I think it is better to concentrate on ECAs in a culture you are already familiar with. If you are targeting prospective ECAs in some other country besides your own, you had better be absolutely sure you know something about the culture of business in that country.
Americans in general are casual, and home based entrepreneurs are even more so - they have either "fired their boss" or are trying to, and have rejected button-down, corporate ways of doing business. We also are less likely to speak more than one language unless we or our families are immigrants from another country, and less likely to know or care about the culture of other countries. Because of this, we are considered "loud," "rude," "arrogant," and other unpleasant things, many of which are true, when we are dealing with people from around the world.
In many other countries there are very specific, strict rules about etiquette in business, "respect" protocols, the role of women, and more. It is hard enough to convey meaning in an email or text when you are speaking to someone in your own culture, never mind trying to make yourself clear to someone from another culture. For example, what Americans think is funny might be horrifying to some others. And our casual way of speaking to each other might be considered very disrespectful. There are words and gestures that we use that have VERY different meanings in other countries. If you don't know that, you could really offend someone with whom you want to do business.
It is awesome that a program like SFI with so many members from around the world affords all of us an opportunity to clear up a lot of misunderstandings about who we are as individuals, and as representatives of our respective countries. But it seems to me that we ought to be concentrating on enrolling ECAs in our own countries first.
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I think it is better to concentrate on ECAs in a culture you are already familiar with. If you are targeting prospective ECAs in some other country besides your own, you had better be absolutely sure you know something about the culture of business in that country.
Americans in general are casual, and home based entrepreneurs are even more so - they have either "fired their boss" or are trying to, and have rejected button-down, corporate ways of doing business. We also are less
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