Culture impacts international business in a wide variety of ways. I’ve been taken by surprise many times by the extent of its impact. It’s difficult to identify all of the ways culture impacts business because culture evolves over time. This means different cultures are evolving at different speeds and in different directions.

The advice given in books written only a decade ago can be counterproductive today. And the cultural insights we picked up on our trips after university may not help us in international business today.

So what can you do in an environment where cross-cultural miscommunication and blunders pop up unexpectedly. Well one of the best tactics to work effectively in an international environment is to develop an open mindset.

Open Mindset

What is an open mindset?  It’s not always easy to grasp and it can have a slightly different meaning to different people.  But I’ll have a try at explaining what an open mindset means to me in international business and the steps you need to get there.

Self-Examination For An Open Mindset

There are several steps in the process of self-examination. I’ve put these steps first, but in reality I believe our path to opening our mindset is an on-going one.

• It’s not really something you can pick up once and then assume you’ll always have an open mindset.
• It’s a learning process and some steps take more time than others to absorb.
• Sometimes we need more time or experience to be ready to be able to learn more.

So you’ll also need to come back and revisit these steps as you grow your mindset.

#1: Recognize Your Own Focus

It’s important to understand where you are, what occupies your mindset and how different your viewpoint can be when compared to other cultures. How you set your own vision will determine what you see and how open your mindset is.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong about having a narrow focus for certain activities. We might even need this.  But when you are meeting with people from other cultures it’s important to realize just how limiting your own focus or vision is. It’s up to you then to open up or alter your reactions and come back when you are more able to meet people on their level.

#2: Identify Your Assumptions And Question Them

Many “mistakes” in international business begin with our own assumptions and culturally specific expectations being out of sync with another culture. Unfortunately it’s not always easy to identify the assumptions we make because we get so used to our own way of doing things and our own habits.

As you encounter a bit of cross-cultural friction, stop a second and question your assumptions.  Take the conversation slower and try to ask the other person the right questions to find out where the friction came from.

#3: Free Yourself Of A Negative Outlook

When we are confronted with different cultures human nature rears it’s head. We tend to view ourselves as being “good” and “right” while others who do things differently to us are quickly labeled as being “bad” or “wrong”.  Negative reactions are commonplace.

As soon as you recognize any elitist behavior recognize this and give others to the time you need for them to show you where they are coming from.

#4: Avoid Negative Judgment

People are usually good at understanding why it’s good to avoid quick judgment, but they have rather short definitions for “quick”.  In my international business experience I’ve learned to compartmentalize professional from personal expectations and to avoid all negative judgment of people from other cultures.  And this has come from making mistakes because there were too many times when I thought I was right passing a negative judgment only to discover my error much later on.

Most negative judgments stem from our incapacity of understanding another culture. Instead of focusing on the negative aspect I see in others, I focus on my own preferences and this usually leads to the right place.

Actions To Open Your Mindset

Once you have looked internally at all of the cultural baggage you bring with your own mindset, then you can work on opening and developing your mindset.

#5: Encourage Interaction

The next step is simply to cultivate interaction and open your mindset further. It’s also about cultivating an open attitude in your actions and making sure your actions are perceived as inviting interaction. So you’ll also hone your cross-cultural skills as you stimulate more interaction from others.

#6: Open Your Communication

When you interact more with people, you’ll probably see ways to open up your own communication a bit more to provide others with a deeper understanding of yourself and your ways of doing things.  This is fine-tuning your own communication to come across as more open to communication.

#7: Get Curious And Eager To Learn

An open mindset is a curious mindset.  It means you are eager to learn about others in order to understand people from different cultures fully and communicate on a truly one-to-one level. People from other cultures seem to do strange things, but often when we get to know the reasons behind their “strange” behavior, it all makes sense. Different ways of doing things appear normal when they are set in context.

How do you get curious?  Questions are important, but adapting your questions to find the right ones to ask people from different cultures is even more important.  You’ll need a broad international experience to fully develop your skills in curiosity.

Nurture Your International Talent

An open mindset is a sign of someone who can identify their own strengths and weakness and open their minds to feedback and question who they are.  And this open mindset can give you the upper edge in international business when dealing with different cultures. It’s not always easy, but it is always rewarding both on a professional level and on a personal level.

Now, over to you…

• What does an open mindset in international business mean to you?
• How do you develop an open mindset for international business?
• Why do you think an open mindset is important for international business?

More on Culture In International Business:

• How Culture Impacts An International Business
• What Is Culture? A Mind Map For More Sales
• Where Do You Want To Work?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

7 Steps To An Open Mindset For More International Business

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Personal Development

This is Day 2 of the 30-day challenge to focus on your personal development in cross-cultural communication. Each day there is one short topic to reflect on and try to improve.

Day 2 – Curiosity for Cross-Cultural Competence

Once you have recognized the importance of your own mindset in cross-cultural communication and need to look for the next step in developing your cross-cultural competence.  And this involves preparation to turn towards, accept and understand people who are different.

Curiosity is often a very good tool to have.  Simply preparing your mindset to be open to curiosity can often help you to avoid initial cross-cultural hurdles.

Curiosity Is A Key To Opening Cross-Cultural Competence

Curiosity is a good thing. Curiosity:

• Helps us to get past our own cultural baggage
• Prepares us to greet other people’s cultures
• Begins one side of the dialogue

And it does something very important.  Curiosity helps many people to take that very first step towards empathy.  You absolutely must have strong skills in empathy to develop your cross-cultural skills.  Empathy helps us to understand and connect with different cultures.  For some people empathy comes naturally.  In business it is not always easy.  

A curious attitude is a very healthy attitude to have in international business.  It gets you to ask the little question you would almost overlook.  And this little question can lead to many valuable insights.

Steps To Get Curious

Now, most people do not have any issues in understanding how to get curious.  But for a few people maintainting a curious attitude can be a challenge, especially in a business world.  Here are a few things to help you:

• Put aside your own grading system
• Notice the differences
• Notice the similarities
• Assume others are human beings just like you and the people around you
• Wonder what you would do in their shoes
• Wonder why they do things differently
• Look for the reasons behind the differences you see and also the reasons for the similarities

Curiosity Opens International Opportunities

Most people learn to appreciate the value of curiosity in international business.  Of course it can help you to avoid embarrassing blunders.  But curiosity can also help you to discover different business environments.  And these different ways of doing business can lead to your:

• Discovering new business opportunities
• Better ways of doing the things you already do
• Developing new partnerships

Curiosity can help you build your international business in many ways.  Unfortunately you need to get curious before you can find out exactly how.

When Curiosity Is Difficult

The main difficulty people have in getting curious is because they have strong personal barriers or personal baggage.  This is why you need to be aware of the personal baggage you carry around with you.  And occasionally be willing to put this baggage down for a moment or two, just long enough to let yourself get curious.

Your Actions Today

This is a very easy day and fun for most people.  Do it well and it can take you far.

• Don’t take yourself too seriously
• Be open to learn more about what you don’t know

Where To Get Your CCCC Tips Every Day:

• Here on this blog: Four Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges In 2009
• Follow me on Twitter in March, June, September and December

Need Cross-Cultural Business Coaching?

Do you need help in navigating the cross-cultural minefields of international business? Sign up for confidential one-on-one coaching sessions.  Email me and ask to set up a call.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Personal Development In Cross-Cultural Communication – Day 2

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Personal Development

This is Day 1 of the 30-day challenge to focus on your personal development in cross-cultural communication. Each day there is one short topic to reflect on.

Day 1 – The Right Mindset for Cross-Cultural Competence

The very first place you need to start when developing your cross-cultural competence is by having a look at your own mindset.

It is so easy to blame others for being different. There differences can create cross-cultural communication barriers. But our own starting point effects everthing. This is why we must be aware of our own mindset.

The Right Mindset For International Business Success

In international business this usually means that we must be aware of how our own personal baggage interferes with how we carry out our business tasks and the decisions we make.

The trouble is that it can be difficult to acknowledge that we have cultural baggage that can handicap our international business success. So it is important to look internally and identify the cultural differences we carry around with ourselves.

As we get to know ourselves better it becomes easier to turn towards others and engage with them.

Steps Towards Developing The Right Mindset

Here are a few things to think about. The right mindset:

• Is open to different ways of doing things
• Begins with curiosity
• Strives for empathy
• Chases away assumptions
• Seeks to understand the other person

Dangers Of Wrong Mindset

You must learn more about your own cultural baggage and how this impacts your own mindset. Because if you don’t and you begin with the wrong mindset you will simply not be able to connect with people from different cultures in any meaningful way. This leads to several possible outcomes:

• You could come away with the wrong conclusions
• You could make decisions based on erroneous information
• You could lose an international business opportunity

Beware Of Personal Baggage

It is not always easy to see our own personal baggage because of our own cultural filters. When you try to learn more about yourself it is not always easy to do because you are in a familiar environment where people have similiar cultural filters.

Even if you have good intentions, you will not get very far in developing your cross-cultural communication skills with a wrong mindset.

Keys To Opening Your Mindset

This is why developing the right mindset is something that often requires personal development over time. Most people need to work at it in small doses as they have cross-cultural encounters.

Finding the right mindset is simple enough. It just takes a little effort and some time.

Your Actions Today

Once you acknowledge how your personal baggage can impact your cross-cultural communication, it becomes easier to:

• Start by giving clear and simple explanations of why you do things as you do
• Show respect
• Restrain from showing your negative reactions. Instead assume you have made a wrong assumption
• Ask why others do things differently

Where To Get Your CCCC Tips Every Day:

• Here on this blog: Four Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges In 2009
• Follow me on Twitter in March, June, September and December

Need Cross-Cultural Business Coaching?

Do you need help in navigating the cross-cultural minefields of international business? Sign up for confidential one-on-one coaching sessions.  Email me and ask to set up a call.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Personal Development In Cross-Cultural Communication – Day 1

Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge – Build Trust

This is the last tip on how to smooth cultural differences to create a good foundation for trust in cross-cultural communication. These 5 tips are by no means the only ways to smooth cultural differences. Do you have any others to add? Please leave them in the comments below.

Smooth Cultural Differences

This last tip on smoothing cultural differences brings us back to our mindset. Yes, cultural differences can create havoc in cross-cultural communication and should not be ignored. But one of the best ways to approach this is with the right mindset.

Instead of noticing the cultural differences, focus on the person behind the obvious cultural differences. People with solid communication skills will always find a way of connecting with others. Why? Simply because they put their energy into finding the way to making that connection.

Trust In Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Tip 5

Focus on connecting with the other person

In the first 4 tips we focused on ourselves. Today’s tip is about both sides of the communication. Ourselves and the person from the other culture. It is about our own mindset and how we connect with the other culture.

What you focus on in a cross-cultural encounter matters.  It can make the difference between a successful international business meeting and an unfruitful one.

The Right Mindset

When you focus on connecting with the other person this naturally helps you to put aside any residual cultural baggage you may have. We all have a hard time thinking that we have cultural baggage.  But we do.  All of us.  This is what makes us who we are.  And our own cultural baggage can get in the way of what we focus on in cross-cultural communication.

Most people acknowledge that a cross-cultural mindset is willing to open itself up to different cultures. A person with a cross-cultural mindset is also someone who is able to put aside his own cultural baggage long enough to connect with people who are different.  This makes it easier to connect with different cultures.

Focusing on communication with others is part of the process of the right mindset for good cross-cultural communication.

Connecting With People

This is particularly important to remember in an international business environment. The business deal may be logical. It may appear to be an easy sale. But in international business, you need to remember that you are dealing with people. It is a person who signs the contract.

It helps to try to connect with a person… and not with a different culture.  Put the culture aside and find the person beneath the cultural differences.

Again, when you focus on connecting with a person, it is much easier to put aside their cultural differences.

Finding the person despite the cultural differences and connecting with that person is almost an exercise.  And exercise in communication.

Trust Happens Between People

Another good reason to focus on connecting with the people instead of focusing on the cultural differences, is that this helps you to build a good foundation for trust.  Even in business, trust happens between two people.  The personal relationships count.  In some cultures they count more than others.  But relationships count more in cross-cultural business because people need to be reassured more when dealing with cultures they are not familiar with.  This is how trust is built, and business relationships are tied.

When you make an authentic connection with someone from a different culture this helps to smooth away the cultural differences and avoids the issues of mistrust.  In addition, this begins to create trust.

Get All Cross-Cultural Communication Tips:

• Read more about all of the 2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 1 – Expand Your Mindset
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 2 – Get Extreme With Clarity
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 3 – Build Trust

Free Mini-Posters With Monthly Calenders

Mindset	Clarity	Trust
Expand Your Mindset	Get Extreme With Clarity	Build Trust

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Trust In Cross-Cultural Communication – Tip 5

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Expand Your Mindset

Today is the end of March and the end of the first of four Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges in 2009.  I hope you enjoyed the daily tips to improve mindset for better cultural skills as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Remember…

• Stronger cultural skills can help get more international clients.

The 31 day Cross-Cultural Challenge does not end quietly.  There is a surprise for you…

A Free Cross-Cultural Communication Mini-Poster

Be sure to download the free mini-poster with all of the tips covered in the March Challenge.

• 31 Cross-Cultural Communication Tips On Mindset

This way you have all of the 31 tips at a glance.

• Some people may want to follow one tip a day over the month of their choice.
• Others may use this as a quick reference. Sometimes reading the same tip at the right moment can be the key you need to open your own mindset to improve your cross-cultural skills.

And this is not the last time we will see these 31 culture tips…

Cross-Cultural Tips To Get International Sales

Of course, the subject of cross-cultural communication is interesting, but the real question is:

• How can these cultural skills help you get more international sales?

So, this during the month of April, I will go over each of these cross-cultural tips again and this time link them to international sales best practices.

Use the free mini-poster to follow along this month too.

Get All The Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Articles:

Click here for a complete list with links to all of the articles in the March Challenge 2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Free Mini-Poster With 31 Cross-Cultural Communication Tips

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge – Expand Your Mindset

A very large part of your success in cross-cultural communication depends on your ability to open yourself up to different cultures. This is the preparation you need before engaging along the path that separates you from a different culture.

Today’s Cross Cultural Communication Challenge Tip reminds us that our capacity of understanding different cultures starts by opening up our own mindset. Only then will we be able to move forward along this path of understanding.

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tip #26

Your challenge to improve you cross-cultural mindset:

• Read your daily tips every day during the challenge
• Think about what this means to you
• Reflect on how this could help you get more international clients

Suggested Reading:

• Culture-Free Communication
• Is Your Political Correctness Hindering Your International Communication
• Culture Changes How Brains Work

Get All Cross-Cultural Communication Tips:

• Read more about all of the 2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 1 – Expand Your Mindset
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 2 – Get Extreme With Clarity
• Cross Cultural Communication Challenge 3 – Build Trust

Free Mini-Posters With Monthly Calenders

Mindset	Clarity	Trust
Expand Your Mindset	Get Extreme With Clarity	Build Trust

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tip 26

International Sales Best Practices

This past month we looked at one cross-cultural communication tip each day.  March was the first of four monthly challenges this year to develop your cross-cultural communication skills.

Each month covers one aspect of your cultural skills:

• March = Mindset
• June = Clarity
• September = Trust
• December = Personal Development

More International Sales In April

Read further to find out how Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Sales Books are going to fit in with the cross-cultural communication tips to help your international sales skills.

Get International Clients with Better Cross-Cultural Communication

Cross-cultural communication skills are great.  But…

• Have you noticed the tag line at the top of this blog?

This past month has given us 31 tips to develop the right mindset for great cross-cultural communication.

You can read all of the blog posts, or you can download the free calendar to get all 31 of the tips.

Now that we have had a look at cross-cultural communication, let’s bring these tips together with international sales best practices.

International Sales Skills

In April, we will look at each of the cross-cultural communication tips once again, but this time from a different angle. Now we are going to look from the corresponding international sales best practice. This will show you how improving your cross-cultural skills can help you get more international sales.

Great sales people usually adapt quickly to different sales environments, even in different cultural environments.  This is because a great many sales best practices translate well across different cultures.  Yes, some need cultural adjustments, but generally great sales skills help you get international clients.

Some Little Sales Books To Help

On my bookshelves I have a series of little sales books that I enjoy reading.  They are great books because they get straight to the basic best practices of sales. They are small, easy to carry around and very easy to read.

• Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Books of Sales series

And it just so happens that there is a book that fits well with each of the cross-cultural communication challenges.

So the month after each of these Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges I will go through

• Each Cross-Cultural Communication Tip from the previous month
• The good sales practices in these little sales books

…and tie the two together for good international sales best practices.

Here are the books I will be using:

Mindset	Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge = March 2009	International Sales Best Practices = April 2009
Clarity	Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge = June 2009	International Sales Best Practices = July 2009
Trust	Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge = September 2009	International Sales Best Practices = October 2009
Personal Development	Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge = December 2009	International Sales Best Practices = January 2010

Next month we start with the Little Red Book Of Selling.  Every day we will look at:

• How good sales practices tie in well with one of the cross-cultural communication tips to develop your mindset
• How combining the two together can help you get more international sales

I hope you will have just as much fun looking at this as I will.

Want To Get The Cross-Cultural Communication Tips?

Get all of the Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips here:
2009 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Selling With Cross-Cultural Communication Skills

Mindset In Cross-Cultural Communication

Sharing information is one of the enriching aspects of social media.  One of my Twitter buddies just forwarded me a link to an article in the Financial Times:

• Broadening Leaders’ Minds

This article outlines how people in management positions:

• Travel to different countries
• To broaden their own mindsets
• And how this in turn gives them more confidence

I have previously written about how international exposure improves your cross-cultural skills

.

Mindset In An International Business Environment

On Get International Clients, I also advise businesses entering new foreign markets to concentrate on developing the right mindsets.  Sometimes an open mindset seems of secondary importance when you are busy with the business of going international.  And yet, your mindset can be crucial to your international business success. I have seen businesses fail primarily due to the inadequate mindset of the key people involved.  And I have also seen the reverse: someone with a business that appears to be of little value, makes it a success because the he has the right mindset. Throughout my career in international sales and marketing I have worked within many different international teams.  Most of these international teams were very positive working environments.  We all had similar levels of international skills.   People are much more effective and productive at work in a positive environment. But was there also another ingredient?

Personal Experience Builds Confidence

There was something else that struck me in this Financial Times article.

• The leaders who take the time to have a real business experience in an international environment come back with more confidence.

Confidence with an open mindset is essential to success in times of economic turmoil.

Confidence Through Creativity

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed listening to a short video by Clayton Christensen on the two common traits of creative people:

• In the early years of your life, living and observing parents who fixed things themselves instead of calling on someone else to do it.
• The confidence to try, and fail, and try again

This struck a cord with me, because this is exactly how I grew up.  Not only did my father fix everything himself , but I also saw him build a car, a boat, an airplane and even a hovercraft… all from scratch and going back to the drawing board many times before he got it right.   After listening to this short video I realized why I felt uber-confident in myself when I left home. As a parent, I wonder if I gave this to my children or not. And I also wonder if today’s generation will be less creative, and less confident.

Personal Investment For More Confidence

Developing cross-cultural communication skills is personal development.  You cannot learn them through study alone. You need to open yourself up when you interact with different cultures.  This takes personal energy. It also leads you along a personal development path.

I have often witnessed a strong own self awareness providing a leading edge in certain situations.

It is no surprise business professionals, who travel and invest in themselves in different cultures, come back with a renewed sense of confidence.

More On Mindset In Cross-Cultural Communication:

• Communication Across Cultures Is Better With A Whole Brain Approach
• Cross Cultural Vision Is More Important Than Learning International Habits
• How An Open Mindset Increases Confidence
• How To Acquire The Right Mindset For International Sales
• How To Identify An International Mindset
• The Secret Of Successful Intercultural Communication

Don’t Miss These Other Article On Mindset

• Mindset

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• Connect With Your International Markets
• Cultural Web Tools

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

How An Open Mindset Increases Confidence