The UAE Director, and His American Boss

"He didn't fire me. He just spoke American."

A former client, Ahmed R., a Director of Engineering, walked out of his review with his US boss. He was upset. The boss said: Your reports are messy. You need to be faster. Ahmed heard: You are a failure. I am going to replace you. 

He started looking for a new job that night.

I looked at the review notes. The boss had also written: Ahmed is a brilliant engineer with high potential. But Ahmed didn't hear that. He only heard the "Direct Negative Feedback."

This is know as the "Evaluating" scale in my line of business. Americans are "Low-Context" with feedback; explicit in their direct communication. Not a trait I'm thrilled about as an American, we need a little work, but back to the point.

Americans tend to say exactly what is wrong. They rarely mean it as a personal attack in the corporate world. Ahmed’s culture uses "High-Context" feedback (more implicit, subjective). Arabs tend to wrap criticism in three layers of praise, protecting the "Face" of the employee.

Ahmed felt the sting of a "Relentless Judgment." His boss thought he was giving Ahmed the tools to win. And that's the key take-away here. Step away from your emotional response, focus on the facts.

Directness is the American standard. Harmony is the Arab one. Behavior is a tactical decision. If you need help in this space, let me know.