Global Economy, Sure - but American Isolationalism?

On a recent European trip, to Italy, Greece, and Turkey, I was impressed with how easy it was to interact with our local hosts and service providers. Most people with whom we came in contact spoke English, many menus had English translations for every item, and English signage made getting around easy. Granted, our travels took us to tourist destinations, where this is not that surprising. But it made me think about how foreign visitors to the U.S. manage in our Anglo-centric culture. Only somewhere between 10 and 25 percent of Americans are able to converse in a second language. In Europe, this same statistic appears to be 50 percent, or slightly more. Multi-lingual signage in big cities appears to be directed more toward our residents from foreign countries than it does to visitors. (At Home Depot in Chicago, they have signs in English, Spanish and Polish.) Service personnel who speak a language in addition to English more often than not do so because they originally came from another country, where that was their first language. Although the United States is a melting pot of many cultures, we still have a somewhat isolationist culture. If we respected, explored, and embraced our diversity more enthusiastically, we would gain a perspective that would serve us better globally – both politically and economically. It’s a big mistake to be so arrogant as to think that our way is the only way. It’s not even always the best way. There are many global issues that should interest us, if for no other reason than they WILL impact our lives in some way in the future. Watch CNN World, BBC World News, or other sources of international news reports. Open your eyes to important stories developing around the globe and think about their impact. Will Turkey be admitted to the European Union? What will be the long term impact of the overvaluation of the Chinese Yuan? How do unemployment rates in the US compare to statistics in other countries? What will happen if democracy doesn’t take hold in Afghanistan? These issues, and many others, should be of more interest to us if we expect to retain a leadership position in the global economy. Education and experience is the answer to addressing our isolationist leanings in the U.S. Study world history and news, travel, learn another language, appreciate foreign music and art of different cultures, and open your eyes and heart to extraordinary experiences. We are part of a great, wide world, and we can’t continue to be successful as a country or as individuals without understanding where we fit in our world culture.

Uncommon Courtesy

Studies show that difficult relationships have more negative impact on work morale than anything else. Conversely, people who work well together and enjoy being part of a professional team find more job satisfaction. A major contributing factor to a pleasant work environment is common courtesy. In today’s workplace, courtesy is not always the norm! I bet you’ve had to deal with some of these issues on a regular basis: People who don’t return phone calls…The bum that takes the last cup of coffee and doesn’t make more…Petty gossip mongers…The manager that never offers a word of thanks…The peer who tries to take credit for your idea or work…Rude or confrontational email…Unrealistic demands…Team members who don’t do their share of the work…That person that’s always late for meetings… Hey, I was in the corporate world for almost 30 years – I could go on with real life examples of rude and thoughtless behavior. The lack of common courtesy is annoying in itself, but there are insidious side effects. Employees who experience uncivil treatment report lower job satisfaction. They start avoiding their jobs through repeated tardiness, unnecessary sick days, and reduced productivity. The office battlefield takes its toll. A culture of courtesy can be established by laying simple groundwork. Senior management must establish policies. Management should be role models and consistently set a good example. Performance evaluations should address a worker’s ability to operate effectively and courteously in the workplace. Unfortunately, many managers today don’t know how (or are afraid to) confront an employee exhibiting bad behavior. Without coaching there will be no improvement. Years ago, I worked on a senior-level team fraught with behavior problems. We finally had a come-to-Jesus meeting with our boss (a former Army sergeant) who confronted us as a group, “You don’t have to be friends or even like each other. But you will respect each other as human beings and behave accordingly, or you will no longer be part of this team.” It wasn’t pretty, but it had to be said. What’s interesting is that things actually got worse and, within months, two of the executives resigned and moved on. Then things got better! My advice to you is to do your part to create pleasant surroundings as part of the norm in your office. Politics can get ugly – you can rise above it. People deserve recognition when they do good work – be sure they get it. When faced with rudeness – respond with grace. The more people yell – the more softly you can reply. We can all strive to set the proper example. For those of us with naturally aggressive spirits, it can be a challenge not to respond in kind to offenders. Consider this… The secret to the Japanese martial art Aikido is to blend with the motion of the attacker and redirect the force of the attack rather than facing it head on, allowing practitioners to defend themselves while protecting their attacker from injury. That seems a wonderfully wise form of uncommon courtesy.