As a global production manager of a chemical company, my first stay in China took me to Nanjing in 2009. There was a plant in my area of responsibility.
One of our suppliers had invited me to lunch, a few kilometers outside the big city. The streets became narrower, the sounds of the metropolis quieter, until only fields and simple houses dominated the landscape.
We reached a simple country house. In the middle a dining room, we were the only guests. A family gave us a warm welcome, and an interpreter was organized for the conversation.
While the steaming bowls were on the table, my hosts told us about life here: about working in the countryside, about the worries and hopes, and about an attitude that shaped their lives: they save for old age and only spend the money they have already earned. Nothing is bought on credit.
I listened and had to smile. This is exactly the attitude I had been taught from my parents’ home in Swabian Germany. There, too, the rule was: first earn, then spend.
When I told this, there was a brief moment of silence. Then I looked into surprised faces, followed by a hearty laugh and an approving nod.
At that moment, the cultural distance had disappeared. We recognized each other in a common attitude to life. What separated us – language, origin, everyday life – receded into the background. What united us was stronger: a shared understanding of responsibility, modesty and down-to-earthness.
It was just a country lunch. And yet it was an encounter that shows me to this day how familiar the foreign can sometimes be.
➡️ Now I would be interested to know if there has ever been that moment for you when the foreign suddenly seemed very familiar.
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I am Bernd Scharbert and I support you as a manager in implementing intercultural guidelines in your everyday life. It’s about using cultural differences not as a hurdle but as a strength, and creating real connections in globally composed teams.
If this topic resonates with you, let’s talk.
#Prepare4Landing #LeadershipInBalance #InterculturalLeadership
