Better Business Relationships by Bloomsbury Publishing

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

35084.indb 1

16/08/2018 12:18

“Occasionally you come across books that are timely, utterly important and overdue. This book is one of them. Tasso holds the reader’s interest by brilliantly presenting a persuasive argument that oscillates between the basics of psychology and selling. The importance of relationships in business is vital. Better Business Relationships is packed with useful advice which is well written and remarkably thoughtful.” Clive Lewis OBE, DL Business Psychologist; CEO, Globis Mediation Group “Business leaders must be able to build real and meaningful connections with their clients, teams and communities – otherwise, are they really leaders? Today, there is definitely a lower tolerance for business leaders without a strong helping of EQ because of the demands of increasingly non-linear, global and network-based markets – you have to be able to work across boundaries and deal with diversity. In this context, Better Business Relationships is a timely, thought-provoking and engaging read. Paul J English, Global Leader, Markets & Clients, Grant Thornton “This book is an engaging read, written in a no-nonsense style and packed with helpful, practical tools and tips for building and maintaining effective business relationships.” Dr Kathryn Waddington, Course Leader MSc Business Psychology, University of Westminster “Kim explodes the myth that business relationships have to be cool and free of emotion. Her distilled wisdom and practical checklists show how best to enhance our natural human ability to communicate with others for mutual benefit.” Richard Chaplin, Founder & Chief Executive, Managing Partners’ Forum “For anyone whose business depends upon not only building, but maintaining and developing business relationships, this book is a must read. It’s a key skill that almost everyone in business needs, but no one teaches you. Kim has a wealth of experience in this space and it shines through. It’s a great reference book, but also one that you can dip in and out of and use just as a refresher – as I did! Building business relationships is fundamental to individual and collective success, and Kim’s book is the ideal guide for anyone looking to develop or improve their skills in this fundamentally important area.” Chris Pullen, Business Development Director, EY Law “Business relationships are not the same as social ones, requiring different skills and knowledge. Tasso provides a useful overview of theories, ranging from non-verbal communication, attitudes to change, creating rapport and why relationships sour.” Kiran Kapur, CEO, Cambridge Marketing College “Better Business Relationships is a book for our time. Tasso captures a moment in our evolution where we could all do with refocusing back on what really matters: people. To discover your real self is the key to unlocking and developing engaging relationships with others. This book makes you realise – in an era driven by win-lose outcomes, mobile connectivity, advancing new tech, big data and constant automation – just how much we need to nurture and hold onto the value of building enduring, collaborative relationships. Ultimately, in business and in many ways life itself, people and their relationships lead to better achievements and results. Perhaps we stand accused today of forgetting this, so the timely reminder, advice and tips are of value to us all and especially those of us in leadership roles who would do well to take note. Who knows, the next decade may even see a return to human kindness, the essence of relationships.” Dr Sean Tompkins (D.Phil. & D.Eng.), Global CEO, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

35084_00_FM.indd 2

16/08/2018 13:15

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS KIM TASSO

35084.indb 3

16/08/2018 12:18

BLOOMSBURY BUSINESS Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY BUSINESS and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2019 Copyright © Kim Tasso, 2019 Cover design by Eleanor Rose Cover image © Getty Images Kim Tasso has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Tasso, Kim, author. Title: Better business relationships : insights from psychology and management for working in a digital world / Kim Tasso. Description: New York : Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018021276 (print) | LCCN 2018034226 (ebook) | ISBN 9781472957009 (ePUB) | ISBN 9781472957023 (ePDF) | ISBN 9781472957030 (eXML) | ISBN 9781472957016 (hardback) Subjects: LCSH: Business networks. | Psychology, Industrial. | Success in business. Classification: LCC HD69.S8 (ebook) | LCC HD69.S8 T377 2018 (print) | DDC 650.1/3—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021276 ISBN:

HB: 978-1-4729-5701-6 ePDF: 978-1-4729-5702-3 eBook: 978-1-4729-5700-9

Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed and bound in Great Britain To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters.

35084.indb 4

16/08/2018 12:18

For my children, James and Lizzie, who are my pride and joy. And for Grant who is my rock.

35084.indb 5

16/08/2018 12:19

35084.indb 6

16/08/2018 12:19

CONTENTS

Preface x Introduction xi

PART ONE Difference: understanding yourself and others 1 1 Introduction: Difference is good – perception and authenticity 3 2 Emotional intelligence and empathy: managing emotions in yourself and others 7 3 Know yourself and adapt to others: NLP, cognitive styles, personality, gender, generation and culture 14 4 Relationship styles and team roles 30 PART TWO Adaptation: learning how to change 35 5 Why change is important but difficult: attitudes, habits, comfort zones 37 6 How to learn effectively: learning process and learning styles 41 7 Changing yourself and others: the change process, goal-setting, models of human behaviour, change management, reframing 46 8 Managing stress, mindfulness and building resilience 61 PART THREE Communication fundamentals 73 9 Face-to-face communication 77

35084.indb 7

16/08/2018 12:19

viii

CONTENTS

10 Non-verbal communication and telephone communication 82 11 Formal and informal communications, etiquette and storytelling 93 12 Public speaking and presenting 98 13 Written communication: emails, blogs, social media and reports 107 14 Influence and persuasion 116 PART FOUR Relationship formation and conflict management 127 15 Relationship competencies and formation 129 16 Types of relationship 134 17 Why relationships go wrong 141 18 Creating rapport and trust 148 19 Conflict and dealing with difficult behaviour 156 20 Achieving win–win and negotiating styles 169 21 The negotiating process 178 PART FIVE Internal relationships 189 22 Adapting to workplace cultures and internal politics 193 23 Assertiveness 199 24 Bullies, control freaks and stubbornness 205 25 Buy-in and consensus 210 26 Working as part of a team and finding a mentor 213 27 Team roles and how teams form 218 28 Managing teams, virtual teams and giving feedback 223 29 Developing and coaching people 234

35084.indb 8

16/08/2018 12:19

CONTENTS

30 Delegation and supervision 239 31 Motivation and leadership 245 PART SIX External relationships and selling 255 32 Working with customers and clients: expectations and satisfaction management 257 33 Establishing new relationships: self-esteem and self-confidence, first impressions and personal power 263 34 Building your contact base: networking, targeting, messaging and social media selling 271 35 Selling yourself and your ideas: sales processes, decision- making and cognitive bias 283 36 Selling skills: questions, active listening, persuasion, closing, objections and trusted adviser 295 37 First meetings 304 38 Pitching and tenders 309 39 Key account management 316 40 Generating recommendations and referrals 324

Further reading 331 Subject index 337 Name index 347

35084.indb 9

16/08/2018 12:19

3 Know yourself and adapt to others: NLP, cognitive styles, personality, gender, generation and culture Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) – a sort of applied psychology – was developed in the 1970s by a group of psychologists (Richard Bandler, psychologist; John Grinder, linguist; and Gregory Bateson, anthropologist) who studied successful people. ‘Neuro’ relates to the brain and what happens in your mind; ‘linguistic’ relates to language and how you use it; and ‘programming’ focuses on the patterns of behaviour that you learn and repeat. In essence, NLP is about using the language of the mind to consistently achieve specific desired outcomes. Some of its ideas and concepts could be considered the power of positive thinking. A key idea is that we each form a unique internal mental map of the world as a result of the way we filter and perceive information absorbed through our five senses. Some of NLP’s ideas are mainstream. For example, it suggests that people differ in the way that they prefer to receive and organize information – their representational system. Many schoolchildren in the UK are tested to determine their preferred representational system so that they can be helped to learn in the way that suits them best, and lessons are structured in a way to appeal to as many preferences as possible.

35084.indb 14

16/08/2018 12:19

Know yourself and adapt to others

The representational systems – and you can find out yours by completing an online assessment – are as follows: Representational The types of words used by Aspects of their behaviour to help you system people with this system detect their preferred system Visual

Auditory

Kinaesthetic

Auditory Digital

Draw, Look, Perspective, Pattern, Picture, Recognize, See, Vision, Watch

Hear, Listen, Loud, Noisy, Quiet, Say, Sounds, Words

Cold, Feel, Grasp, Hard, Hold, Sense, Texture, Touch, Warm

Motivate, Recall, Remember, Think

Appearances are important Breathes from top of lungs l Difficulty remembering verbal instructions l Draws diagrams l Eyes up l Head and body held erect l Memorizes by seeing pictures l Organized and tidy l Possibly disturbed by noise l Sits forward in chair l l

Breathes from middle of lungs Distracted by noise l Eyes move sideways l Interested in what you have to say l Learns by listening l Likes to be told how they are doing l Memorizes steps and procedures l Repeats things back easily l Talk to themselves l l

Breathes from bottom of lungs Moves and talks slowly l Needs to ‘feel right’ l Responds to touch l Stands close to people l l

Exhibits characteristics of other systems Needs to know ‘it makes sense’ l Talk to themselves l l

Why is this useful in business relationships? It goes back to the point that we are all different and that recognizing and adapting to other people can smooth the creation and maintenance of relationships. For example, if you are a visual person then you can adapt the way you speak or write in order to be more accessible to an auditory person. NLP suggests that you observe people’s non-verbal communication and their representational style so that you can mirror and match their behaviour. In this way you can increase your chances of establishing rapport (see p. 148) with someone.

35084.indb 15

16/08/2018 12:19

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

NLP also suggests that if you observe people’s eye movements, you can work out whether they are recalling or remembering visual, auditory or kinaesthetic information or constructing it or whether they are talking to themselves (i.e. self-talk). This might be useful in determining whether someone is reporting facts or creating a story. There are many other ideas in NLP, but those that are most useful for business relationships are as follows:

The core beliefs (pre-suppositions) of NLP include: ‘You have within yourself all the resources you need to achieve what you want’; ‘The meaning of communication is the response it elicits’; ‘Mind and body are connected’; and ‘There is no failure, only feedback.’ These positive ideas are empowering.

Circle of excellence: This is a technique for mentally rehearsing a future situation. Our minds cannot tell the difference between what is really happening around us and things that we imagine – and it releases the appropriate emotional chemicals accordingly. It is used to help people overcome nerves and to feel more confident (see p. 264).

Enabling and limiting beliefs: Our beliefs are self-fulfilling, so whether we think positive thoughts or negative ones, they will affect the outcome. This is partly to do with our brain’s ability to filter out and only receive information that supports our internal ideas (hypotheses).

Filters: People unconsciously use filters to transform experiences into thoughts. Common filters are deletion, distortion and generalization. NLP offers questioning techniques to help you achieve better communication with people using each of these filters.

Positive intent suggests that all behaviour is the result of a good reason – people may do or say strange things, but the trick is to understand their positive intentions so that you can communicate and work together better.

35084.indb 16

16/08/2018 12:19

Know yourself and adapt to others

Positive: The brain deletes negatives and works more efficiently with positive commands. So, rather than saying ‘Don’t shout’ use ‘Stay calm.’ We’ve all experienced what happens when someone says ‘Don’t think about an elephant!’

Reframing: This is one of my favourite techniques and I find it helpful for dealing with people with whom I am experiencing difficulty. It suggests that we try looking at a person or situation in a completely different way. For example, instead of seeing someone as being difficult and argumentative, reconsider them as being highly creative with novel ideas. The technique relates back to the idea of filters. If we consider someone negatively, our brains are likely to only perceive and remember information from them that supports this negative view. If we change the way we perceive them then we receive different information about them. What’s also interesting is that you can create a change in the relationship dynamics simply by thinking about someone differently. Your different view causes you to behave differently and they are then likely to respond to you differently.

Cognitive and communication styles and personalities There are other ways in which we are different. We can only review a few of the most important ideas here. There are suggestions that people differ in the way that they process information. Attentive people (sometimes referred to as the involved group) take a central route through information and focus closely on what you are saying. They develop counterarguments and respond, deciding what they think. On the other hand, distracted people take a peripheral route and focus on irrelevant parts that randomly interest them – they prefer simple language. In NLP we considered the way that our brains prefer to receive information. Harrison and Bramson suggested that people think in different ways and therefore the way we present information and ideas to them should alter.

35084.indb 17

16/08/2018 12:19

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

Cognitive style Synthesist

Idealist

What they are like

What you should do to work effectively with them

Curious Creative l Speculate with ‘What if?’ questions

Listen until they have finished Show interest in their ideas l Build on their ideas – use ‘and’

Ambitious goals High standards l Seek agreement and consensus l

Pragmatist

Analyst

Flexible Resourceful l Practical l Seek immediate reward/pay- off l

Accuracy and attention to detail Gather data before making decisions l Methodical l l

Realist

Fast moving Like to do things l Rely on sight, sound, taste, smell and touch l

ink your ideas to broad, quality L goals for the greater good rovide short-term objectives P Focus on quick wins

rovide a logical plan with P supporting data l Check that there are absolutely no errors l

rovide a three-paragraph executive P summary

Later on we will consider a similar idea about how people have different learning styles (see p. 44). Another model – developed by Dr Michael Kirton – considers cognitive style in a different way. He has a scale – called the Kirton Adaptor-Innovator Inventory (KAI) – which suggests that one-third of people are adaptors and one-third are innovators (with the rest somewhere in the middle). This model might be useful in business relationships when you are trying to work on problem-solving together or on sharing ideas.

35084.indb 18

Adaptor – Uses rules

Innovator – Breaks rules

Ideas based on the original problem and the original likely solutions

Has many ideas – some may not address the original problem

Likes ideas that are more readily accepted by other people

Redefines, reconstructs or reframes the problem

Does more comprehensive searches of one or two ideas

Presents many but less carefully worked out ideas

16/08/2018 12:19

Know yourself and adapt to others

Seeks solutions within the structure of a problem and in the ways that are tried, understood, safe, sure and predictable

Provides less expected and potentially less acceptable solutions which challenge accepted practice

Likes ideas which are low-risk and maintain as much continuity and stability as possible

Presents ideas that may be very different to prevailing models and which are likely to be strongly resisted

There are many different models about personality. Some of these models are quite complex but are supported by the psychology community. For example, the NEO model uses a detailed questionnaire to understand the mix of different personality characteristics: Neuroticism: identifies individuals who are prone to psychological distress: l

Anxiety – Level of free-floating anxiety

Angry hostility – Tendency to experience anger and related states (frustration, bitterness)

Depression – Tendency to experience feelings of guilt, sadness, despondency and loneliness

Self-consciousness – Shyness or social anxiety

Impulsiveness – Tendency to act on cravings and urges rather than reining them in

Vulnerability – General susceptibility to stress

Extraversion: quantity and intensity of energy directed outwards into the social world

35084.indb 19

Warmth – Interest in and friendliness towards others

Gregariousness – Preference for the company of others

Assertiveness – Social ascendancy and forcefulness of expression

Activity – Pace of living

Excitement seeking – Need for environmental stimulation

Positive emotion – Tendency to experience positive emotions

16/08/2018 12:19

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

Openness to experience: the active seeking and appreciation of experiences for their own sake l

Fantasy – Receptivity to the inner world of imagination

Aesthetics – Appreciation of art and beauty

Feelings – Openness to inner feelings and emotions

Actions – Openness to new experiences on a practical level

Ideas – Intellectual curiosity

Values – Readiness to re-examine own values and those of authority figures

Agreeableness: the kinds of interactions an individual prefers from compassion to tough mindedness Trust – Belief in the sincerity and good intentions of others

Straightforwardness – Frankness in expression

Altruism – Active concern for the welfare of others

Compliance – Response to interpersonal conflict

Modesty – Tendency to play down own achievements and be humble

Tender-mindedness – Attitude of sympathy for others

Conscientiousness – Degree of organization, persistence, control and

motivation in goal-directed behaviour Competence: Belief in own self-efficacy Order – Personal organization

Dutifulness – Emphasis placed on importance of fulfilling moral

obligations Achievement striving – Need for personal achievement and sense of

direction Self-discipline – Capacity to begin tasks and follow through to

completion despite boredom or distractions

35084.indb 20

16/08/2018 12:19

Know yourself and adapt to others

Deliberation – Tendency to think things through before acting or speaking

Unfortunately, these complex models don’t help us much in day-to-day life with business relationships (although they might be very helpful when used, for example, as part of an assessment before a job interview). In the business world, a common model is Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This is based on the ideas of psychologist Carl Jung and you can do an online assessment to find out your type, which is defined as four characters – showing which of each of the pairs is dominant resulting in sixteen different personality types. MBTI is based on four spectra: l

Extraversion (E) – Introversion (I): The extravert is directed outward towards people and objects, and the introvert is directed inward towards concepts and ideas. So an extravert might be action oriented, seek breadth of knowledge, prefer frequent interaction and gain energy from spending time with people. An introvert likes to think, seeks depth of knowledge, prefers substantial interaction and gains energy from spending time alone.

Sensing (S) – Intuition (N): This relates to how new information is understood functionally. Sensing people trust information that is in the present, tangible and concrete that can be understood by the five senses, and they like details, facts and data. Intuitive people trust information that is more abstract or theoretical that can be associated with other information, and may be more interested in future possibilities and how things relate to patterns or theories.

Thinking (T) – Feeling (F): This concerns decision-making and judging

functions. Thinkers decide things from a detached viewpoint, measuring what seems reasonable, logical, causal, consistent and matching a given set of rules. Feelers decide by associating or identifying with the situation and looking at it from the inside to achieve the greatest harmony and consensus considering the people involved.

35084.indb 21

16/08/2018 12:19

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

Judgement (J) – Perception (P): A preference for using either the judging function (thinking or feeling) or the perceiving function (sensing or intuition). Those who judge show their preference for thinking or feeling and like to have things settled, whereas those who perceive prefer to keep decisions open.

Let’s think how this might be useful in business relationships. If you were an ENFP (‘Giving life an extra squeeze’) and were trying to work with someone who is an ISTJ (‘Doing what should be done’) you would probably clash unless you recognized the difference and either modified your own behaviour or made allowances for the different style of the other person. DISC is another commonly used personality assessment tool. The DISC model of behaviour was first proposed by Dr William Moulton Marston, a physiological psychologist, in his book Emotions of Normal People. The assessment tool was designed by industrial psychologist Walter V. Clarke and others. The model covers: l

Dominance (sees the big picture, can be blunt, accepts challenges, gets straight to the point)

Influence (shows enthusiasm, is optimistic, likes to collaborate, dislikes being ignored)

Steadiness (doesn’t like to be rushed, calm manner, supportive actions)

Conscientiousness (enjoys independence, objective reasoning, wants the details, fears being wrong)

Other personality models tackle the same differences but use different terminology. For example, Insight Colour Analysis categorizes people as being red, blue, green or yellow – and all have positive and negative traits. Another approach uses animal analogies – lion, owl, monkey and horse. But all these models serve a similar purpose – to show that people are different and that we all have strengths and weaknesses.

35084.indb 22

16/08/2018 12:19

Know yourself and adapt to others

Another difference is in the way people prefer to communicate. This model looks at the extent to which people ask or tell and share emotions or controls. This results in four styles: l

Analytical (likes to write, aloof and sceptical)

Driving (spoken/visual, blunt and impatient)

Amiable (values human interaction, persuasive)

Expressive (visual/spoken, dramatic and curious)

Having explored several common and formal methods of personality assessment, I still prefer the simplicity of a very basic model I learned at the start of my sales career in the technology sector. It focused almost entirely on non-verbal communication from facial expressions so you need to be aware that it may not work well in some cultures. Interestingly, somewhat later I learned that the three types mapped pretty well onto McClelland’s need theory of motivation. I call it the 3D model: l

Dependent – People who smile a lot and like social interaction. Their focus is on relationships. McClelland called this desire for interpersonal relationships ‘affiliation’. Some refer to these rapport- oriented people as ‘dogs’.

Detached – People who have a neutral facial expression and like focusing on the task at hand. McClelland called this motivation ‘achievement’. Some refer to these folk as independent ‘cats’.

Dominant – People who frown a lot and like to control and confront. McClelland said the motivation is ‘power’ and driven by the desire to influence the behaviour of others. I call these the bears!

Again, knowing your own style and recognizing and adapting to the styles of others can help you develop business relationships more easily.

35084.indb 23

16/08/2018 12:19

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

Gender and generational differences Whether men and women behave differently – gender differences – is a controversial topic that can be considered sexist if we are not careful. There are some indisputable biological differences – for example, male eyes are wired more for central acuity and female eyes have better periphery vision. Steve Peters suggested that men and women have different brains which give rise to different behavioural tendencies. But many other differences are the result of upbringing and culture. This takes us back to the ‘nature versus nurture’ debate. There are obviously different chemicals in male and female bodies which can give rise to different behaviours and moods. How men and women experience and express emotions may alter too – although this is often due to cultural influences. For example, men may mask their fear with anger. Men tend to have more testosterone than women – which can give rise to aggressive behaviours. And women have to cope with monthly variations in oestrogen and progesterone which can alter mood and behaviour. In business relationships, we use empathy to try to imagine how the other person might feel or see things. Obviously this is much more difficult if you are a woman trying to imagine how a man might feel if you have no experience of being a man! There’s also a rather different dynamic because of the sexual angle. It can be tricky treading the careful line between friendly banter and appropriate behaviour in a work environment and there is much in the media at present about inappropriate male–female interactions in the workplace. Generational differences also exist. This means that whole groups of people – as a result of their upbringing during a particular time – can share particular views and act in a certain way and this might be different for subsequent generations. Here are some general differences between the generations as reported by Ron Zemke:

35084.indb 24

16/08/2018 12:19

Know yourself and adapt to others

Veterans (born before/during the Second World War 1939–45) l

Attracted to workplaces with stability

Want employers who value experience

Loyal

Baby Boomers (born 1940s–1950s) l

Place a high value on effective employee participation

Do not object to working long hours

Generation X (Born 1960s–1970s) l

Enjoy ambiguity

At ease with uncertainty and insecurity

Require proper ‘work–life’ balance

Resistant to tight control systems and set procedures

Nexters (Born 1980s) l

Intolerant of all unfair discrimination

Serious-minded and principled

Prefer to work for ethical employers

Since this work, there has been a lot of talk about the Millennials. These are people who were born between 1980s and early 2000s. Sometimes these people are referred to as Generation Y, Echo Boomers or Generation Me. In 1987, Strauss and Hawe indicated that this generation was categorized as: seeing themselves as special, being sheltered, confident (some might say overconfident), team players, conventional, pressured and driven to achieve. Some argue that whilst Millennials are more civic-minded, with a greater sense of local and global community, others have argued they have a sense of entitlement and are more narcissistic. There’s an interesting video by Simon Sinek about Millennials in the workplace where he talks about four aspects of this generation.

35084.indb 25

16/08/2018 12:19

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

1 Parenting – He argues that their parents told them that they were special and that they could do anything they wanted. With ‘rewards’ for just participating, they developed a lower sense of self-esteem (see p. 266). 2 Technology – The use of social media meant that they see others’ social media personas as being ‘perfect’ lives which they felt they did not live up to. And unlike previous generations, where there was movement through adolescence, learning to form relationships with peers, in the digital age these ‘relationships’ were often more superficial digital interactions, so the relevant people skills were not learned. Hence this generation finds it harder to form deep, meaningful relationships. Sinek also argued that the dopamine (a feel-good hormone) released from each ‘like’ or ‘share’ becomes addictive, so that Millennials spend even more time online. 3 Impatience – They grew up in a world where everything – information, films, music, TV series and even dates – could be obtained instantly. This instant gratification means that the generation do not know how to work hard at something over time which is needed both to achieve an impact (something else important to Millennials) and job satisfaction. 4 Environment – When Millennials move into the corporate world they find that it is driven by short-term financial goals and that they cannot achieve everything quickly and without effort. Sinek suggests that businesses therefore have a responsibility to counteract the poor parenting Millennials have received and provide more feedback and involvement to help them adjust to the work environment. Gary Hamel suggested that in order for organizations to attract, retain and engage Generation F (the Facebook Generation), they need to understand the following: 1 All ideas compete on an equal footing 2 Contribution counts for more than credentials

35084.indb 26

16/08/2018 12:19

Know yourself and adapt to others

3 Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed 4 Leaders serve rather than preside 5 Tasks are chosen, not prescribed 6 Groups are self-defining and self-organizing 7 Resources are attracted, not allocated 8 Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it 9 Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed 10 Users can veto most policy decisions 11 Intrinsic rewards matter most 12 Hackers are heroes Partly as a result of our digital world, young people are reported to suffer from churning – a series of on-and-off relationships – which can leave them vulnerable. It is likely therefore that it will be more difficult for Millennials to form meaningful business relationships. And those from different generations need to appreciate that they may have different values and beliefs to those from other generations. Bridging the gap – through empathy, discussion and listening – will support the development of good business relationships.

Cultural and international differences Another important difference between people is their culture. This spans issues such as nationality, race and religion. In an ideal world, we would study the culture of each person we meet in order to gain a better understanding of their view of the world and how this affects their behaviour – but that would take too much time. So there have been studies to see if there are general trends in cultures. There was a famous study by Geert Hofstede who identified a number of themes where cultures differed.

35084.indb 27

16/08/2018 12:19

BETTER BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

Individualist

Collective

The extent to which people act in their own interests or towards others in a group or society

Masculine

Feminine

Traditional male and female stereotypes with feminine seen as more inclusive and nurturing

Low-power distance

High-power distance

Low-power distance means people regard each other as equals whereas high-power distance people will have much more respect for seniority

Weak uncertainty- avoidance

Strong uncertainty- avoidance

Those with strong uncertainty-avoidance like to be given specific instructions and are less comfortable taking the initiative

Short-term orientation

Long-term orientation

Hofstede showed how these components combined for different nationalities: l

Strong uncertainty-avoidance (Japan, Portugal) vs Weak uncertainty- avoidance (Denmark, Singapore)

Collective (Asia, China) vs Individualistic (UK, USA) Feminine (Scandinavia) vs Masculine (USA, Austria, Japan)

High-power distance (India, Venezuela) vs Low-power distance (UK,

Israel) What this demonstrates is that even when people might look similar – or there may be a perceived similarity – nationality can have a huge impact on how you communicate and build relationships. A more complex model – with seven dimensions – was created by Trompenaars and Hamden-Turner:

35084.indb 28

Universalism (consistency)

Particularism (flexibility)

What is more important – rules or relationship?

Individualism (individual creativity)

Communitarianism (team work)

Do we function as individuals or as a group?

Specific (analytical, low-context)

Diffuse (synthesis, high-context)

Involvement, commitment and context – how separate do we keep our private and working lives?

16/08/2018 12:19

Know yourself and adapt to others

Affective (passion)

Neutral (control)

Do we display our emotions?

Achievement Ascription (hierarchy, (egalitarian, doing) being)

Do we have to prove ourselves to receive status or is it given to us?

Past (sequential)

Future (synchronic)

Do we do things one at a time or several things at once?

Internal (push)

External (pull)

Do we control our environment or are we controlled by it?

This might explain why it is particularly difficult to form effective business relationships with those from different parts of the world and different cultures. Many organizations which have culturally diverse employees offer training in cultural sensitivity to support the creation and maintenance of cross-Âcultural relationships.

35084.indb 29

16/08/2018 12:19