I ts all about; how our communication changes its meaning,depending on the culture of the speaker /group he belongs.
This small but real&remarkable incident was communicated to me by one of my “celebrity friends”.
She had taken an appointment from another continent, with a media manager,who gave her the time. ONCE she reached in the city,of his country,(just for two days,for this & a couple of similar appointments),it was 9 am .The media manager came at the reception,and told her,he is in a meeting with the MD and so come @ 4pm.He has added that she can meet a lot of ‘useful’ friends and colleagues and even can have a former introduction of her purpose of visiting him,& can settle it there.
Impressed ,however,by the motivation,she wandered,shopped,dined there and brought the 4 pm,then called the manager.He asked ,where exactly she is waiting,then told to wait for ” just Five minutes, I am coming there”.She and two colleagues waited in the parked car,till 5.30 pm,and called again.This time manager told he is already out &walking towards her &”just five minutes,please”.
Convinced of her foolishness,she wanted to runaway,as of now, all appointments nearby are pending.Still,the usual power of media,really made her wait one more hour,@6.30pm again she called,he said,”I am already here,just two minutes to cross the road ” AND SHE SAID SHE BELIEVED IT , waited till 7.30pm and left the city. After exactly 7 minutes his call came ,that he has reached,and” come soon”.Irritated,but happy that it has come to an end,she returned to the same place and met him.Then the climax,the manager told her that he was in a town two hrs away,want her not to go,so said five minutes!!
In a TWO day Trip ,one precious day went just like that.She returned,unfulfilled ,her mission.
Whom do you support,my friend,who did not have the cultural competency of the land/people to realize,there(?) 5 minutes can be like this-
OR the manager ,who does not had the EQ skill (self confidence) to admit, that it will take two hours to reach,with an apology??? what are the other elements, which u think, are embedded in the happening ?
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CROSS CULTURAL &EQ BASED COMMUNICATION WORKSHOP@COCHIN,”DNA2012‘ IN JULY, and @ABUDHABI in MAY 5,6,7will really help you to save time,
money&targeted success,as” All communications are culture based ” communications become faulty,when you do not know the cultural background of the speaker. logon:www.dnaofexcellence.org
by the by,which city do you guess this happened?? if not the country? TEST your awareness. Best Regards to all.