Delivering Bad News With Cultural Sensitivity

Global Leaders have to be aware that employees perceive bad news differently and the way to cope is very cultural. During bad economy, people handle stress and fear of failure with various strategies.

Regarding self-esteem, there is a huge difference between Westerners and Asians. The Japanese culture for example, places the group’s interests first and individuals that stand out of the crowd will be “hammered down like pointing nails”. On the opposite side you have the American way of praising kids all the time, at school, at sports, on the playground even if children perform average, they get a lot of ”Great”, “Good” and “Fantastic”, maybe the best way to produce great entrepreneurs ?

So International leaders, be aware how you deliver feedback: without cultural sensitivity,you are at risk of putting people self-esteem down and demotivate employees, the last thing you need during a recession.