly get mixed up with other personal filters or issues.
And there is one personal filter you can usually clearly identify when talking about “culture” and that is:
- Prejudice.
Prejudice In Cross-Cultural Communication
When prejudiced people communicate with their own emotional buttons activated, the word cross-cultural often takes on the meaning “racial difference”.
This is where I notice the disconnect between my definition of cross-cultural and theirs.
The Communication Barrier
When two people have a conversation on a subject with two different meanings, well… you do not really have a conversation, do you?
This is what happens when two people use the word “cross-cultural” with different meanings. And when one of these meanings has something to do with racial difference, the conversations are not only disjointed, they can also easily get out of hand.
Choose Your Conversations
So…
- What do you do when you notice that you are not really having a conversation?
- What can you do when you realize that there is too much friction in a conversation?
The first step is obviously to clearly identify where the disconnect happens. And this is the most important one.
If you are having a conversation with someone who has his emotional buttons fully locked in and is obviously stimulated by his own personal prejudice, you have a choice to make.
You can decide to try to:
- Meet the other person on his topic… and take on his personal filter
- Get the person to join you on your topic… and change his personal filter
- Establish a different common topic of conversation… and get both of you away from any personal filters
- Drop the conversation and move on
The context is probably going to influence your choice in what to do here.
Adapt Your Response To The Context
In a social context, you will decide what is most appropriate for yourself.
The problem is that these situations also arise in a business context. And we are all human. You can easily be confronted with communication problems in a business context due to prejudice.
Cross-cultural communication represents barriers for everyone. We all have different ways of dealing with these barriers and different levels of communication skills.
So how can you handle this tough situation?
Well, first… why is it tough?
- Because we all react to prejudice personally
- Because you cannot easily influence someone’s prejudice in a conversation
Put Aside Your Own Personal Baggage
This means that the best thing to do is to step away from your personal feelings.
But you need to:
- Refocus on your business context
- Evaluate your own business context
- Try to establish a business context with the other person
- And then go through your choice in how to deal with this
Get Past The Barrier Of Prejudice
Remember, the feelings created by a disjointed conversation are absolutely natural. The important thing is to establish the right context and then find the right way to communicate where all parties have the same understanding.
It does not happen very often, but sometimes you do run into people who are stuck in their own personal prejudices. When this happens you need to be able to do everything that you can to move the conversation forward. And when you are faced with someone acting or reacting on solely on personal prejudice, it comes down to making the best choice for your business.
More On How To Develop Your Cross-Cultural Skills:
- Getting Beyond Visible Cultural Differences
- International Exposure To Develop Cross-Cultural Skills
- How An Open Mindset Increases Confidence
- International Exposure To Develop Cross-Cultural Skills
- Morphing Into A Foreign Culture
- Prejudice – A Cross-Cultural Business Barrier
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