Hebrew is Your Mother Tongue and Scaling Your Business

And You Are Scaling Your Business in North America and Europe

🎙️ I just tuned into this insightful Harvard Business Review podcast discussing leadership and communication with Muriel Wilkins. As an immigrant to Israel and the CEO of Symphony 100, a business dedicated to optimizing teamwork and leadership within Israel's startup and high-tech scene, I appreciate this conversation's subtle and not-so-subtle nuances.

𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

In Israeli business culture, unique dynamics are at play that sometimes differ big-time from American and European norms. However, as many businesses created in Israel look to scale their businesses internationally, understanding these cultural nuances and mastering how to communicate with those from other cultures is crucial.

𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰 | עברית ואנגלית

Doing this well is far easier said than done - particularly if your mother tongue is Hebrew. For example, when speaking in Hebrew, we are taught that brevity is king (This is clearly my challenge when speaking in Hebrew, as you can see from reading this post 🤣), and communicating with the command tense is, more often than not, not genuinely intended as "a command." After all, why say ten words when you can say one?

Another example. If you translate verbatim from Hebrew to English, where the use of double negatives is correct grammatically, to English - where the use of double negatives is grammatically incorrect, and the meaning of your message gets distorted. From this distortion, the understood meaning of your message is not shared and is frequently interpreted as lacking tact. And that's a generous interpretation. Communication style in our native language is ingrained in us starting at birth. So, speaking in an intrapersonally unnatural way pushes us to go against the grain when communicating.

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥

In the basic communication model, where you have a sender, a receiver, a message, and feedback, the intent is for the receiver to understand and share the intended meaning of the sender's message. With the speed of communication today, it's so easy to communicate a message without fully considering how a receiver will interpret the message's meaning before opening our mouths, putting pen to paper, or typing away on our phones or computers.

𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬

At Symphony 100, much of our focus is on self-awareness and awareness of others' communication styles at work. We do this with helpful tools like those provided by Everything DiSCⓇ. We help leaders and teams recognize their tendencies and learn when and how to adapt or stretch, bridging the gap between diverse cultural expectations. Don't worry - it's not about changing who you are but knowing when and how to adapt to meet your goals effectively.

Listen to this podcast, "How Do I Communicate With More Tact?" This podcast is episode one from season six of Harvard Business Review's podcast series, "Coaching Real Leaders," and discover how valuable self-awareness and adaptable communication can be in today's global business landscape. 🌍🇮🇱🚀

#Leadership #CommunicationSkills #CulturalAdaptation

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