‘Business as usual’ will no longer cut it in our highly globalized market. Organizations need to be prepared to adapt to changing markets, labor forces, and vendor expectations. The simple fact is that 70% of international business ventures fail. Business smarts alone will no longer ensure the long-term success of your organization. Organizations looking to adapt, overcome, and succeed for years to come will need an added level of intelligence. These forward-thinking organizations will need a high level of Cultural Intelligence in order to succeed. Cultural Intelligence will allow your organization to engage effectively across ‘national, ethnic, and organizational cultures’.Engaging your organization cross culturally with the Indian community can be incredibly rewarding. It can also be incredibly challenging, depending on the level of your organization’s Cultural Intelligence. Let me give you an example of the subtleties of culture and the importance of Cultural Intelligence in the following brief story.
The year was 1998 and I was riding through the narrow gulleys of Varanasi, India on the back of my good friend Jamil’s Bajaj scooter. A group of us had gone out to celebrate Jamil’s engagement. On the way home, Jamil turned to me and asked if I would marry a girl from his community. I thought for a minute about all of the implications – we have different cultures, different beliefs, my family is on the other side of the world…It all became a bit overwhelming so I simply responded, “No.”
We rode in silence for the rest of the evening and I began to realize that I had somehow deeply wounded Jamil.
The next day I asked a trusted friend about the exchange. He smiled knowingly and immediately cut to the heart of the issue. “ Jamil values your friendship so much that he was wondering if you would consider becoming a permanent part of his community by marrying into it. What you ended up telling him was that you don’t fully accept him, his family, or their community. He was simply wondering if you accept him as much as he accepts you.”
Culture is an incredibly complex animal that is sometimes also very subtle in its nuance. It took someone more attuned to the Indian cultural paradigm to reveal my misstep with Jamil. Fortunately, once I was armed with the right perspective, I was able to make things right with Jamil and salvage a very important friendship.
Business is like friendship in the Indian community.
There are all kinds of little moments with where you need to be communicating a very important message such as, “I accept you.” That’s where Cultural Intelligence comes in. Developing a high level of Cultural Intelligence will help you understand where your employee, vendor, or customer is coming from. High Cultural Intelligence will allow you to see more clearly in any given cross cultural situation and develop a strategy moving forward that protects the interests of all parties involved. Having someone, just like I did, to help navigate those more delicate cultural conundrums will be invaluable in helping ensure the long-term health of your organization’s relationships with the Indian community.
IndoSense Consulting can be that source of wisdom and support, walking alongside you, ensuring the long-term profitability of your employee, vendor, and customer relationships in the Indian community.