Are you traveling to a foreign country for business? If so, have you spent time researching and learning about their culture, customs, and ways of doing business? If not, you risk losing the respect of your foreign colleagues and may jeopardize your effectiveness in negotiating and striking a deal.
When we do business in the U.S. with people from other countries, we expect that they will firmly shake our hand, look us in the eye, and conduct themselves as we do during a meeting and when dining out. If they don’t, we think they are being rude, sneaky, or disrespectful. They expect that we will follow their customs and ways of doing business too so take the time to find out what is required in the country you’re visiting before you go. A great resource is the book titled “Bow, Kiss or Shake hands” and you can find it on Amazon.
Traveling to China, Singapore, Poland or Germany? Let me know and I’ll send you informaiton that I put together for a business etiquette session I did last week for the McColl Executive MBA Program.