"Type A" managers generally have a hard time adapting to the Chinese workplace

By Kathleen Lau

If you ordered a steak and the server said, "Tonight we're serving grade A grass-fed beef," would you say no? If your child came home from school and said, "I got an A on my math test!" would you say, "Dear, I know you can do better, next time I want to see a B."

Yet would you be proud to be known as a "type A" manager? A better question, would you want to work for a type A boss?

We've all known such people: perfectionist and controlling, demanding and at times demeaning. Everyone finds a reason to clear the area when such a boss is around. One type A I worked for threw my memo back at me in mid-reading because it had a typo in it. I didn't use spell-check more often; I started to look for another job.

No matter what their personality is like normally, it seems like all foreign managers become a type A in China. Somehow the combination of being out of their comfort zone, of having to remind someone of the most basic skills, "in this office we don't nap during lunch time," takes a toll. At best we throw some pencils around, at worst we become profilers ("Those Chinese!").

Sometimes we're surprised even at ourselves. A good friend whose mother lost half her family to the Holocaust and who at 19, fell in love with an Arab girl from the wrong side of the tracks, knew firsthand of the burden of race. Imagine his distress when he cried out one day, "I didn't know I could be racist!" That was only after six months in Shanghai.

I gave him his best defence: "You're my friend, and I'm Chinese." I went on to explain that he was reacting to culture shock compounded by the inability to communicate. It is culture shock when you have to explain to the receptionist that it's okay to give out the firm's address without grilling the caller for five minutes for the reason of the request, or when you have to explain that during a meeting with a client is not the best time to be interrupted to be told about the need for a new copier. All these basic skills have to be re-taught.

Behaviour experts will tell you that 21 is the number of times someone needs to be reminded before they can change a behaviour. These experts don't have any numbers for how long it takes if the "telling" is done in a foreign language. Take a wild guess. Forty-two times? No wonder we all become impatient managers.

Now imagine managing a staff that speaks no English, or at least very little. You are now depending on your Chinese managers to do the telling. If you tell them once, or maybe twice, is it a surprise that it's still not being done right? Culture shock also goes the other way. Most staff who have never worked for a Westerner - regardless of how educated they are or how good their English is (from working with overseas clients, not bosses) - go into shock as well. They're not used to the spontaneous emotional expressions, laughing out loud, yelling in anger, or even stomping the floor with impatience.

Chinese culture values the ability to keep one's emotions hidden. In business, you can never tell what Chinese partners are thinking because their expression remains passive and controlled. Keeping calm is a sign of respect for the other person.

This difference in emotional expression comes into play in a myriad of ways. But none is more misunderstood than in the showing of respect.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

In the Western business world, where information is key, to be "in the loop" is to be valued and respected in the office. A manager's ability to manage comes from a team that shares its information. The higher someone is in the hierarchy, the more "in the know" this position is. Respect is access to information. In The Devil Wears Prada, the personal assistant won her type A manager's trust only after warning her of the owner's secret agenda.

But in the Chinese business world, information is always kept hidden from the top. Managers are appointed for their closeness to the boss and so are often inept and indecisive. Some seek specifically not to know so they can't be held accountable. Lower-level managers are not encouraged to disagree but to do as they're told. Even when they see wrongdoing, no one speaks up. Far from showing disrespect, many Chinese managers don't see the need to share information - especially bad news.

So imagine their surprise when the foreign manager becomes angry over not being told of some issue. Sometimes the foreign manager finds out after the fact. His ability to manage is undermined, leading to a feeling of being disrespected, further fuelling that anger. In this case, the foreign manager might slam, stomp, and or raise his voice.

In essence, the two concepts of respect are different. The foreign manager feels disrespected because there was no communication. The Chinese staff feels disrespected because the manager showed his anger.

If the Chinese staffer is a manager, there might be a showdown. If the Chinese staffer has no manager status, there is a mass exit. And until they find a job, you can be sure that they will have no loyalty for you or the company.

In these labour shortage times for foreign companies, when spiralling salaries keeps your turnover and training costs in the stratosphere, wouldn't you want to keep your labour cost down if you could simply change one thing you do? Next time you feel an urge to slam or yell coming on, remind yourself to speak the local language. Control your emotions and say, "tell me what we talked about in training?" Remember, you may have to repeat this to yourself 21 times.

©copyright 2007 by Kathleen Lau. No part of this may be reprinted - in any language or format: printed, electronic or otherwise - without express written permission from author.