Over Labor Day weekend I got together with an old friend — a fellow I once taught Chinese to, who for a couple years made a quasi-career out of advising Western leaders on the ground in China about how to do business. I asked him to tell me a few stories. He told me of [...]

In some earlier posts on the business of culture, I’ve referred to three precious resources that are hard to come by and easy to squander in China: time, money and goodwill. The third one may be a bit of a puzzler. To the American eye it may look out of place alongside the twin kings [...]

I was thinking about the qualities of the culture-savvy leader as I read this piece on Dan Harris’s always insightful China Law Blog. At one point Mr. Harris quotes an earlier essay of his:

Any leader needs to be mindful of resources. Leaders are often evaluated on how they use an organization’s resources. The twist here is that in China the stakes are raised to a level that at times approaches the absurd. One small-seeming cultural snafu here or there can cost an enormous amount of time, money and [...]

In any organizational setting, leaders are best off keeping their cool and avoiding big swings — in mood and in direction. This goes tenfold for the Western leader in China, where there’s much more than the standard fare to knock you off your game.

If curiosity and humility are “head” qualities of the culture-savvy leader, empathy is all about the heart. Empathy toward whom? Everybody: peers from your culture, superiors “back home,” direct reports from both cultures…everybody.

Leaders face all manner of obstacles in culturally complex environments. Our home cultures provide us with many resources for overcoming obstacles — including a sense of self, born of belief in the values of the culture. When confronted with different values, though, that sense of self can feel under threat. Humility is a powerful antidote, [...]

Today we begin taking a look at the qualities of what I’ve come to call the culture-savvy leader. Success in China depends on many factors. “Leadership,” broadly defined, is one of them — but not just any kind of leadership. Success in China requires culture-savvy leadership.

Today an old friend and I had dinner at a quaint little spot in southeastern Beijing. We talked shop about an American organization we both know well, and some of its latest China moves — and how little sense they make.