A couple of weeks ago I had a meeting with a woman from Shanghai. She owned a travel agency and she spoke very good English.

I was arranging tickets to Taiwan and Hong Kong. As I was talking to her we started talking about China.

She told me she was from Shanghai and stated people from Shanghai are proud of where they came from because Shanghai has a long history and is westernized.

So we talked about how I felt when I meet people from Shanghai.

I thought people from Shanghai had a different cultural background from the rest of China. She was surprised to hear that I knew the background of Shanghai.

She also showed interest in knowing the background of being a Korean-American. She liked Korean movies and the Korean soap opera.

As we talked we became very close resulting in a good deal on my tickets.

To understand someone else’s culture is the key to removing the cultural barrier in someone else. It is not that difficult to find out about other cultures when you have business associates and friends from those cultures.

5 Keys to Prepare You When You Meet Someone from Another Culture

1. Read a little history of the country that the person comes from.

2. Learn greetings from the other person's language.

3. Tell them about your own cultural background.

4. Ask questions about other people’s culture. Show an interest.

5. Be patient if you do not understand them. Ask questions with a smile. It’s better than nodding in agreement when you don’t know what they are talking about.

It is very important for you to know some history, give a greeting to break the ice, and it will help you establish a relationship with the people you meet.

Remember, you are a Superhero!

Jinsoo

When I moved to the USA in 1985 I got a chance to start working right away. My first job was in a manufacturing company even though I was working as an Engineer in Korea.

It was very scary to start working in an American company where everyone only speaks English. I remember that I felt intimidated as I spoke English with a heavy accent.

My supervisor, who was five years younger than me, seemed like God to me. Going to work every day was not a pleasant experience. But I had to do it to make a living.

Then one day I met Jill, who was a senior manager at the time, in this medical equipment company.

She had blonde hair and blue eyes, tall and very white. She was quite different from me.

She was the most popular manager in the company. She didn’t have special skills or special MBA training to become the most popular manager. She had a bright smile and she said good morning to everyone. She was always asking everyone, “Is everything okay? Do you need any help?” It made my day so bright.

Here are five tips to become a Fun Manager:

1. Smile every chance you get.

2. Remember people’s names.

3. Every time you meet someone greet and smile at them instead of just ignoring them. 

4. Don’t tell people what to do. Ask, “How are you doing? How is everything? Do you need help?”

5. Remember to have fun with your staff. Tell a joke.

In the global market fun is the global language if you work with a multicultural workforce.

When you make people’s day bright, you will be bright and happy too.

Remember, you are a Superhero!

Jinsoo

Bin, a Chinese-American, has worked for an insurance company for the past 10 years. She loved her job and wanted to work for the company the rest of her life. She always came to work earlier than everyone else and stayed almost a half an hour later than others at work. She worked very hard and always finished her reports on time for her boss, Chris. She always listened to Chris and created excellent documents.

Chris was promoted to Vice President of Sales. Now he is in charge of national sales, is very ambitious and wants to make his job the best.

Chris is a New Yorker, Caucasian-American, MBA, is an outgoing person who is kind and funny.

Bin thought part of his promotion was because of her efforts.

One day Chris called Bin into his office and told her she would not be getting an annual raise until she improves her communications with him.

Chris was seriously considering replacing Bin. He said he had asked her for feedback during the past year if she felt there was a better way to prepare the reports and that Bin never offered any suggestions. Over the past year Bin did not recall one time Chris had asked for her input regarding the way reports were being handled.

For Bin’s culture in China you never give feedback to your superiors unless you are asked.

Consequently, Bin felt it was unfair to get the evaluation she did because Chris never asked her for feedback.

In my opinion no one did anything wrong in this situation however cross cultural awareness in the workplace played a key role in this.

Here are five tips to prevent situations like this:

1. Give employees a clear job description and define what is expected from them.

2. Share common goals with employees. For example, "We want to increase sales and please share your ideas on how to do this."

3. Accept culture differences when you work with a multicultural workforce.

4. Have cultural training workshops for all employees.

5. Provide incentives for new ideas. Money talks. Recognition builds self-esteem.

If you accept cultural differences everyone can work together as a team. Clear communication is the key to success.

Remember, You Are a Superhero!

Jinsoo

I have a lot of business associates in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. I get a chance to talk to them about cultural differences.

For example, David who lives in Silicon Valley owns a high-tech company and he has around 20 nationalities working for him.


He always says people from Eastern Asia are not straight forward and dishonest. I was shocked because honesty is a big issue for these countries. If you watch Asian movies you would see people killing themselves for honor or to keep their word.

Many times, more so than in American culture, honesty is important. Obviously, there are some mistakes but I hear over and over that this kind of problem exists in the workplace. I was asked to come to the company to solve the problem.


Many times people from East Asia are trained from a young age to solve the problem on their own and be responsible when they grow up.

There is a possibility that they are trying to fix the problem on their own and report a good result to the boss. In general, their culture is honest and that is important to them. That is why cultural diversity education is playing a key role in the global education market. 

Here are five solutions for a better understanding of cultural awareness:

1. Put a diversity education program in the workplace for everyone including senior management.

2. Encourage positive attitudes for management is key to success.

3. Build trust with your employees. Say what you mean. Be open and honest.

4. Put yourself in their shoes. Remember when you were in a foreign country what it felt like.

5. Encourage people to voice their opinions.

Cultural diversity education is the key to success in a global company. Building trust among employees will remove this problem.

Remember, You Are a Superhero!

Jinsoo

Not long ago I was giving a speech on business for the Asian community.

From the podium looking down I could only see black hair, black eyes, and black suits and white shirts. Since I was teaching FUN Management to the audience, I made a joke out of this.

I told them the meeting was business casual and next time I expect them to be unique and wear more colorful clothes, stop being so serious and smile more. I told the audience to give positive feedback to everyone in the group.

The next day I spoke at a business convention for a young artists association. They are successful entrepreneurs. At the dinner table they wore all kinds of dress: shorts, colorful and very casual. In this community, I felt they were having too much fun and suggested they dress more formally. They were young and needed to understand the business side so business casual would be more appropriate for them. They all agreed.

Here are 5 tips for multicultural business success:

1. Be unique and dress accordingly for the ethnicity of the group.

2. Add some fun for color in your dress considering the type of group.

3. Smile to the people you meet and show respect according to their culture.

4. Be positive and give compliments when appropriate.

5. Enjoy the event and expand your horizon by making friends from different cultures.

It’s good to keep your own culture however if you are going to an event with different cultures, dress accordingly and enjoy and discover new diversity in your life.

Remember, You Are a Superhero!

Jinsoo

Working for 20 years for American corporations I have changed my management skills many, many times. I started from a dictator type of management style as I felt I was the only one who had the knowledge and information to do the job.

Then I changed to the authority style where I told people what to do and left them alone. Later I became a mother figure, smiling but always worried if they might make a mistake or not. This got tiring so I became the schoolteacher figure: kind, work together and always leave them with homework.

Finally I found my style: The Jinsoo Style.

I’m the motivator and cheerleader listening to their brilliant ideas and with my experience we had the best results-oriented company.

Here are five tips to being the best manager.

I worked on a job where the CEOs always gave me a surprise gift on Christmas holidays. They picked the best restaurant for my husband and me to go to. One year they chose a sophisticated restaurant in Napa, called French Laundry. The restaurant had a waiting list of about 4-6 months. With the special certificate from my company we got in right away. We did not have to wait 4-6 months.

Another year they gave us a gift certificate to a Berkeley restaurant and there was no limit on what we could spend. Another year we got a ticket Cirque de Soleil.

So every year we wondered what we would get as a surprise gift from the company.

Here are five ways to surprise your employees.

• Surprise your employees. Treat them special. It could be something simple like an ice cream social at break time.

• Bring flowers and balloons to your assistant to celebrate their birthday.

• Have a special dance party or company picnic and invite the whole family.

• Take photos of employees during company events, picnics, parties, and recognition events and post them on a special wall or album.

• Shock them by knowing their special dates like wedding anniversaries, hiring dates and children’s birthdays and celebrate with them. Bring a special gift like cake or a small gift.

Nowadays people are really busy and we forget about appreciating others. So when you have time, surprise your employees and your co-workers with something special and unusual. Use your own creativity. It doesn’t have to be expensive it just needs to come from the heart.

Enlighten each person's day. Isn’t giving to others wonderful?

Remember, You Are a Superhero!

Jinsoo

Last June I had a chance to visit the country of Dubai. I’ve been a multicultural expert working in San Francisco, California near Silicon Valley and I always thought the city was a wonderful conglomerate of people until I went to Dubai.

I heard in Dubai there are 190 nationalities living and working together in harmony.

If you work in Dubai you have to understand 190 different languages and customs and make them work together. Yes, I found out that their management style is very successful working with a multicultural workforce.

My F.U.N. Management™ program always emphasizes the benefit of working together with different nationalities to bring global success. I learned FUN is the main language when you work with a multicultural group. FUN is the centric language that brings everyone working together. It brings each person's creativity and uniqueness to the table. The company or country brings the best creativity to their business. Of course it is very important when you are nurturing others and give back to society.

Your thoughts, ideas, and agenda are crystal clear in your mind, yet the minute you open your mouth to share it, something gets lost in the translation. You realize that what you wanted to say didn’t really get across at all.

They only heard half of it and, as a result, took the wrong course of action, setting your project behind by weeks. Or worse, they completely misunderstood your words and actions and were offended, insulted and felt undervalued.

This is how it feels to do business with employees, customers, and colleagues who don’t speak your language or share your cultural beliefs. How can you better understand their needs to achieve results? How can you avoid sending messages you don’t want to send? How can you give your company an outstanding reputation in the global marketplace? How can you turn this multicultural minefield into a real goldmine for your company?

Overcome the barriers and create cross-cultural synergy for success!

One thing I learned at an early age was not to try to change people.

I learned to accept people just as they are.

I was always curious and wanted to know why people were the way they were—for example, some have lots of persistence and succeed, while others don’t even try. I pushed myself to learn new things and to understand people who were different from me.

Following My Curiosity to a Mosque

When I was young, my parents encouraged me to cultivate my curiosity. My dad brought home fascinating books for me to read, and I was especially intrigued by the exotic stories in The Arabian Nights.

As a high school student, I had been taught a lot about Israel. The Talmud, a collection of religious writings about Jewish tradition, was a top religious book read by people in South Korea. I learned that Israel was an amazing country, with a history of suffering to which many Koreans related.

Later, when I was in college, my family moved to An Yang, a town near Seoul, Korea. I frequently visited Seoul with my family during my summer vacations and always noticed the mosque there.

Still, when I passed the mosque in Seoul, I thought of the Middle East with fascination as I remembered my beloved stories in The Arabian Nights. My strong curiosity attracted me to the mosque. The Muslim culture it represented seemed a forgotten one in Korea, which made it all the more mysterious to me. I wanted to know more about it.

Take a journey into the unknown and discover your strengths.

Jinsoo Terry

I arrived in the United States in 1985 with the assets of a good education and some knowledge of speaking and understanding English.

You may think this made my transition easy — I smile at myself when I recall that I naïvely thought it wouldn’t be so hard: After all, this was America, the land of opportunity!

Yet little did I know that my journey into the unknown would not be easy at all.

Take a journey into the unknown. Perhaps you can reinvent yourself as I did.

You may even find a place you want to call your new home.

Welcome “culture shock.” By seeing how people live in societies all over the world, you become a global person, one who can comfortably work and play anywhere.

Have fun with your creativity. Changing that old story of Romeo and Juliet brought my classmates and me a lot of laughter, and laughter is good for the body and soul.

Remember...You Are a Super Hero!

Jinsoo

Several years ago I was having lunch at the company cafeteria. Several of my Chinese employees were having lunch. They know how to have a good balanced lunch full of nutrition. They start with Wonton soup, Chicken with Chinese broccoli, cucumbers, and homemade oyster sauce. Then they have sweet and sour beef or Kung Pao shrimp. For dessert they have an orange.

The minute I walk into the room they saw me and offered me some food. They know I love to eat their food.

One day I walked in on their "special" lunch and one of the ladies asked me, “Do you want to have today’s special?”

I said, “Sure. I’d love too.”

Since I live in Silicon Valley I meet many high-tech IT employees and managers who often say they understand the multi-cultural world. Many of them actually put in an effort to try different kinds of food. I’m actually surprised that some will put in an effort to understand it and how open-minded they are.

It is really true nowadays many business deals are done in the restaurant. Many of the American business people are aware that global business can be done while they entertain them.

Recently the CEO of G.E. went to Korea to speak and his advice to Korean CEOs was making a deal in the restaurant. Today it is very important to understand the different types of foods from other countries.

Here are five tips America business people should know when doing business with Asian executives in China, Korea and Japan.

I meet many foreign visitors who are afraid to go to an American restaurant. Many of them think American food is fast food or hamburgers or just eating steak and potatoes.

One time I took my Japanese friends to a fancy American restaurant that offered steaks and salad. I found out that two of my friends were vegetarians and the others were shocked at the large 16-ounce piece of steak. Plus there was no rice which is a favorite dish for my friends. The steak was served with a saucer of horseradish to dip your steak into and it had a peculiar, hot spicy taste.

Another time I took my Korean friend to an Italian restaurant and she ordered a nice pasta dish with a cream sauce. She hated it. Later I realized that they don’t eat cream sauce.

So here is how American managers can make an unforgettable experience for foreign visitors.

Last September 12, 2006 I was invited to speak at the World Women’s Forum in Seoul, Korea. More than 70 world women leaders from all over the world got together for this amazing event.

I met women leaders from Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Austria, Australia, USA, Canada—you name it. The energy level was high and dynamic. I was amazed at the high energy from all these women.

I spoke twice on September 12 workshop and September 14 mentoring program. My topic was as usual “How Women Business Leaders Can Be Global and International.” I have spoke all over the world but this is the first time to speak to an all women’s forum. The questions from the women were amazing.

Whether from Japan, Dubai, Korea or China the questions were the same:

I have met many managers and executives who have difficulty motivating other people. They are working very hard to motivate employees, they pay them well, they talk to them and they try to improve their attitude, but many managers are failing to do that.

Why is it?

My friend Susan is a good example. She was a 30-something manager with a good background, good personality, and working hard but she could not motivate her employees. She asked me many times for advice. I think the most important thing she lacked was self-confidence.

I have a friend, Mario, and every day when I see him he would sigh and say,
“Another day another dollar.” Then I would say methodically, “Right.” Then he
would ask, “How are you doing?” I’d say, “I’m fine. I’m alright.”

Every time I saw David, who was in the same company,he would say
enthusiastically, “Good morning! Great day. Let’s have fun together.” When David
would say, “How are you doing?” I would respond with a big smile and
enthusiastically say, “Great! I’m having a great time. We’ll have fun today.”

Bring your passion to work everyday.

Many people think fun and work is separate. However I met many Fortune 500 people who bring their passions to work everyday. They are excited about coming to work because they have good goals to accomplish and they meet nice people at work that they consider their friends. They are passionate about the goals they are accomplishing.

When I use to work in corporate America, I had a buddy who had a support team. They ate right and exercised regularly. They paid attention to everyone on the team and made sure we did not get stressed out. If there were any problems at work we helped each other.

Do you have any employees who are frustrated in your operation? If you said “no,” I don’t believe you. If you said “yes,” I am glad because it means you want a change in your company.

I met Tom who came here from China who has a Ph.D. from Stanford. He has a heavy accent and it is hard to understand him. He is ready to quit his job. He gets paid six figures with an unlimited bonus but he is frustrated because no one understands him.

He works in a Silicon Valley well known high-tech Company. He has incredible ideas that will make a lot of money for his company which is a new sensational product idea for cell phones. However, because of his accent it is hard for him to explain his ideas and people get frustrated trying to understand him. He feels they look down on him. He is ready to move on.

Have you experienced this as a manager? Do you have employees like him? What can you do about it?

Here are some tips:

Every idea counts.

If you treat your employees like superstars they will become superstars.

Currently I am working on animation and music projects for my training programs. I am working with a multicultural workforce. For example, for my book project I work with many Caucasian business people; for my music project I work with young African-American Rappers; for animation I work with Asian artists; and for community work I train women prisoners to be superheroes.

As a speaker I get lots of opportunities to travel around the world and the United States. Recently I traveled to the mid-West I stayed at a well-known hotel. Since I live in California I am used to a multicultural environment but in the mid-West area I was the only Asian-American in the community.

Surveys say that 80% of miscommunication is made by managers. Can you believe that? Especially if you work for a “multicultural workforce” it is getting worse in my experience.

“What are the benefits of a multicultural society? “

One time I called two of my managers helping me with a project and explained my strategy and how to complete the project. When I came back one month later it was not even started. I asked them why the project was not done. They pointed out that I didn’t divide the job between them. There was no clear job description.

I said, “No job description?” One was customizing the program we already had and the other person was finding the right trainer to fulfill the vision. I told them to work together on the project, but they did not understand my directions.

In November 2007 I went to Korea for my book tour and speaking program to introduce my Korean book, “Catch the F.U.N.”

I gave a lot of speeches to large corporations such as Hyundai, Samsung, POSCO, and universities, like Seoul National University, Kaist University, Young Nam University, and School of Defense. I was impressed with the speeches I gave at this time as CEOs and top executives attended and sat in the front to be an example for their executives.

Every time I visit these organizations I can see how open minded they are and that they provide a lot of training programs for their employees. I could see from their facial expressions that most of these top leaders were open to change. They were sitting in an attentive position with smiles on their faces and were listening to every word I spoke.

I gave a speech at POSCO, the third largest steel company in the world. It was Saturday and they had a morning seminar and I was one of the speakers. I spoke how to be a FUN global leader. After me was Mr. Sim, a famous film director.

I was surprised and asked this company why they invited a film director to speak to their corporation. I was happy to learn they did this all the time because they stated it helped their managers, executives, and CEOs to think out of the box.

Through our conversation I learned they had included a famous ballet dancer, a writer, famous sculptor, musician, social activist, among others for other seminars. They wanted their leaders to be more open and understand other industries.

Here are five ways to help your team get out of their boxes:

When I worked as a vice president of manufacturing in San Francisco I had 15 nationalities working for me: People from Asia to Europe, Central America to California.

One year I gave close to 300 people a salary increase. It was based on evaluation reports from their supervisors, their managers on attendance and work performance.

Many supervisors had different values for their workforce.

When the reports were completed each manager sat down individually with each employee and discussed the evaluation.

My job was to sit in on each of these evaluation interviews and observe.

During the multicultural negotiation process each employee had a different reaction according to his or her culture or background.

I remember many countries in the world were trying to bring democracy to their governments.

They would try American or British style governments. Yet some countries like Vietnam, China and South Africa failed to bring democracy to their countries because every country has their own cultural needs and democracy is not number 1 on the list.

Instead they are focused on economy, industrialization, dictatorship forms of government and other goals.

in some countries like India, democracy was perfect. They have a big gap between rich and poor but in my experience their priority was the ability to take charge of their own lives and make their own decisions.

Here are five tips for multicultural practices in education.

The more educated a population is the less poverty they have. That is a proven fact. We know already that each country should educate their people to improve the Gross National Product of their countries.

In 2008 let’s start with the kids. Here are some ways where education ends global poverty and everyone can have fun doing it.

Let’s begin with this list.

1. Educational comic books with lots of color make it easy to understand the concepts in the book. It can be on cultural etiquette, different lifestyles, learning a new language, fun ways to learn math, and many other ideas.

2. Candy with educational wrappers. Once the child opens the wrapper there can be one math or science formula printed on it that a child will understand.

3. Educational messages in balloons. Who does not like balloons? Send them around the world with an educational message inside.

How do you handle criticism?

Criticism can be good and helpful for people to improve. However, in my opinion, criticism does not help a company move forward.

Any criticism can involve resistance. Many managers think that if they praise too much the employee may not continue to do a good job—they will get lazy on the job.

A few years ago I had a European manager named William (not his real name) who worked very hard and was sincere. However he spent so much time on details his work was never finished on time. One time we had a deadline on a project for a customer. Five other employees finished on time, William did not. He spent more hours than anyone else on this project.

I was upset with him and criticized him in front of other people for not finishing his job. He was upset and didn’t show up for a few days at work. He didn’t call or let me know what happened. He showed up a few days later and had a private talk with me. I found out he felt insulted for getting criticized in public.

As a result not only did we lose business, we almost lost him and he played a big role for my company at that time. Since then I use the formula, “Praise in public and criticize in private.”

Don’t compare one employee against another such as saying, “John finished. Why didn’t you?” Instead ask him, “Are you overloaded? Will you meet the deadline? Do you need help?” Or, “It looks like you are working quite hard on this project. Will you finish it by the deadline?”

I used to think that criticism would motivate my employees to do better. WRONG! It is not motivating anyone. In fact it decreases the productivity of the department.

Here are five tips to avoid criticism.

In America a lot of small companies have started and they are flat when it comes to rank. However, rank is important even in America. When you deal with a cross-cultural environment it will be necessary for you to explain that employees can talk to any manager in any rank.

Over the 20 years doing business I saw many times people were obligated to stick with their direct report managers even though many mistakes were made. Managers were taking advantage of their position and making it difficult for the company to succeed.

Many cultures never report problems or mistakes to their manager as they stay in their ranks out of respect, or company policy does not permit that. Some times an employee may go to senior executives with a problem and they tell them to talk to their manager first.

Here are 5 tips to avoid cultural block in your company.

An easy lesson in learning how to be open to all cultures can be as simple as “peeling an apple.” This is a story that I have shared many times with my audiences, and I tell it in my new book, “JINSOO: Succeeding in America the Jinsoo Way.” Here’s the story:

Jinsoo’s Apple Story

When I was growing up in Korea, I was sure that there was only one way to peel an apple: That way involved starting at one end with a paring knife and peeling around and around the apple to make a spiral cutting. Ta-da! The peel is in one piece—nice and clean. For 40 years I believed this was absolutely the only way to peel the apple.

Then one day at work I was in the kitchen and saw my assistant, Amy, from Canton, China, peeling an apple. She peeled as if the apple were a carrot or potato, from the center to the edge, in many little strips of skin—not at all in a spiral manner.

Alarmed that she would hurt herself from using the knife in that way, I said, “Amy, what are you doing? Please stop before you cut yourself!”

I was the boss, so Amy stopped peeling the apple and waited for me to continue speaking.

I held out my hand for the apple and said, “Let me show you the right way to peel an apple so you don’t hurt yourself.” I then patiently began demonstrating my way of peeling the apple. After I had peeled a little, I handed the apple back to Amy so she could try.

Amy politely attempted to imitate my example, but after a moment, she cut her finger! She looked up at me and said, “Jinsoo, my way of peeling an apple is safer and better. Let me show you how to do it.”

In some of my past threads here on Keyboard Culture, I shared with you how food can help break down a cultural barrier.

It is amazing to me how sharing food breaks down the cultural barrier walls. People start talking and laughing as they try the food. Especially if it is a new experience and they have never tried that particular food before. For one of the best cultural experiences of your life, bring your special and favorite food to work. It is always appreciated.

Today I would like to share  an excerpt from my new book, “JINSOO; Succeeding in America the Jinsoo Way” Here are some more food stories from my book.

Mario’s Salsa Breaks Down Cultural Barriers

Following my experiences in sharing food with the Vietnamese and Chinese, I also shared food with people from El Salvador and Mexico. I learned the differences between the foods from El Salvador and those from Mexico. Mexicans like hot, spicy food like Koreans. Yum…Burritos and tacos are good!

In El Salvador, they have a lot of seafood and chicken dishes, and they do not eat many spicy foods.

Mario was the most popular Mexican-American to my Asian-American employees. At first I thought it was because of his great personality. I learned later by accident it was because he made a great salsa like nobody else.

Sharing Korean Food

Kimchee is a food that is highly significant in Korean culture. There are more than 200 types of kimchee. Sometimes it is made from cabbage, cucumbers, turnips, and various vegetables. Anchovies, chili paste, garlic, and salt are included.

When I first traveled from Korea to the U.S., my mother gave me a jar full of kimchee to take with me along with the family recipe. She said, “Don’t lose your family’s spiritual roots.”

In keeping with the importance of how sharing food can remove multicultural barriers from the workplace, I would like to share another excerpt from my new book, JINSOO, Succeeding in America the Jinsoo Way.

When I ate the food of people from different cultures, I began to understand a part of their culture and felt that by sharing something so basic with them, I was a part of them. Food opened the door, but then we accepted each other and began to build a friendship.

About four years after I joined Cut Loose, my employees put on a surprise birthday party for me. I was surprised and felt so touched that they would do this! They took me to a buffet restaurant, where I had the opportunity to talk with them and learn about their families and the things they liked to do in their free time. It was great that we were all having fun and learning from each other. Here I was having fun with my employees in this unique way—through food and parties. It was just four years ago that I got fired because I wasn’t fun. Goodness, how my attitude had changed.

In early June I had a hectic traveling schedule. First I started out June 1 flying to Busan, Korea with a busy speaking schedule. Then June 5,6,7 I was off to Hollywood, California and then back to Japan on June 8 for my June 9 interview. Then I returned to Korea on June 11 to speak on the Jeju Island near Japan.

I had a busy speaking schedule in Korea on June 1 in Busan. It was definitely a hectic time for me, yet it was very interesting for me to get the opportunity to meet with the media in these different countries in this short period of two weeks and experience the different cultures and economy.

My June 9 visit in Japan was with BCN Inc., for an interview with their weekly newspaper and magazine. It was very exciting to get invited and be a part of this great opportunity. I arrived a day earlier on June 8 in Shinjuku Japan. I was very excited to visit Japan and looked forward to my media interview. I haven’t been in Japan for 25 years so I wanted to visit some of the interesting places and shop. Yet, something terrible happened on my first day in Japan—a young man went on a murder spree in the shopping district of Akihabara stabbing and killing seven people and injuring ten.

Japan had changed. I believe that Japan is safe and a very stable country yet it is difficult to believe this violent incident happened three times in two years.

I visited Hollywood three times in a three-week period. My main reason was to find a Booking Agent who can help me with my speaking engagements in the United States. As you guessed there are many, many beautiful people in Hollywood. I stayed at the elegant Standard Hotel on Sunset Boulevard where all the celebrities hang out.

The hotel was a very cool and hip place. Many beautiful people from all over the world came there looking for entertainment opportunities. It was like a world trade show: people from all over the world were there.

There were people in beautiful clothes and I could see all the unique colorful beauty of everyone. Clothes were very different from San Francisco. Lots of body and skin showed as much as possible.

I was in the spectacular lobby where there was a huge cage with women employees inside of it using their computers. I’m sure they hired models to do this because they all were gorgeous. A lot of the bellmen had tattoos on their arms. It was unique and a different hotel experience.

I had a session with Agerman, my rap music trainer, in downtown San Francisco. It was a four-hour session. I was practicing for my CD Release Party. Agerman has 20 years experience rapping and he is well known in the San Francisco bay area. Previously he was a member of the rap group, “Three Times Crazy.”

In the beginning I learned the breathing technique and how we would perform on the stage. Positive Rap music is all about bringing possibilities and potential to the listener. Also I learned when you perform that you start at the left side of the stage, then the middle, then move to the right and stay connected with your fans at all times. Your body gestures are very important along with eye contact to keep your fans motivated. I was trying to copy him but I was not born a Rapper—he was!

Conducting successful business meetings and negotiations with Korean business people can be as simple as knowing proper business protocol, etiquette, and entertainment.

Understanding Korean business culture can make your negotiations easier and successful when you learn some of the traditions listed below.

1. Business Etiquette

Exchanging business cards is an important ritual to do, and it is important to notice the status of the person who’s handed you a card.

Gift giving is a common practice within Korean business settings. Allow the host to present his gift first and be sure to accept the gift with both hands.

Koreans believe that contracts are a starting point, rather than the final stage of a business agreement and prefer them to be left flexible enough so that adjustments can be made. Be aware of how your Korean counterparts view these documents in order to avoid any possible misunderstandings.

Always let a third party introduce you to your Korean counterpart, when meeting him or her for the first time.

Today, it is quite common for Koreans to shake hands with foreign colleagues after a bow, encompassing both cultural styles. To show respect during handshaking, you should ensure that you support your right forearm with the left hand. When departing, a bow is usually sufficient.

2. Business Protocol

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to see first hand the problems caused by cultural barriers in communication. A biotech company in the United States had legal issues with a biotech company in Korea. This problem could have been resolved by all parties involved with a better understanding of cultural differences and improving cross-cultural communication skills in their negotiations and meetings with each other.

When negotiations come to a standstill it is time to evaluate and improve the business relationship in order to have successful International business negotiations. In my opinion the number one reason for unsuccessful business negotiations is cultural barriers in communication.

Here are some tips on how to improve your communication skills with Korean business executives.

Good body language is important.

Here are some differences. Koreans eye contact is usually indirect and Americans is direct. Korean posture is generally leaning forward with a slight bow, whereas Americans are straight and upright. Facial expressions of Koreans are very low key with a lack of expression and even deadpan at times, and Americans smile and are more expressive.

Understand that Koreans come from a culture that tries to show understanding and respect for others. They are low key usually so be sure your communication skills match your Korean counterpart.

Global companies who want to do business with Korean business people will benefit by knowing Korean business culture and the concept of Korean HAN – A powerful, deep feeling of sadness, frustration, anger, and resentment that sometimes threatens to explode. This emotion comes from 5,000 years of restriction that has built a force within Koreans and has passed from generation to generation.

This emotion of Korean HAN comes out as PASSION when there is a topic that Koreans feel strongly about, and shows up frequently in Korean business negotiations. It also fuels Koreans’ driving determination to succeed. They may not show it with their low key body language but they have a burning desire to succeed.

Koreans have made AMBITION a national trait. Their obsessive determination to succeed allowed South Korea to become a social and economic powerhouse with one generation.

When meeting Koreans, show understanding and respect for their “passion” to stand up for important issues and their determine to succeed.

Koreans are proud of their culture and that includes their

It is very difficult for American companies who do not understand the Business Protocol, language and customs of Korea to do business in Korea. Fortunately many Koreans can read and write English efficiently enough to communicate with the English-speaking world.

However, verbal communication can be challenging to them. Also the Korean business style is different that U.S. style.

One time I had an American business partner and I went to Korea to conclude a business negotiation and deal for half-a-million dollars. I didn’t receive a contract from them during the negotiations. I only received a verbal agreement.
I came back with the business deal but without a written contract. My business partner was worried and upset that I didn’t bring a contract with me.

I reassured him that I have the business. But he said, without a contract we don’t have any business. Two days later the contract came by mail and my partner was happy to see it.

This is the way many Koreans do business. There is logic and instinct during the negotiations on both sides and the signed contract comes later.

Understanding Business Protocol is Important

Understand Business Protocol and your negotiations will run smoothly and faster.

There is the story of the American businessman, Mr. Smith. He was having difficulty communicating with Koreans in English. He didn’t understand why Korean people were upset with him. He was trying to sell his product like you would in the United States. He sold everywhere except Korea.

He jumped right into talking about his product and tried to logically explain it, but he had a language barrier. Koreans expect you to understand cultural customs when you work with them just as we do in the United States.

Business Protocol and NEGOTIATING tips to help you communicate with the Korean business people.

Understanding Korean Business Culture:

9 Steps to Succeed with your Korean Business Negotiations

1. Bring lots of business cards. A businessman is not comfortable with you until he knows what company and what position the person he just met is from.

Therefore, the exchange of business cards in Korea is VERY IMPORTANT (especially for Korean Business Negotiation). It is a formal affair and plays an important role in instructions.

2. Bring a brief Bio in English and Korean with you to the business meeting. This will connect you with the right people quickly by providing this information.

3. Pay attention to rank. For more than 2000 years Koreans were conditioned to pay attention to the social status of Koreans. This “programming” makes them very sensitive to the rank of all Koreans.

In companies, managers can be quickly identified by the size and quality of their desks and chairs. A high-ranking individual sets in a larger desk than others. Top ranking executives have private offices just like in America. Chairs without armrests mean ordinary staff members.

When people enter an office they can assume that the desks nearest the entrance are the lowest-ranking employees in the office.

4. Surviving Korean Hospitality. Koreans typically roll out the red carpet for friends and visitors in the form of food and drink. At the office guests and clients are served some kind of refreshment. They might offer you coffee, fruit juice, soft drinks or even beer! It seems that “Pleasure before Business” is the preferred way of doing business in Korea. They even are accustomed to paying the restaurant and bar bills even if they are not the host. Hospitality is an age-old Korean custom.

Workforce diversity is alive and well in our companies today. The demographics of the workforce have changed. Today’s labor pool is different than the past. Available talent comes from an array of people with different ethnic backgrounds and life experiences.

Competitive companies must attract the best from this labor pool.

Communicating with each other can be a challenge when English is the 2nd language of many of the foreign-born employees. Yet, I have found there are many things a multicultural leader can do to improve communication and motivate the diverse workforce.

Workforce diversity leadership training is important for all companies that have a diverse workforce. Here are five tips I learned to make it a better place to work for my diverse workforce:

1. Communicate with care. Ask in nice way if they understand you. Speak slowly so they understand you. Your diverse workforce wants to do a good job so make sure they understand your instructions or comments.

2. Let them develop thick skin. Allow them to express themselves even if their English is not perfect. Encourage it. Let them offer new ideas and suggestions. Take the time to listen to their comments.

Multicultural leadership is becoming the norm to many companies as they hire people of every race, nationality, religious background and age group. This diverse workforce will work side-by-side in the same office, same building, and work environment.

Multicultural leadership experience is important in order to have a successful operation in this 21st century of global businesses. The most successful companies will be those that know how to lead and direct a diverse workforce in a fun, respectful and productive manner.

Good multicultural leadership encourages and cultivates their diverse workforce to bring out the best that they can be. One asset our multicultural workforce has is that they want to succeed. They have a burning desire to be the best that they can be on the job. They want to make a positive contribution.

Multicultural leaders must learn how to adapt to their diverse workforce to bring out their potential that is just waiting to be tapped.

Here are seven ways to help in the transition of multicultural leadership. These tips can help multicultural leaders make the workplace a productive, fun, and engaging place for their diverse workforce.

Knowing your customer is critical for a good marketing campaign. And you really need to do your homework if your target audience is a minority group. A business that wants to tap into the multicultural sector of the population has to be sensitive to cultural differences that drive spending habits.

That means dropping stereotypes and investing time and money in some research. There are research groups out there who gather information about how people in minority groups like to spend their money. According to a Forrester Research report, “there is more to reaching minorities than understanding demographic differences.”

Culture is more than skin color. It is a complicated mix of race, language and religion. It is influenced by immigration experiences and “cross-cultural” marriage. Ethnic identity affects cultural practices, beliefs, and even dress and eating habits. And just to keep it complicated, no matter the ethnic background people are all influenced by age, gender and income.

A survey by Solutions Group in Toronto found that advertising dollars are wasted because they do not effectively reach multicultural audiences. This means that millions of people are being missed by advertisers.

Minority groups represent a huge part of the North American population. There are 39 million Hispanics in the United States surpassing African Americans as the largest visible minority. In Canada, South Asians are now the largest, outnumbering Chinese by a half million.

So why are marketing campaigns still missing the mark with our multicultural populations?

The election of Barak Obama as the next President of the United States was historical in many ways. From a marketing perspective his campaign put an end to the image of America as a “melting pot” that contained one culture. Now we can acknowledge that American culture is what has been referred to as a “Salad Bowl”, made up of many different ingredients.

Candidates for any sort of position are marketing themselves. Obama and his team ran a multicultural campaign that used all of the high tech tools available but didn’t forget the importance of grass-roots techniques; there was everything from Internet use to texting to “chats” over coffee to big, formal dinners. This was a marketing campaign designed to reach as many different groups as possible.

We’ve all heard those expressions; “Think Global” and “Global Village”. Here’s another one for you; “Global Mindset”. If you’re a business owner or executive and you haven’t heard of that one, your business is going to be in trouble.

So what is a “global mindset” and why should you worry about having one?

We’re talking about what a “global mindset” is, why it’s important and how you can get one. Last time I mentioned that even a small, family run business needs to be culturally fluent.

Why?

People are on the move these days and not just to a new town, they’re moving around the world. In Japan alone the number of foreign workers has doubled since 1996. Advances in technology and transportation have “shrunk” the world and changed the way business is done.

Let’s say that you run a sole proprietorship; the convenience store on the corner. Are you interested in drawing more customers to your store? Getting the best price for your product? The cultural make-up of your neighborhood has likely changed a lot over the last twenty years.

Your customers are probably a colourful mix of cultures and being sensitive to their needs will improve your business. It could be a simple as bringing in some new products. I run to the corner store regularly for things I need, like milk. What products do your customers consider staples? Rice? Ghee?

I was talking about how advances in technology have changed the way business is done. We truly have a global marketplace to shop and do business in now. If you want to cook an ethnic dish using authentic ingredients there is probably a store around that has what you need. If not you can shop online.

Culture is about more than food and language. It dictates the way people behave and it is often at the root of communication challenges. A savvy business leader will have the ability to recognize and adapt to subtle cultural signals. Such a leader can manage his employees based on what technique or behavior will be most effective. That’s a global mindset!

Unfortunately those advances in technology I keep talking about have also created a cultural lag – we regularly interact with people from around the world, in the office or on the phone, but our knowledge of cultural differences “lags” behind, it is lacking.

Diversity in the Workplace – Are Your Managers Ready for the Challenge?

Thanks to globalization people from diverse cultures are interacting more than ever before; we are all part of a worldwide economy with competition from nearly every continent. Organizations large and small need to embrace diversity. In the process they will become more creative and open to change. Businesses that recognize the opportunities that come with globalization will capitalize on workplace diversity and make it work for them.

What does “diversity” mean?

Workplace diversity should provide opportunities for creative ideas, expanded marketing opportunities, and an enhanced business image. Unfortunately this isn’t always the case. Instead suspicion and prejudice cloud employee relationships resulting in decreased productivity and lost time and money.

Prejudiced ideas are not limited to one kind of person or culture; it is one of the many flaws all human beings share to some degree. The challenge for a business manager is find ways to overcome prejudice and that process starts when the manager looks in the mirror.

Step One: Personal Awareness

A diverse workforce is a fact of life in our changing world and marketplace. Managing diversity in the workplace means creating an organization that values differences and includes everyone. True change begins with managers and company executives and then works its way through the organization. In “Three Steps to Overcoming Prejudice – Part 1” we started the process of recognizing and examining our biases.

Step Three: Time for Reflection

Good intentions only go so far. You have to sit quietly and take time to reflect on your behavior. Ask yourself if you have made good on your goal to eliminate personal biases. How have your behavior and/or words affected others? If you consider the results of your actions you will be in a better position to alter your behavior next time.

I’ve said in other posts that the more you understand the people you work with, the easier it is to work with them. Learning to understand cultural diversity is essential for everyone. Communication is critical in any well-run business but it isn’t always easy when you are dealing with a culturally diverse workforce.

Language as a barrier to communication is one of the many topics discussed during any diversity training workshop, such as the ones I lead for businesses around the world.

How important is it to you that your employees understand what is expected of them? It should be pretty important if you want to have a successful business. Good communication not only affects the efficiency of your business, it impacts on the well-being of your multicultural employees. Everyone needs to understand safety regulations, emergency procedures and how to use safety equipment.

Here are some strategies to overcome language barriers in a culturally diverse workforce:

In the last blog, I gave [I’ve given] you two strategies for overcoming language barriers in a culturally diverse workplace. A multicultural leadership workshop will provide you with many more communication strategies.

I’ll tell you about two other strategies that will help you manage your diverse workforce and build an atmosphere that encourages open communication.

Provide English instruction: You can’t assume that the people working for you will have the resources needed to learn English. If they are new to the country they may lack money to pay for the class or they may be unable to find transportation to the class. A manager who respects the cultural diversity of his employees will support efforts to learn English; provide instruction on the job site and arrange the schedule to allow time for “homework.” Many states will subsidize these classes as part of a workforce development initiative. Support and encouragement is important; most adults find it difficult to learn a new language and will lose interest quickly.

Knowing your customer is critical for a good marketing campaign. And you really need to do your homework if your target audience is a minority group. A business that wants to tap into the multicultural sector of the population has to be sensitive to cultural differences that drive spending habits.

That means dropping stereotypes and investing time and money in some research. There are research groups out there who gather information about how people in minority groups like to spend their money. According to a Forrester Research report, “there is more to reaching minorities than understanding demographic differences.”

Culture is more than skin color. It is a complicated mix of race, language and religion. It is influenced by immigration experiences and “cross-cultural” marriage. Ethnic identity affects cultural practices, beliefs, and even dress and eating habits. And just to keep it complicated, no matter the ethnic background people are all influenced by age, gender and income.

Minority groups represent a huge part of the North American population. There are 39 million Hispanics in the United States surpassing African Americans as the largest visible minority. In Canada South Asians are now the largest, outnumbering Chinese by a half million.

So why are marketing campaigns still missing the mark with our multicultural populations? In a survey carried out in multiple languages the Solutions Group of Canada found that 52% of people said that they rarely saw advertising they believed was intended for them.

The problem seems to be a combination of corner-cutting and fear that something might be perceived as racist.

A smart business person understands the importance of a productive and efficient workforce. Business experts insist that your employees are your biggest investment.

If you are a manager of a culturally diverse workforce you will have to make an effort to understand what motivates your employees and makes them happy. This requires an understanding of cultural differences; your employees will have many different values and traditions.

A culturally diverse workplace could include people from many different Asian and Latino cultures. I use these two examples only because they represent large numbers of immigrant workers. The following advice can be applied in most situations.

In my last post I said that a culturally diverse workplace has people with many different traditions and values. Managing diversity in the workplace requires you to be sensitive to differences while still being fair to everyone.

One characteristic that is quite common to different cultures is the importance of personal relationships. Your employees may be from countries where life was not easy. A strong family and close friends might have been needed for survival; family and friends are first priority, work a distant second.

Here are two more strategies for managing diversity in the workplace.

Human beings are creatures of habit. We like to know what to expect and what is expected of us and we don’t really welcome changes to our routine. This tendency is at odds with the fact that businesses need to evolve constantly if they want to stay competitive. A change management strategy is essential.

Psychologists agree that it is human nature to resist change. Some see it as a chance for growth and new opportunities. Most of us see it as a time of instability that causes anxiety and confusion which is never good for productivity. Within a multicultural workforce there may be individuals who are especially affected by the threat of change.

You need a change management plan. If you consider the people who work for you a key to your business’ success, or failure, it just makes sense that you would want to guide them through changes so that they can continue to be valuable assets.

If building a winning team is difficult, building a winning multicultural team may seem impossible. It’s not. But the team leader does have to consider the different communication styles, language and ideas about teamwork that come with cultural diversity.

Any team functions best in an atmosphere of openness; it’s critical for a multicultural team. Team members need to be comfortable talking about differences and it’s the team leader’s job to create the necessary atmosphere by being open-minded and willing to discuss issues as they arise. One sure way to prevent a team feeling from developing is a “boss” who doesn’t want to listen to his or her team members.

Your winning multicultural team’s first discussion should be about what is meant by “team.” Team concept is different across cultures. Some cultures, like Hispanic and Asian, are traditionally very team-oriented. Team members work together and everyone shares decisions, every step of the way.

Is your employee incentive program limited to handing out Christmas cards in bulk that have the company name stamped inside rather than a signature and contain a gift certificate for a turkey?

This example may seem ridiculous but it still happens. There are many reasons why that approach doesn’t work and, frankly, is insulting to your employees. Read on for advice on motivating your multicultural team.

1. Get personal. Research shows that the best motivator is a boss who takes a sincere interest in his or her employees. People from many cultures are more motivated by a warm, “family” atmosphere than they are by monetary incentives.

2. Communicate. A truly effective multicultural team is one that openly discusses the project, outcome goals, and concerns. When team members are asked their opinion and given some control over their assignments they will be motivated to be successful.

3. Customize. The Christmas card/turkey certificate incentive sent out en masse is very impersonal and could even be offensive to multicultural team members who don’t celebrate Christmas. Find out what holidays they do observe and customize the incentive. An office fiesta for Cinco de Mayo could be fun.

Other ideas for non-monetary incentives include:

Imagine you came into work this morning and found your desk moved from its spot by the window. Now you’re facing a wall by the elevator. Your reaction? Some might be okay with it; most of us would be confused. Why were you moved? Is the boss trying to get rid of you?

If the boss had used a change management approach you’d know what was going on and you wouldn’t waste your morning asking questions and trying to get over the shock caused by the change.

Now imagine that you are new to both the organization and the country. Within a multicultural workforce there may be several people coping with many challenges. Hopefully your organization has a program to help with language barriers and culture shock. Mentoring a newcomer with someone who “knows the ropes” is one effective strategy.

It’s important to have a change management plan, especially for a multicultural workforce, but who creates the plan and who carries it out?

Change management plans are carried out by a team. Even a small business needs more than one person “on board” for change to be successful.

The change management team is the group of key people who come up with a strategy for change. Someone from each department should be on the team. The team’s main role is to manage the “people” aspects of the change. This team will make sure that important information gets communicated to everyone.

Remember that communication is very important for a multicultural workforce. Have information booklets printed in the languages used by your multicultural workforce. Then have small group discussions with a translator present to answer questions and address concerns. Members of the team will be the “go-to” people for everyone else; they are the ones who keep up the momentum when challenges arise.

Big changes within a company are most likely to succeed if a change management team is created. I talked about that team’s role last time. There are many people, not part of the team, who also have an important role in change management.

Change takes time; this is especially true with a multicultural workforce. Senior managers and other “upper” management who are already looking past the change and into the future may forget to practice patience with others who are just beginning the change process. Executives need to get in-sync with employees and become a visible, and vocal, “cheerleading” squad. Lack of leadership is the main reason change fails, even with a solid change management plan. When a multicultural workforce sees the “big bosses” actively committed to the change they are reassured that this change will be a good thing.

When a member of a multicultural workforce has a question, who do they go to for answers? Their immediate supervisor will be the one to communicate information about change.

Six months ago you became part of your company’s change management team. Now it’s time to assess whether or not the changes were successfully implemented. If something went wrong, there are two places to look at first.
If the change management team did its job the transition was step-by-step with plenty of two-way communication between management and its multicultural workforce. Goals and objectives were clear; everyone accepted the change and carried out their responsibilities flawlessly.

Things never go according to plan.

My work takes me around the world and I find it fascinating to learn about different cultures; such knowledge is invaluable. Thanks to globalization, cultural awareness is crucial for business success. I would like to share some of my observations with you.

In the U.S., business is quite impersonal; beliefs about religion and cultural traditions are “left at home.” American ideas about business are also very scientific; approaches are analyzed, methodology studied in a search for what is more efficient, more cost effective, and/or more unique.

With this cultural awareness, a foreigner doing business in the United States can understand why change is readily tolerated here. New ideas change the way business is done and the work force is constantly revolving; some leave, some are fired and new people hired. Friendly working relationships don’t often carry over to after-work hours.

Some cultures are not so comfortable with change.

Cultural awareness leads to successful business ventures with other cultures. In the United States, change and all things new are a driving force. Koreans are conservative, influenced by Confucian ethics of respect. In Saudi Arabia, the tenets of Islam dictate the way business is done. Today I’ll compare business structures in these countries.

It’s no surprise that business structures in the U.S. vary greatly. There are some commonalities though. For example, all large companies are considered entities in themselves; they are separate and independent from employees. Usually there is a CEO and some senior management at the top of the structure. The CEO has a lot of influence and is held accountable for the success or failure of the company.