china mind

7/30/2019 China Mind

1/12

How China Transforms an

Executives Mind

NANDANI LYNTON KIRSTEN HGH THGERSEN

L E S S O N S F R O M T H E C H I N AL A B O R A T O R Y

Seen through the eyes of a modern Chinese

executive, a typical Western businessman isan antique. The Westerners manner of linearanalysis and individualism may be perceivedwith polite curiosity, but what does the Chi-nese executive really think?

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu advises: Onecannot enter into alliances without knowingthe designs of ones neighbors. Yet mostWesterners do not know how to preparefor working with Chinese; the usual solutionis a cross-cultural workshop that comparesand teaches specific behaviors. Studyingexpatriate executives who are highly effec-

tive in the Chinese environment shows thatthey have been receptive to learning fromChinese patterns and now think and behavedifferently than they did before.

China today is a laboratory for studyingglobal leaders because it is the center of rapidchange and a nexus for the integration ofglobal systems. Its culture throws conflictingviews into stark relief. During the next tenyears, almost any mid-sized and large busi-ness in the world will be dealing with Chi-nese as suppliers, partners, employees and

customers. To remain competitive in thatworld, todays international firms will haveto diversify their leadership and develop aglobal mindset. Chinese executives havebeen facing their own cultural dilemmasand learning to work with the West. Wester-ners are now under pressure to learn fromthe East as well.

This article describes the results of layer-ing Eastern andWestern thought processesbydescribing a select group of expatriate execu-

tives in the China laboratory. It shows howworking in China has changed the way theseexecutives think. They have learned newways of perceiving their environment and

new ways of reacting and acting within it.They have become more complex, more con-nected, and more personal as the basis fortheir consistently impressive business results.

T h e F o r e r u n n e r s

Today in Shanghai and Beijing, executivesfrom virtually every nation rub shoulderswith each other and their Chinese colleaguesdaily, carefully watched by headquarters andunder great pressure to produce profits. Basedon our work with more than 200 executives inChina since 1990, we identified 30 exception-ally effective individuals for in-depth inter-views, based on their public engagement,reputation, influence and professional status.Most head the China or Asia operations forcompanies like BP plc, BASF Corp., BHPBilli-ton, or BoeingCo. Predominantly male, half ofthe participants are European, a quarter ofthem are North American, and a quarter areAsian. Three interviewees are Chinese whospent long periods in the West before leadingmultinational firms in China; we profit from

their insights into Chinese culture from theother side. This article draws extensively onall the interviews.

Leadership is highly personal. This articletherefore focuses on the behavior and atti-tudes of the most effective internationalexecutives in China and examines how theydeveloped the traits and skills that makethem successful. Research on global execu-tives generally shows that, in addition togood business skills, they need the intellect

Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 170181, 2006 ISSN 0090-2616/$ see frontmatter 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2006.03.003www.organizational-dynamics.com

170
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2006.03.003http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2006.03.003


2/12

to deal with high complexity, the emotionalresilience to deal with strange and perhaps

unsettling situations, the personal strength toendure the ups and downs of a risky careerand lifestyle, and the motivation and abilityto learn from experience. China-basedexpatriates need these attributes; but to beextraordinarily effective they also apparentlyneed something more.

F i v e N e w P r a c t i c e s

The executives we interviewed have alllearned essential lessons from the way many

Chinese people think, and they have devel-oped techniques to incorporate this into theirown approaches:

They just Go They switch between thinking modes They do not discuss emotions but attend to

people They strengthen their attention and con-

centration They are connected beyond themselves

This article describes these five specificpractices. Together these practices reflect adifferent mindset; a new way of approachingthe world using both the right and left sidesof the brain more fully, paying attention tointuition and soft patterns, picking up onsituational details and relating to the whole.There are, therefore, overlaps in the practices but we find it useful to define them sepa-rately, set each in context, let you hear theexecutives own words, and share insightsinto how they learned these skills. Finally, wesketch some ways companies can assess can-

didates for positions in China and can traintheir skills for greater effectiveness.

J U S T G O

The first practice of effective executives inChina is to develop the skill of intuitive strat-egy. In the ancient Eastern game of Go, therules are simple in outline but complexin execution. Winning is all about gaining

territory; the player must strike a balancebetween speed and security as he moves his

pieces around the board. Negotiating theinevitable costs and benefits of each move,he loses a few stones but gains an advantage.As opposed to chess, there is no linear logic inthe way the game turns out. While chesspredominantly trains analytic thinking, inanticipating the next move and the conse-quences many steps ahead, the Go playertrains his ability to act out of awareness. Thereis no time for thinking in the game, and whenskilled, the player is a master in intuitingstrategy. Business in China is like playing

Go. You watch them do business and theyare masters at this game. They confuse eventhe most sophisticated strategist, said JamesMcGregor, author and businessman.

H o l i s t i c S t r a t e g y

Chinese business strategy can be contra-dictory and mystifying to Westernersbecause Chinese work on two strategiclevels; in some situations they will be tre-mendously cooperative and straightforward,in others they act like war-strategists, man-oeuvring fast all over the board, gainingterritory like the Go soldier. For the Westernexecutive, used to approaching problemswith one argument following the other in alinear movement towards a conclusion,meeting such a holistic strategy can resultin confusion or even humiliation. To focus onlinear strategy is at the same time to constrainthe business situation to a certain set ofproblems that have to be analyzed and cer-tain solutions that have to be outlined,thereby denying the distinctive strength of

the pace and passion of the Chinese market.Effective executives learn to recognize and

use both strategies. When things get difficult,they do not approach issues in their habituallinear way, but instead leapfrog problemsand just go. Instead of my usual pro-blem-focused get to the point kind of atti-tude, which turned out to be so unproductivehere, I have learned to step away from dis-agreements and go ahead and trust my intui-tion. Its a completely different way of

171


3/12

working and it took me years to learn, says abusiness owner. Since intuitive strategy is

largely unexplored in the West, there is littledirection on how to achieve it. The best placeto learn this skill is in China, where strate-gists have developed the methods over cen-turies.

F l e x i b l e R e s p o n s e

Adam Williams, chief representative ofJardines and best-selling author recalls,Once a Chinese interlocutor wrote in myplanner Never say No. I saw this as the

Chinese way, leave open perpetual possibi-lities, you can retreat or go forward, whichcan be very assertive. Over the years I havecome to feel more confident in such under-standings of the gut.

There are rules and regulations in Chinesebusiness, but the way rules work is extremelycomplex and differs in each situation. Inprinciple, everything is forbidden, but every-thing can also be negotiated, says PeterBatey, chairman of APCO Asia and now ofVermilion. You hit the wall of rules regu-larly, but then what you have to do is to checkout the limits, and adjust. Once you are inthis process of non-confrontational dialogueyou are on your way to reaching your goal.

C o n t e x t u a l P r o b l e m S o l v i n g

Effective executives in China first learn toturn off their usual linear strategy of focusingdirectly on the problem, and then learn tojustgo. The China president of BHPBilliton, Clin-ton Dines, describes himself as a contextualproblem solver. There is the problem, in the

middle, and I just pussy foot all around it,checking the context and understandingwhere it sits before I go in to actually solvethe problem. Thats the Chinese way and I useit. Some of these guys who fly in and out, thefirst few meetings they are just wide-eyed:they think Im crazy while I focus on theopportunities in all the small practicalthings.

Given the pace of Chinese business, linearstrategy will not be sufficient to keep up high

performance. To grasp new opportunities,todays executives rely on intuitive strategy.

S W I T C H Y O U R T H I N K I N GM O D E S

The second practice of effective executives inChina is learning to switch modes betweenlinear analytic thought and intuitive holisticthought. Some time ago I was on a projectwith a Chinese team, who drew maps ofinfluence, maps of personal and family andbusiness relationships, then stood back and

thought about things that could happen. Andthey saw the impact move from one map toanother. They are masters; they showed mehow to see the big picture. Although I nowknow the maps were not even so sophisti-cated, I can feel the many more hidden layersthat come into play, of people, of interests, oflong-laid plans. I can feel them like a seis-mologist and I have learned to play theexisting forces, recalls Joerg Wuttke ofBASF China. How are we to take seriouslythis wide-ranging use of soft patterns, offeeling movements in a tough business intel-ligence context?

E a s t e r n a n d W e s t e r n P a t t e r n s

Many studies show that Easterners focuson context and relationships, Westerners onindividual details and abstract categories.Richard Nisbet showed Chinese and NorthAmerican children pictures of a hen, a cow,and grass, and asked which belong together.North Americans answer the hen and thecow both are animals. Chinese choose the

cow and grass, because the cow eats grass.Such examples highlight the way East andWest perceive the world in distinctive ways.

Effective executives are aware of the dis-tinct difference between Western and Easternunderstandings and appreciate that eachmust be recognized on its own terms. WangNing, professor at Tsinghua Universityshares: I have developed a method to under-stand the Western writing: I have to comple-tely detach from the Chinese language in my

172 ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS


4/12

thinking. I cannot allow myself to translate,because then the meaning disappears. Like-

wise, executives learn to activate a new way ofunderstanding and develop the ability toswitch between the two. Note that they switchand do not mix thinking modes, because thetwo are qualitatively different, and cannot beused simultaneously.

S o l v e P r o b l e m s D o u b l y

Switching modes of thought makes effec-tive executives skillful problem solvers. Theypay close attention to particular circum-

stances when resolving conflict. They post-pone judgment and are concrete andpractical in a typical Eastern way in somesituations, while they use abstract specula-tion and linear analysis at other times. Linearthinking splits things into components,sequentially analyzes them, and step by stepputs them together in new ways to createnew results. In business, this means focusingon problems and identifying models for solu-tion.

Intuitive thinking, on the other hand,seeks patterns and pays attention to the cir-cumstances of a situation. In praxis thismeans going away from problems andattending to small particulars and relation-ships instead. Problems are recognized butare put on hold. Chinese leaders see theiradvantage in being able to contain differentoptions. We dont polarize its the last thinga Chinese would do. We get movinginstead, according to Jiang Weiming, chiefexecutive officer (CEO) of Novozymes.

D e a c t i v a t e A n a l y s i s

Focused analytic thinking is what Wester-ners usually equate with intelligence, andformal education is often an effort to sharpenour analytic tools. Westerners also use intui-tion, which is the source of much creativitybut is rarely a well-developed skill. Whenworking in China, the effective executivelearns to listen to his intuition. To do this,he pays less attention to his habitual under-standing (linear left brain) and focuses on his

other understanding (holistic right brain).Unfortunately, when we use one form of

thinking, the other seems like nonsense.Logical thinking cannot draw on intuition;likewise, intuitive understanding cannot bedivided into components and put in verbalabstract terms. The most difficult part reallyis to not think the way one usually thinks,says Roberta Lipson, an early China investorand co-founder of CHINDEX.

The only way to develop our second, lessprominent understanding is to train it whilealso paying less attention to the first. Trainingin using the right brain and focused coaching

can help extend intuitive understanding, butthe culture in which we live continuouslyactivates one way of understanding anddeactivates the other. It is, therefore, prob-ably only the hard knocks of cross-culturalliving that provide sufficient training in thesecond mode: People, even mature experi-enced people come here, and when theyfinally realize that this is a completely differ-ent reality, a completely different perspec-tive, they become very emotional. I have totell them over and over: what you see is notwhat it looks like to you, says Lipson. Thosemoments, when an executive recognizes hecan go no further within his current frame-work and strategy, push him to rely less onwell-developed habits and reach for alterna-tive resources.

D O N T D I S C U S S E M O T I O N S A T T E N D T O P E O P L E

The third practice for executives is to leaveemotions unspoken while paying close atten-

tion to people. After five years working inChina, I became country head for anotherfirm wanting to expand their business here. Iwatched the reaction of Dr. Wu, the Chinesemanager who had been in charge so far. Sincethe business was changing, I hoped he wouldcontinue to run the existing product divisionand support me, described a British execu-tive. We got along well, but Dr. Wuresigned because he had not been fullyinformed of the changes by head office and

173


5/12

concluded they did not trust him. I knewthey simply hadnt paid attention. Not only

did I spend time with Dr Wu, I also arrangedfor several people from headquarters to calland write to him. This personal attentionmade the difference. In Europe we just forgetto take care of people.

In China, things are practical. Like minoraches and pains, emotions are best ignored;however social recognition must be upheld.In negotiations I use feelings just to watchand see. Actually there are no feelings inbusiness, just reactions, says a top Chineseexecutive.

F o c u s o n P e r s o n a l N e t w o r k s

Although feelings are rarely expressed inwords, the Chinese expect business to bepersonal. Being a responsible person who ispart of a trusted circle, and being available topeople, is the basis for much of Chinese socialstatus within a group or organization. This isdifficult for busy executives unless they canvalue the importance of in-group status.

Attending to the personal level is easy tostrive for and hard to do. In China it is oftenassumed this means using ones network ofbusiness relationships (guanxi), but this verynetwork is a cultural construct, a very com-plex mutual testing system for human per-sonality traits before trust can be built, saysHans-Michael Jebsen, fourth-generationbased in Hong Kong with Jebsen Co. In asimilar fashion Lipson noted: You have tobe able to show qingyi (sincerity); when youfinally close a deal its because of the qingyiyou have been able to elicit . . . qingyi is whenyou show your deep rooted values, you show

you are trustworthy and passionate; theyhave to be able to feel it. To become a trustedbusiness partner or member of tight circles,executives learn Chinese modes of thoughtand being. They understand that actions aresignificant in themselves; that bringing asmall gift or letting an older person enter adoorway first shows respect and apprecia-tion. These small signs are visible to othersand therefore important; the emotionsbehind them remain unspoken.

L e a v e E m o t i o n s B e

The Myers/Briggs personality typologieswidely used in corporate personality assess-ments grew out of C.G. Jungs work on Chi-nese thought. In his model, Jung containedopposites, identifying contrasting types suchas thinking/feeling, sensing/intuiting, andjudging/perceiving. During therapy heencouraged patients to quickly move aheadwhen faced with life-dilemmas instead oftrying to solve the emotional problemsinvolved: The most serious problems in lifeare all insoluble; the way to deal with them isto outgrow them, wrote Jung. In the I-

Ching, Jung saw the power of withdrawingfrom emotions and focusing on details sur-rounding an issue. For instance, he did nottalk directly about a clients lack of assertive-ness, but used images and stories and then letthe emotional process proceed in peace.

Research led by Richard McNally of Har-vard University supports this, concludingthat debriefing people who have undergonetrauma is counter-productive. The teamfound that distracting oneself from painfulthoughts benefits healing a very Chinese

approach.

S e e k a D i f f e r e n t L e v e l

Recently we had some painfully difficultmeetings with our joint venture partner, afterwhich they refused to see our Board member.We had to send them a note stating head-quarters concerns, and we thought the rela-tionship was poisoned. To our surprise, theydid not answer the note but instead invited usto attend a performance of Carmen with their

CEO. My colleague thought this was a cheapway of bribing us. But really, they have nosuch illusions. In their mind we were emo-tional, and therefore not easy to talk to. Theyhadtofindawayaroundus;theywarmedourrelationship with a pleasant experience, andthen the CEO asked if our CEO might helpthedirector of the troupe cooperate with a Ger-man opera house. Of course he had done hishomework and knewour CEO is an opera fan.From their perspective, if it worked and our



6/12

relationship improved, all was well. And ifnot, they would switch and try another way.

Not that it would solve the problemobviously, only move it a bit.

This is how the Chinese often deal withemotions in business; they know exactlywhere they are, and then they distract,rephrase, research the situation, go to practi-calities, circle the periphery of the issue andreturn later. In the meantime, they tend theirrelationships, and trust that the emotionalissues will resolve themselves. This allowsthem to operate on completely differentlevels.

S e e t h e F l i p S i d e

Chinese can also display strong emotionsin business and are then perceived from aWestern perspective as rude and demand-ing. One executive recalled the arrange-ments for receiving a high level Chineseofficial in France. The officials staff arrivedearly and was shockingly unappreciative ofthe hosts efforts to accommodate his guestsspecial wishes. Instead they issued military-like orders to the hotel and the hosts staff. Thehierarchical system is strong in China and hasits own social rules and regulations in thiscase the staff were representing their boss andfocusing all kindness upwards to him, leavingnone for the colleagues whom, they assumed,were equally focused on making the officialhappy. Chinese EQ has many different appli-cations in different situations and not all ofthem are soft, but they all focus on people.

Despite their reputation as inscrutable, theChinese show but do not hang onto theiremotions. Emotions are like a storm that

passes over, recognized but not importantin the long run. What counts is how you treatpeople; Chinese show their feelings for oneanother by how they act, not with words.

P a y P e r s o n a l A t t e n t i o n

Many of the executives groaned about theamount of time spent with individualemployees, yet they know this is the key tostaff motivation and loyalty. Research by

Lufthans and Youssef indicates that payingattention to developing human, social and

psychological capital improves an organiza-tions competitive advantage. Multinationalscommonly talk about the long-term view andinvesting in people; in China this is a dailyreality.

You have to win Chinese colleagues overto be part of a team. Its very hard but veryeffective. So its lots of time one on one, show-ing you care for them individually. And youneed one person personifying the corporateculture for a long time this person thenbecomes the corporate values, says McGre-

gor. Ruby Chang remembers: I have learnedabout taking care of people from the Chinese.Like when I invited a Chinese member of adelegation to Hong Kong to dinner. He hadalready basically accepted but he had to callthe rest of the delegation. He said to them Ihave been invited to dinner by this lady but Iwill say no because our group will have din-ner together,so he istelling themhe has givenupmyoffertohavedinnerwiththem.Thenhewaitedforthem to convincehim that its betterfor him togo with me. SoI learned this ishowChinese take care of all involved. You can usethis for many things. The China Head ofFischer-Rosemount, Dale Lyle sees that inthe States I swim with the sharks, I keep mydistance and focus on results. In China, I havelost an inherent aggressiveness. I am con-vinced that learning to pay attention to peoplehas made me a more effective manager and awell-rounded person. In China you do notget ahead by acting openly competitive, butby attending to the personal level.

S T R E N G T H E N A T T E N T I O NA N D C O N C E N T R A T I O N

The fourth practice of effective executives isachieving a high enough level of attention andconcentration to switch between linear ana-lytic and intuitive thought. In situationswhere one has to really understand andoperate within different thinking modes,the ability to focus in the moment is essential.Get into the situation, forget about yourself

175


7/12

and go ahead and do the work; its all aboutmindset, advises David Wang, China head

of General Electric Co. and then of Boeing.Gaining this focus is rewarded by speed ofthought and action.

In the holistic perspective, linear causal-ity goes ignored, and as a result the intuitiveChinese can catch the moment powerfully.Because they do not evaluate, reevaluate, andreflect much on what they do, they are free toact quickly, to go. This intensely practicalway of getting things done was noted bymany interviewees. A European executivedescribed this: In planning a visiting pro-

gram last month, it was amazing how athousand practical issues could painlesslyfall into place as I worked with my Chinesestaff. They know all the details, they have analmost collective focus on what has to bedone, no egos are displayed, they sidestepall hierarchy for the purpose of effectiveness open ends closed with ease, the result weended up with was very effective.

B e S i n g l e - m i n d e d

The executives tend to see the Chinese ascontagiously enthusiastic and often almosthyper-focused in the way they go aboutthings. Jiang shares a typical situation:Whenever on my travels to remote areas, Isit down for some time at a restaurant and eatmy noodle soup, I can be sure that someuneducated peasant will sit very quietlybeside me for the whole time, observing me.In one case he just looks intensely at my shoes,because afterwards he will go home and copythem, and eventually he will make shoes thatare better than mine. I knowitswrong to copy

of course, but he doesnt; he just wants tolearn.

T a k e t h e R i g h t - B r a i n S h o r t c u t

Research demonstrates that intuitiveunderstanding occurs much faster in the brainthan does linear reasoning. I suspect theChinese brain is hard wired to lock-in in away we cannot; its the way the Chinese stu-dents work this is a great strength. Ruedi-

ger Ilg. Ilg, a neurologist at the University ofMunich, has used brainscans to show that

deductive analysis uses only one area of thebrain, but intuition activates three separateareas of the brain to work together rapidlyas an associative nerve center for patternrecognition.

To get things done quickly, effective Wes-tern executives learn to use right-brain per-formance and intuition to stay hyper-focusedon high priority tasks. When top manage-ment from headquarters flies in or duringimportant negotiations, effective executivesenter into flow, in which the urgent matter at

work becomes a higher purpose whileother problems are minimized.

U s e t h e E n e r g y

Right brain functioning gives leverage to anextraordinary energy that draws the execu-tives full attention to the task, regardless ofdistractions. When the intuition is at work,you know what you do and you reach yourgoals sort of painlessly and elegantly recallsPeter Feldinger of Novo Group. It is a feelingof being intensely alive: People say I lookyounger;Ihaveaspringinmystep.Icanthinkfaster, Im so clear headed I feel no burden,my focus is extraordinary. Its like seeing anentire plan mapped out without ambiguity,reflects Husayn Anwar, regional director ofBP. Top executive positions anywheredemand focus, commitment and energy. InChina, the extremes of pressure from head-quarters, endless days with banquets andcross-time zone conference calls, and thewidespread difficulty of delegating, combineto force executives to activate their intuition.

Paying attention to intuition does notguarantee the right focus, but the intervie-wees believe the lack of it guarantees a vaguefocus that rarely brings satisfactory results.

G O B E Y O N D Y O U R S E L F

The fifth practice of effective executives inChina is developing a sense of purpose basedon being connected to something larger than



8/12

themselves. I am inspired by the sense thatChinas time is coming and the Chinese unity

of purpose. This is tied to their strong senseof community. They describe needing toreturn to nature: to feel small on a big windyocean, the hills and open space restoreperspective, and many refer to religiousbelief: I go to a church or a temple; its aboutgoing to reflect, to know that all religions tellyou tell be good, to be positive. Jebsen says,I believe in a church culture; its a way to betogether and help causes and have a group ofpeople to whom you connect and feel respon-sible for. Williams jokes about his

increased tolerance of the supernaturaland unexplained: you cannot live here longwithout falling over Feng Shui men andBuddhist monks curing disease and seeingextraordinary things and people. You learnto see the magic.

F e e l t h e C o n n e c t i o n

Connected executives see their privilegedpositions as bringing social responsibility.In my position I can use power, not forthe pleasure of power but to realize thingsfor others. If you have social recognition,people will follow you. If you have a positionthat lets you add a drop of water to the glassof development for people, you must do it,says Jean-Claude Germain, head of PSA Peu-geot Citroen in China. This perspective alsobreeds humility and tolerance. You learnnot to dominate, to postpone conclusions, towithhold opinions, to be patient. Everythingelse is unproductive for business; humility isa necessary working tool for China, addsWilliams. These executives are deeply con-

nected to their surroundings. They know thateverything they do affects others, and thatthey cannot affect anyone without also affect-ing themselves.

R e fl e c t o n t h e F l o w

The leaders we interviewed know thathigh concentration and top performance can-not be sustained endlessly. Many mentionedthe pattern, referring to the ebb and flow of

energy, and reporting: If you are on a highfor some days, you will be on a low soon

after. The skill is to use passion despite therisks involved; There is real fragility in thismood, one can lose wind, clarifies Dines.Less reflective executives can be caught in thedownturn, leading to depression and evenaddiction as is documented by clinics forexpatriates.

Becoming aware of oneself in a largercontext takes the skill of meta-cognition,learned through practices that encourageattention to detail and time for reflection.Effective executives in China set aside time

to consciously reflect, they think about whatthey do and about how they think. I taketime every day, Yes I reflect all the time,they all say. I withdraw for 30 minutes, letmy brain flow, take notes about what really isthe situation? What do I really want to do?The more you think, the better you are,states Tom Behrens-Srenson, China presi-dent of Maersk Sealand. Every executiveinterviewed has a time and method for pull-ing back and reflecting; some say they wantmore time, but no one goes without.

G i v e B a c k

The executives interviewed have achievedworldly success. As heads of companies,their jobs become increasingly abstract andthey spend more time in formal roles. Thisdistance from concrete life tends to dull feel-ings and lead to frantically busy lives that canfeel empty. These executives seek ways ofcontributing to society, which also helpsthem remain in touch with their feelings ina hard-nosed business world. According to a

study of 629 German donors by the Bertels-man Foundation, most give to charity as partof a search for meaning; their motivation isthe desire to take responsibility for and con-tribute to the community. The British studyWhy Rich People Give demonstrates the influ-ence of religion on this attitude. To improveschools for the handicapped, to help childrenwith heart defects get an operation to savethem is important. I am so privileged in lifeand that brings responsibility with it,

177


9/12

reflects Ruby Chang, executive with theSwiss trading house, Edward Keller Group.

Westerners flock to Rotary Clubs, othercharities and environmental organizationsto contribute to China while the Chinese buildschools in their ancestral villages this is notall about generous genes. We feel we mustgive back and that makes us feel right. Andwhen we feel right, we are effective, whichfeeds back into passion and flow. By goingbeyond themselves, the executives we inter-viewed find purpose, nourish themselves,and renew.

S E L E C T A N D T R A I N F O RS U C C E S S I N C H I N A

Human resources are the largest challengefacing companies in China and those comingto China. How are they to find, hire, train,developandretainthepeoplewhowillmaketheir businesses successful? At the executivelevel, part of the solution to this challengeusually involves non-Chinese expatriates.

W h a t W o r k sGood selection for positions in China must

be built around the research on who is able tosuccessfully adapt to new places, who hasthe makings of a global-mindset, who hascultural intelligence. Our research on execu-tives who are highly effective in Chinademonstrates certain patterns:

- They are at least bilingual, and 75percent speak Chinese; 80 percent of ourinterviewees speak 3 or more languages

fluently.- They are highly resilient, positive and

curious.- They welcome new experiences; most

of them actively sought opportunities to gooverseas or grew up assuming they wouldmove between countries.

- They have strong family and commu-nity ties; 90 percent interviewed have mar-riages over ten years duration, and allparticipate in social and charitable organiza-

tions or contribute time and knowledge indi-vidually despite demanding jobs.

- They are explicit about the importanceof activities that give their minds free-range,including reflection, reading non-businessmaterials, or focusing on music.At first glance an unrelated list of attributes,these traits do form a whole. Speaking multi-ple languages testifies to intellectual abilityand increased cognitive complexity; resili-ence and curiosity indicate cultural intelli-gence; family and community ties suggestemotional stability and the ability to feelconnected; the skills honed in what is usually

termed hobbies keep the right and leftsides of the brain communicating closely.All these are muscles needed for growingthe additional specific skills for China.

E n c o u r a g e t h e R i g h t B r a i n

Designing a seminar that tells businesspeople about China is easy. Designing aprogram to develop the China skills dis-cussed here is difficult and is our ongoingresearch focus. There are some quick start-ing points for corporations and individuals,though. Most basic is encouraging practicesthat develop the ability to feel intuition,to use the right brain together with the left,to teach reflection and concentration andpaying attention. Our research shows thateffective executives are curious about them-selves: they will do assessments and seekreflection and insights from others. Compa-nies can encourage this by providingresources on-line, access to testing, andfeedback through coaching. Biofeedbackand awareness of brain use patterns can

be helpful. Corporate trainers can beencouraged to use methods that developthe right brain. Using visuals such as terri-tory mapping for strategy, or mind maps, isone of many current ideas about how toincrease whole-brain creativity. Organiza-tions can also encourage reflection byaccepting that executives set aside regulartime that is not interrupted. Individuals candevelop rituals that focus attention on thepresent moment or at least engage in activ-



10/12

ities that demand concentration, like golf, orsquash, playing a musical instrument, or

learning Go.

C h i n a C h a n g e s Y o u r M i n d

The work described here explores theimpact of Eastern thought on a select groupof Western executives who have extensiveexposure to China. Their experiences run par-allel: their perspective has been challenged byseeing that little can be accomplished in Chinathrough typical Western-style business think-ing and methods. Their analytic thought pat-

terns have been challenged, and they havelearned to think holistically. Their new cog-nitive style switches between linear analyticand intuitive approaches. And finally, theirindividualism and habits of emotionalexpres-

sion have been challenged and changed asthey learned to stop talking about feelings in

order to focus on persons. Through all this,they gain immediacy and connectedness to alarger whole.

According to the leaders interviewed,China teaches them to think, feel and actdifferently than they do at home. Effectiveexecutives in China use all the five practicesdescribed here regularly to reach their perfor-mance goals. These men and women may beharbingers of the global mindset that leadersprobably need in order to be successful in theintegrated and competitive world of global

business.

179


11/12

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Two books central to understanding thetraits and development of global executivesare Morgan W. McCall and George P. Hol-lenbecks, Developing Global Executives. TheLessons of International Experience (Harvard

Business School Press, 2002) and StephanRhinesmiths, A Managers Guide to Globaliza-tion: Six Skills for Success in a Changing World(McGraw-Hill, 1993). McCall and Hollen-beck set out to understand what makes glo-bal executives successful, what can derailthem, how they learned what they know,and how to distil this into a learning pathfor individuals and organizations. Based onextensive interviews with executives labeledby their companies as successful, they outlinethe traits and skills of these executives andexamine how they were learned. Rhinesmith

focuses on the need for global mindsets andidentifies six key competencies that man-agers will need for success in the globalizedworld. These are: getting the big picture,balancing paradox, emphasizing processover structure, appreciating differences,managing change, and openness, which Rhi-nesmith then links to a global HR system. InDeveloping Leaders for the Global Fron-tier, Sloan Management Review, fall 1998,2132, Hal Gregersen, Allen Morrison, andStewart Black also examine the characteris-

tics of global leaders and ascertain that hav-ing such leaders determines the success of afirms globalization efforts.

Several books examining particularfacets of effective global leaders build onthe concept of multiple intelligences. P.Christopher Earley and Soon Angs book,Cultural Intelligence: Individual InteractionsAcross Cultures (Stanford University Press,2003) is an important addition to the litera-ture on what it takes to work and live across

cultures successfully. Early and Ang providea valuable definition and exploration of theabilities they define as constituting CQ as anaddition to IQ and EQ. Cultural Intelligenceprovides both an overall concept and frame-

work for use, as well as a thorough review ofthe literature related to cross-cultural inter-action, and of assessment and developmentprocesses related to intercultural abilities. InMoral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Perfor-mance & Leadership Success (Wharton SchoolPublishing, 2005), Doug Lennick and FredKiel analyze original research, concludingthat the best performing companies haveleaders who promote moral intelligencethroughout their organizations. Lennickand Kiel see emotional intelligence as neces-sary to business functioning, but moral intel-

ligence as the key to knowing right fromwrong, with the most important skills beingintegrity, responsibility, compassion, andforgiveness. Rhinesmith states that in theglobalized world, people are a firms strate-gic edge. In Investing in People for Compe-titive Advantage, Organizational Dynamics,2004, 33(2), Fred Luthans and Carolyn Yous-sef examine the roles of human, social andpositive psychological capital in organiza-tional results and how to manage these. Theydetermine that positive psychological capital

including the traits of personal efficacy/con-fidence, optimism, hope and resiliency havesignificant impact on individual perfor-mance and suggest interventions tostrengthen these as a way of enhancing com-petitive advantage.

Focusing on China, Richard E. Nisbettexplores and contrasts Eastern and Westernperceptions, logics and models of reality inThe Geography of Thought: How Asians andWesterners Think Differently and Why (Nicho-



12/12

las Brealey, 2005). Nisbett gives detailedexamples of how Eastern and Western peo-

ple see and interpret the world differently,e.g., comparing whether they prioritize rela-tionships or categories. Michael Bonds bookBehind the Chinese Face: Insights from Psychol-

ogy (Oxford University Press, 1991) is basedon long experience and extensive academic

research. Written for the layman, it providespsychologically informed insights into howChinese act and think differently than Wes-terners.

Nandani Lynton is a clinical professor of global business and vicepresident for executive education, Asia at Thunderbird. Based in Chinasince 1993, she built, ran and sold an award-winning organizationalconsultancy. A Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Cornell, Lyntonteaches and writes about global leadership, organizational developmentand cross-cultural management in Asia (Tel.: +86 10 6467 2994; mobile:+86 1390 136 0130; fax: +86 10 6467 5054; e-mail: [email protected],

[email protected]).

Kirsten Hgh Thgersen is a professor at Sun Yat-Sen University,Guangzhou. A Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Aarhus, she has workedat international clinics in Beijing and Brussels for 20 years while runninga private counseling practice. Thogersens work often appearsin European newspapers and journals in China and in educationalmaterials (Tel.: +86 21 6404 3369; mobile: +86 1381 898 5753; e-mail:[email protected]).

181
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

china mind

Documents