PUBLISHED ARTICLES

Whenever someone moves to a new country, the most striking things are the differences compared to the homeland. When arriving in China, expatriates’ initial reaction is no different. In the new environment the newcomer often focuses on the 5% perceived difference instead of looking at the 95% similarities which can help us build a common platform.

It is our own attitude that determines whether we interpret these differences in a positive or negative manner. A clear distinction of managers in top performing units in China is that instead of complaining about these differences, these managers focuses on making the most of the significant positive attributes in their staff.

When asking Western managers what the strengths of local Chinese employees are, many positive attributes emerge. Almost all expatriate managers perceive Chinese staff to be;
•    Hard working – Unafraid of long hours
•    Willing and eager to learn – Quick learners with high energy

Other frequent positive attributes perceived in Chinese staff include; Execute orders rapidly (when understood) – Doers, Good relationship builders (especially existing relationships), Career oriented & ambitious, Helpful – Try to Please, Well educated – Good technical skills, Intelligent, Positive and Flexible.

Like the ancient philosopher Laozi, we need to understand that there are many paradoxes in life and work. Therefore, to achieve desired outcomes, managers need to watch out for the opposing nature of the positive attributes mentioned above. To elaborate:

•    Hard working and long hours - Might lead to imbalanced life and potential long term performance problems
•    High education from Chinese schools - Limited knowledge of Western common practice and short working experience
•    Execute orders rapidly - Might lead to “Quick, but wrong”
•    Good relationship builders - Preserving client relationships is sometimes more important than securing profit for the company
•    Helpful/Try to please - Do not speak up, not even when critical to do so, in order to not insult the manager
•    Flexible - Cutting corners around procedures might undermine repeatability and quality over time

With the right frame of mind, managers will understand the nature of their local staff’s innate talents. They will support their staff so that the strengths will not become challenges. Thereby creating a environment that is enjoyable, stimulating, positive, AND productive. The praise from those managers that have succeeded in getting good results together with their Chinese staff is overwhelmingly positive.

Successful leaders realize that top performing organizations are built on their employee’s strengths and not by focusing on their weaknesses.

Tomas Gustafsson