“Like a real French, I wished to have things solved, and quickly, and by myself (not to “disturb” my newly appointed manager). Yet the more I was trying to get problems resolved, the bigger they were getting. I was the only foreigner among Brazilians, and I realized that I was doing it the wrong way. My willing to help and to be efficient was perceived as arrogance, and in the end I understood that 1/ socially connect with Brazilians before requesting actions, even if those are professional 2/ involve your management to speak for you, this is a sign you respect hierarchy, especially if you are young.”
“To have to adapt my agenda to the fact that in Panama it is not an issue to be late at a meeting”
“Yes does not always mean yes (in Brazil) and it takes a while to understand which is a real yes and which is a “no-yes” or a “maybe-yes” or a “I don’t know what you are talking about but I don’t want to say no”. Again in Brazil, saying “no” is not very polite. Sometimes the French way of saying “no” is not very appreciated or seen as aggressive.”
“As a Brazilian, I´m used to warmly welcoming new people and I think it´s important to build friendship relations at work. So for me it´s especially difficult to deal with more reserved cultures, because it´s harder to have people´s trust and it takes more time to build friendships.”
”Very welcoming (ex chile and Peru) and very well mannered up to the point that is too much.”
“In Colombia, is not usual whenever you start a meeting, go directly to the point, it’s very usual to expend at least 10 to 15 minutes having a “tinto” (coffee) talking about politics, weather, security and mutually known people.”
“The work pace is very slow in some countries especially in South America. I am very impatient and I like to finish as soon as possible, this doesn´t mean not doing it well.”