Landing an internship at a Fortune 500 company was a dream come true—until I had to navigate the cultural complexities of doing business across borders. Reporting to a team in Mexico from my local office in Brazil, I quickly learned that speaking fluent Spanish wasn’t enough. The subtleties of accents, cultural norms and communication styles were a whole new game.
The experience taught me that to succeed in business across cultures, you need more than just language skills—you need a deep understanding of the culture itself.
Working with people from different cultures
We learn how to communicate from a very young age, and even though we often don't think about how we express ourselves day-to-day, there can be significant differences in communication styles between cultures.
I experienced this first-hand, during an internship in my first year at university. I was living in Brazil at the time, and the company hired me to work for their local office and report directly to their team in Mexico. If I needed to get on a call with my boss, I had to either pick up the phone or book one of the large Cisco conference call rooms. This was before Skype, Zoom and other popular communication and collaboration platforms.
My boss and I communicated in Spanish, a language I was already fluent in. But conducting business in Spanish, especially with people from a different culture, who spoke with different accents, was a whole new challenge.
I was part of the customer success team, and I remember feeling nervous as I wrote emails to some clients. I was so worried about choosing the right words, getting the grammar perfect and making sure I addressed everyone correctly.
This was just one of the many experiences I had working in cross-cultural environments, but it taught me a valuable lesson.
To do business with a different culture effectively, I first needed to understand as much as possible about that culture.
So I learned to adapt. I found that if I adjusted my accent to sound more Mexican, my calls with clients were better received. I made a conscious effort to refine this skill, which helped me move forward with my work. I also learned to be okay with not knowing, and I’ve continued to navigate new situations with care and an openness to learning.
Communication and body language
Our tone, volume of speech, gestures and even facial expressions can be interpreted differently depending on the cultural context of the person you're speaking to. Being aware of these nuances is important to avoid misunderstandings and to present our best selves.
I'm originally from Brazil but have lived in Canada for about eight years. As someone who comes from a culture that is loud, gesticulates a lot (compared to Canadians) and is more confrontational, I had to learn to communicate in a different manner and be careful with my words when, for example, I give feedback.
Another Brazilian friend of mine mentions that he worked hard to speak with a more even tone of voice and gesticulate less. He adapted based on honest feedback from his business partner, who told him that his typical way of communicating could be interpreted as aggressive or "too passionate."
Body language is another subtle aspect of communication.
While doing my master’s in intercultural communication at Royal Roads University, an instructor presented an excerpt from an old textbook made for American expats working in Brazil. It talked about personal space and even specified (in feet) how far Brazilians stand from each other.
It also explained that Brazilians tend to stand closer together than our American counterparts, even in professional settings. The book also advised its readers that they shouldn’t step back if a Brazilian co-worker stood closer, as that would be considered odd and might be interpreted poorly. I chuckled, because I’d never realized how true-to-life this was.
Something that might be uncomfortable or seem odd for you might be a norm for someone else, and the opposite can also be true. Taking time to understand that body language and acknowledging that what it conveys may change between cultures, allows us to pause, reflect and identify if we are misinterpreting something.
Differences in how we view hierarchy
According to the United Nations, in 2020 there were about 281 million migrants globally—that's one out of every 30 people worldwide. Now more than ever, working with people from different cultures has become the norm, not the exception. But working together has its challenges.
Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory uses the term “power distance” to describe the differences between cultures and how they react to authority. In our context as entrepreneurs, it is important to understand that people from different cultures can demonstrate respect for authority quite differently.
For example, in some cultures it is considered disrespectful to correct your boss or directly tell them they are wrong, while in other cultures, a flat hierarchy is normal and expected. This can impact if and how people share their thoughts and interact with their team and their bosses.
This dynamic also affects relationships with vendors and sales. For example, if you're a B2B company selling to an international client, cultural differences may influence their decision-making process and determine who has the authority to make final decisions.
A friend of mine was conducting an interview process to find a new team member. She was quite excited about one candidate in particular, and they seemed perfect on paper. But at the interview, my friend felt like the candidate wasn’t expressing as much enthusiasm as the other interviewees. She spoke softly and didn’t maintain eye contact.
At first, my friend perceived these qualities in a negative light. But as she did her research and checked the candidate’s profile, she realized this star candidate came from a culture that had a high respect for authority, which explained the candidate’s demeanor. The decreased eye contact was the candidate’s way of signaling respect.
Getting curious and doing her due diligence allowed my friend to view her candidate in a more positive light, resulting in an amazing employee who she might otherwise have dismissed.
Time perception
People from cultures that are extremely punctual might view tardiness from other people as disrespectful, while in many cultures being 10 or even 20 minutes late to a meeting is acceptable.
In Canada, I have learned to warn people even if I’ll be a few minutes late. But I don't take it personally if someone from Brazil is 10 minutes late, because it's a cultural norm.
I had a mentor who had just started working with companies from Latin America, and he expressed his frustration, "They are never on time, always running late. It is so disrespectful.”
I explained our different perceptions of time and gave him a suggestion, “How about next time you clarify to them how you experience their tardiness, and ask them to inform you if they are going to be late.”
A few weeks later he came back to me and said that since having that conversation, his counterparts were always on time for their weekly calls.
Another common difference is how the beginning of a meeting is run and how much time people spend building trust during those first few moments. In some cultures, including many I’ve experienced in Latin America, it’s polite to start the meeting with bonding and chitchat, as a way to build rapport and develop a relationship with the other party.
Meanwhile in my work in North America, I’ve noticed meetings are run with a priority on efficiently moving through the agenda, so this sort of informal conversation would be considered a waste of time
It's important to understand differences and communicate them clearly, so that everyone can find a way to adapt their behavior and expectations accordingly and work together.
Cultural norms
A lot of things that we take as the norm in our own context can be much different for people from another culture. What is considered polite or appropriate can differ massively, which can easily lead to potential embarrassment or even conflict.
Big concepts like work-life balance and even small decisions like when to meet can vary between cultures. For example, countries like Spain have labor laws that prohibit meetings outside of regular work hours.
Once again, communication is key. There are a lot of humorous comments online about the cultural differences between people in the U.S. and in Europe, but for people to adjust their behavior, they need to understand what they are doing and how it affects the other person.
At the same time, we need to learn when to offer people grace, recognizing that people are individuals and can behave differently. It's important to evaluate whether a behavior can be accepted as a natural part of cultural differences, or whether it should be discussed to help both parties adapt and move forward.
Stay curious and check your judgment
As you explore the behavioral and cultural norms of where you’re doing business, and who you’re doing business with, be careful about falling into stereotypes. Lastly, be proactive about researching but be careful about falling into stereotypes.
We're all individuals. Even though cultural analysis can help us understand someone better, people can be very different from their cultural norm. Often, when I start working with someone from a different culture, I read up on it to grasp some of the differences I might encounter, but I keep my mind open.
In the end, the most effective way to work together is to approach cross-cultural collaboration with genuine curiosity about each person as an individual, and focus on working well together.