How China Transforms an Executive's Mind

Seen through the eyes of a modern Chinese executive, a typical Western businessman is an antique. The Westerner’s manner of linear analysis and individualism may be perceived with polite curiosity, but what does the Chinese executive really think? In The Art of War, Sun Tzu advises: ‘‘One cannot enter into alliances without knowing the designs of one’s neighbors.’’ Yet most Westerners do not know how to prepare for working with Chinese; the usual solution is a cross-cultural workshop that compares and teaches specific behaviors. Studying expatriate executives who are highly effective in the Chinese environment shows that they have been receptive to learning from Chinese patterns and now think and behave differently than they did before. China today is a laboratory for studying global leaders because it is the center of rapid change and a nexus for the integration of global systems. Its culture throws conflicting views into stark relief. During the next ten years, almost any mid-sized and large business in the world will be dealing with Chinese as suppliers, partners, employees and customers. To remain competitive in that world, today’s international firms will have to diversify their leadership and develop a global mindset. Chinese executives have been facing their own cultural dilemmas and learning to work with the West. Westerners are now under pressure to learn from the East as well. This article describes the results of layering Eastern and Western thought processes by describing a select group of expatriate executives in the China laboratory. It shows how working in China has changed the way these executives think. They have learned new ways of perceiving their environment and new ways of reacting and acting within it. They have become more complex, more connected, and more personal as the basis for their consistently impressive business results.