By Elizabeth R. Auma K

I have participated in several regional and global engagements, and one thing has always been clear: cultures differ. I believe it is within this diversity that the true beauty of negotiation is found. Engaging with someone whose culture is new to you stretches your awareness, patience, and sensitivity. The food is different. The accent is different. The spiritual beliefs are different. In such spaces, the need to appreciate others for who they are is evident.

I once attended a training in the beautiful country of China. We were taken to a rural area where, apart from rice, most of the meals were unfamiliar in both preparation and taste. Many of us from other continents found this new and unusual. You could sense the excitement of our hosts as they invited us to try their food. One host took us to dinner and proudly explained the different dishes and what they represented in their culture. At one point, a host opened fresh seafood and delightfully offered it to one of my colleagues. Our guide later explained that this gesture was an expression of love and honor. Moments like this remind us that what seems ordinary to one culture may carry deep meaning in another. In this regard, your response can leave a lasting impression.

Unfortunately, a few people in our group responded carelessly. Some verbally declined without respect, while others displayed facial expressions that communicated, “I can’t eat that.” I have come to call this global unpreparedness: the failure to engage difference in culture with maturity.

A friend once shared that while visiting another country, he was offered a meal that included sea animals he was unfamiliar with. He gently declined, explaining that his stomach was sensitive to new foods and that he would appreciate trying it at another time. His host understood. That is the opposite of global unpreparedness; it is cultural intelligence at work. As a trade negotiator, you need to develop this skill.

Over the years, these encounters have taught me quiet but powerful lessons about negotiation and leadership:

1. Success in negotiation is to a greater extent dependent upon your ability to appreciate your counterpart’s culture.
2. Respect builds relationship capital long before technical discussions.
3. When you cannot eat a particular meal, decline with respect. Remember that how you say “no” matters just as much as what you accept.
4. When you travel, you are not home. You enter into traditions and values that deserve honor, even when they differ from yours.
5. When you value another’s culture, you build ties that go beyond documents and agreements.
6. Avoid speaking your local language in the middle of a conversation with those who cannot understand you. It creates exclusion. Save private discussions for later.

Irrespective of where we stand in life, when we honor differences in culture and opinion, we open and sustain doors that a policy document doesn’t have the power to. Therefore, the ability to engage diversity with maturity is a skill every international trade policy practitioner must intentionally build.

What would you do if you were faced with a culture different from yours? It is not harmful, just new and unfamiliar.