学进去

A multicultural person is someone who is deeply convinced that all cultures are equally good, enjoys learning the rich variety of cultures in the world, and most likely has been exposed to more than one culture in his or her lifetime.

A multilingual salesperson can explain the advantages of a product in other languages, but a multicultural salesperson can motivate foreigners to buy it. That’s a(an) 1． difference.

No one likes foreigners who are arrogant (自大的) about their own culture. The trouble is, most people are arrogantly monocultural without being aware of it. Foreigners sense monocultural arrogance at once and set up their own cultural barriers, which may effectively 2． any attempt by the monocultural person to motivate them.

Multiculturalism is a(an) 3． that has been neglected too often in hiring managers for international positions. Even if your company is not a multinational one, chances are you’re in touch with foreign customers or manufacturers. Do you have the right employee to build up the 4．?

For 20-odd years, I’ve run an executive-search firm from Brussels. When clients ask us to find the right person for a new pan-European sales position, I start by asking them to 5． the qualifications their ideal candidate would have. Most often they list the same qualities they would want for a domestic position, but with the 6． requirement that the new manager be fluent enough in English, German and French to cope with faxes and email. It sometimes takes me hours to persuade clients that the linguistic abilities they see as crucial are not enough.

Of course, it’s far more difficult to 7． candidates’ multiculturalism than it is to check their language skills -- but it’s also a far more important 8． to success. I remember a company that asked me to check out a salesman they were planning to send to Mexico. He’d studied Spanish, and had grown up in New York City -- the most 9． diverse place in America. But when I interviewed him, he turned out to have no concept of the great pride Mexicans took in their culture, and moreover he was 10． about Mexican restaurants and markets being dirty and unsafe. I rejected him -- just as Mexican buyers would have if he’d been selected for the job.