Tietgen Magazine #18

INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW MED
RICHARD GESTELAND
TEKST: JANET KNUDSEN
Alle elever, der har haft Tine Martinussen, vil have hørt om
Richard R. Gesteland, som er kulturforsker, coach og management-konsulent.
Gesteland har mere end 40 års erfaring med
forretningskulturer, og han har baseret en bestseller kaldet
”Cross-Cultural Business Behavior: A Guide for Global Management”
på denne erfaring. Bogen introducerer læseren til
diverse regler og kategorier for at hjælpe med at give et overskueligt
overblik over verdens businesskulturer. Derudover
indeholder den 43 profiler af landes businesskulturer.
Tirsdag den 28. marts var Gesteland inviteret til Tietgen
Handelsgymnasium. Han var på sit sidste besøg i Europa
inden, han trækker sig tilbage til sit hjem i Wisconsin. På grund
af Tine Martinussens relation til kulturforskeren var det muligt
for to International Business klasser – en 1.g og en 2.g – at
opleve et foredrag med Gesteland inden, han går på pension.
Foredraget foregik på engelsk og varede cirka en time – dog
ikke medregnet elevspørgsmål. Det belyste flere emner i hans
bestseller og gav et interessant og detaljeret billede af forskellige
kulturer. Efter foredraget blev Gesteland interviewet
af Magazine, og dette interview er ikke oversat, da dele ville
forsvinde i processen.
How did you first become interested in working with
other cultures?
I don’t know when I first became interested in working with
cultures, but I think it developed when I became interested in
languages. I have been interested in languages since primary
school, and I think that a natural interest in other cultures
and countries appeared alongside my interest in learning and
speaking languages.
Why did you start working as a businessman?
I always wanted to work internationally, but I wanted to work
in the Foreign Service, which is to be a U.S. Diplomat. This
resulted in me never taking a course in business. I actually
think that my college classes were focused on international
affairs or economics. You can never go wrong with economics,
though, and it didn’t exactly matter at that time. Not that I
would recommend your generation to do that; see, I came from
the smallest generations, and employers were fighting to get
new employees at that time. I went and worked for a company
abroad, but as I hadn’t worked with business before, I leaned it
the hard way in the company.
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How did you start observing and categorizing cultural
traits?
There were no real books about cultural traits so I couldn’t just
open a book and read about the different cultures. I had to do it
myself. So whenever I worked with a business culture, I looked
for patterns in their behavior or speech. I started observing them
closely and, as I established a network of acquaintances and coworkers,
I looked to them for advice. They gave me a lot of useful
information, and I’m thankful for that, but they also had a lot of
stereotypes and opinions about different cultures. I had to ignore
the unnecessary information; had to filter out the stereotypes
and opinions before being able to use it. Really, it was trial and
error. Working with the cultures and observing them – making
mistakes and correcting them wherever I could. Trial and error
is also the reason I made 5 editions of my book before it was as
accurate as I could make it.
What business culture do you favor to work with?
I enjoy working with cultures that resemble my own the most.
The cultures that I’ve felt does this the most are the Scandinavian
cultures. They remind me very much of the American culture, and
they share several traits. In general, working with a culture similar
to my own is easier than to work with, say, an Asian or Arabian
culture, which is so utterly different from mine.
You’ve worked with Copenhagen Business School on your
book, but what made you start working in Denmark?
The Niels Brock institute opened and became a partner-institute
of the one in Singapore, where I gave lectures. I was asked to
come to Denmark back then, but I said no. I didn’t feel like I had
enough time to commute between the two. Some time passed,
and they asked me again. My situation hadn’t changed, so I
answered no yet again. More time passed, and they asked me
for the third time, this time offering to let me work at Niels Brock
on Saturdays only, enabling me to become a part time lecturer at
the institute in Denmark. I talked to my wife, and she thought it
sounded interesting. I was used to traveling a lot already, so that
didn’t bother me. I ended up saying yes to the offer, and so began
my career in Denmark.