Becoming an expat is an exciting proposition. But the sad truth is that, despite all their careful planning and preparation, many expat families and businesses don’t succeed. Sometimes it’s due to unforeseen events. Often it’s the result of a failure to plan mentally for the transition.

One huge part of this important mental prep-work is understanding the culture you’re entering and what skills you need to help you fit into both the social and business climate of the area. This guest post, by John R. Henry of Cultural Consulting, LLC, outlines a few tips that are crucial for embracing and being accepted in the Latin American culture, specifically. Give it a read if you want to avoid making some typical gringo mistakes.

Courtesy of Cultural Consulting llc

Many think globalization is a recent phenomenon. The truth is that people from different nations have been traveling, emigrating, working, investing, and trading (not to mention pillaging, conquering, and colonizing) for centuries! The resulting interactions between these diverse cultures have inevitably produced some conflict. Fast-forward to today, where adventurous entrepreneurs look for opportunities and new markets across international borders.

The internet is full of stories about successful businesses that have been established abroad. The barriers to entry in many “emerging” markets are considerably lower than those of the entrepreneur’s home country. However, there can be other barriers to achieving long-term success that often go overlooked.

After living in Latin America for over 12 years, I have witnessed scores of business ventures, investing efforts, and non-profit philanthropic projects utterly fail as a result of one missing ingredient to success . . . . . cross-cultural skills.

What you don’t know CAN hurt you.

The well-intention individuals behind these failed attempts often do not realize that with even the most basic cross-cultural understanding, their dream could have become a reality. The businesses and organizations that dosurvive their first few years in the new culture will recount the months (or even years) of wasted time and potential income as results of their lack of cross-cultural knowledge early on.

Similarly, many expat singles, families, and retirees embark upon their new lives in Latin America with the highest of hopes for their piece of paradise, only to be disillusioned and frustrated when confronted with cultural conflicts from housekeepers, gardeners, building contractors, and internet companies.

Some hold on a few years, while others only a few weeks! In one case I know of, the people moved their entire lives to Central America, only to last less than the time it took them to sell all their possessions in the U.S.! The tragedy is, that in most of the aforementioned failed attempts, the involved parties did not even realize that most of their frustration was a result of cultural misunderstandings.

3 Tips for Success

Whatever our reason for living in another culture, be it business or pleasure, cross-cultural skills are invaluable. There are many, but let me list three that can start helping you today, specific to Latin America. I guarantee that if you do these three things, you will see both short and long-term success.

#1-Take Time to Tomar un Cafecito

There is always time for coffee. Morning, noon, and night. Learn to drink coffee, even when it’s hot outside. Learn to drink it at night. I have worked with the Ngäbe Indigenous people group from Panama in community development for over 7 years and have learned to drink coffee right before bed like they do.

In Panama, it’s coffee; in Argentina, it’s mate; in the Amazon, it’s chicha. Whatever the drink, the point is that you slow down and take some time to talk to people. If your Spanish is rusty, make your best effort; your host will not mind and it will be more than enough to strengthen the relationship.

In the business world, people from North America/Western Europe tend to see two or more people who are engaged in long conversations about non-business related subjects during business hours as idle or unproductive.

In Latin America however, work is meant to be a social endeavor. If you choose to ignore this advice, you may be slightly more productive in the short-term, but you will lose out on the lasting beneficial business relationships that will exponentially reproduce as a result of you being perceived as buena gente(you can look that up later).

#2 – “¿Qué Xopá, Fren?” Learn a Few Very Localized Phrases

Learning Spanish is great. Learning Spanish and some local idioms is even better. Sit back with your coffee in a local café, fonda, or soda, and listen to some of the interactions. Learn a greeting or expression that is truly local.

The powerful thing about phrases such as the Panamanian expression, “¡Ayala vida!”, is that once the locals hear it come out of your mouth, they are both surprisingly amused and truly honored that you took the time to learn something that is so close to their cultural identity.

Be aware, however, that you will get laughed at. Take this in stride; yes they are laughing at you, but that is a good thing. It means you are becoming accepted. You know you have arrived at this point of acceptance because you will receive the honor of recognition: a nickname.

From Mexico to Argentina I have been Juancho, Canela, Juanito, Marqués, and Jochi. Wear your nickname with pride and learn everyone else’s nicknames as well. It will take you far.

#3 – Don’t be a Gringo Bravo

If you are in Latin America for any considerable length of time, you will inevitably experience frustrations over the differences in how things are done. Please remember to find a way to keep your cool. Yes, it is true that it is culturally acceptable for Latin Americans to lose their cool with one another.

However, you are not Latin American (I’m assuming if you are reading this). The rules are different for you. It’s not fair, but it is just the way things are. If you become visibly angry, it is the quickest way to destroy business and personal relationships.

Now this is tricky, because even if you think your are keeping your cool, Latin Americans are expert face readers. Be extra aware of what your face is communicating; you may be unknowingly turning a dark shade of red. So what do you do if you are upset about something but confronting that person in a direct manner (which is what North Americans/Europeans tend to do) is not an option?

Here is one technique that usually works, though it requires you to do exactly the opposite of what you naturally want to do. With the offending party, communicate disappointment, not anger. Make a point to not make eye contact and tell about how in your country things are different, and you mistakingly thought things would be the same here.

Ask the person how you can do differently next time to avoid this type of disappointment. This gives them a way to communicate their point of view without being defensive and it avoids the shame of feeling blamed by you. Nine times out of ten, the problem will have been a misunderstanding anyway. You can end it with a joke and offer to buy them a drink.

There are many other excellent tools for cross-cultural conflict resolution. I love to pass on this knowledge to others and would be more than happy to help you. If you have any questions or are interested in experiencing unhindered success in Latin America, please contact him.

John R. Henry
As a life-long cross-cultural learner, John has resided full-time in Latin America for the last 12 years, and worked throughout 10 different countries from Mexico to Argentina. During his time, spent mainly in the non-profit sector, John has become sought after as a consultant and training specialist in the area of cross-cultural communication. Fluent in Spanish and possessing limited proficiency in several Indigenous languages, John loves to help people understand one another and come alongside them to help make their dreams a reality.

He currently works in a very multi-cultural area in the coffee-growing region of the Central American nation of Panama. There, many cultural understandings and ways of working frequently collide, causing great frustration and confusion for involved parties. Out of this perceived need, came his desire to begin a cross-cultural consulting firm. He offers coaching, mediating, staff training, and translation services.