When I was employed in a training company, I worked for a French director. We were 2 Americans, 3 English and an Australian under his management. Let’s say that the expectations of the Anglo-Saxon team in terms of management didn’t really correspond to the reality of the situation. The cultural differences and misunderstandings finally created a very difficult situation. This company no longer exists today.
Of course, we can’t generalize this experience to all managers in France. Since then, I have also worked with many French professionals who are real professional partners, wonderful people and open minded (like you).
But if you work with Americans, knowing their culture will help you avoid misunderstandings, work better together and make your collaboration easier.
And that’s the subject of today’s video: Why it’s hard to work with Americans (… apart from the fact that they speak as if they had a potato in their mouth …)
Of course, it is not to tell you that you have to adapt to OUR way of working! It’s just to help you understand why your American colleague seems to be doing a bit like he’s craving for your projects.
AND YOU:
What is the most difficult aspect of working with Americans for you?
Share your story in the comments below. Or ask your questions about working with Americans. It’s a great opportunity to practice your English!
I promise you, you won’t offend me. It’s just a question of cultural difference 🙂
If you like my videos, the best way to support me is to share them with your colleagues!
Thanks a lot!
Have a great week in English,
Christina
The most difficult thing I find with working for Americans is that they state how they feel no matter how offensive it is. They say things to your face that are very rude and hurtful at times. They never seem to have a filter to what they say and they don’t say thank you and feel entitled to everything. They think their opinion is number one and don’t want to listen to others and respect other cultures. Its my way or the highway with them and if you do something that is logical they will disagree and claim nothing needs to be logical. I find they are really pushy and never ask whether you would like something but rather force it on you no matter how you feel about it. For instance you can be not into something but when they push the concept you have to agree with it and if you don’t they will claim you are terrible. They also don’t like kindness I noticed because they think that is evil and mean.
Hi Nora, I’m very sorry that this has been your experience working with Americans! There are definitely some people who fit the description you shared (I know several people like that…) but I hope that not ALL Americans have acted this way to you!
If they have, I would say that they are just not kind, mindful people in general. It’s probably not you, it’s probably that they have no empathy for others, which is a flaw in their character. That’s interesting that you say that Americans see kindness as evil and mean. I’m curious to understand more what you mean by this. I ask because I value kindness as an important character trait, and see its opposite–meanness–as more “evil.”