I blew it today. Yep. A “classic”! My goal was simple: complete the registration process for getting broadband installed in our home here in N. India. I had gone down to the BSNL office the other day, and I knew which documents I needed in order to prove that I’m actually here. [Yes, it always takes more than just standing in front of a fellow-human...

A young man, a college graduate with a couple years’ work experience, sent me his resume. He’s currently in a job that is paying too little; he’s not satisfied. The good news: his current job has given him work experience that would serve him well in working for me. In his email to me, he expresses how badly he would like to work for us, and get...

Cross Cultural Business Thought 4 the Day: Friendships are Foremost Everything changes when you are “sponsored in” by a friend. You don’t need a 10-year track record with this friend! If you’re willing to be honest, humble and vulnerable, it will quickly become obvious to others that you’re genuinely interested in a friendship. I’m not recommending ...

There’s no such thing as “one-to-one equivalence” in language. You can’t just “plug and play” when you’re trying to take concepts across language and culture barriers. The all-too-common question, “How do you say….. in your language” isn’t that much help. The better question is, “In situation X,...

They say I’m an American. I’m not exactly saying that I’m not one. I was born there, raised there, and people can spot me from a mile away! But 25 years of working in International Business, in cross-cultural contexts, and living OUTSIDE the U.S.A. has certainly chipped away a bit at my “american-ness”, right? Yeah, there is still...