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EQ for Leaders E-ZINE - ISSUE NO.38 / OCTOBER 2009

Dear Reader,

Are you prejudiced about Japanese? Or Germans? Or Chinese? Or ...?

Well, to some extend we all seem to be, it's just too natural and usually based on a blend of our personal experience, media impact, reading, etc.

When I work with a team on cross-cultural behaviors, I prefer to talk about tendencies because I know that whatever we state about any country's people, it's never true for all of them. And I particularly want to avoid that participants start pigeon-holing people into certain behaviors.

So here you go, in today's article Sebastien looks at a specific aspect of Japanese executives and shines light that our assumptions might be wrong. Hope you'll enjoy it and find it useful.

Let's keep progressing!

Charlie Lang
Executive Coach and Founder of Progress-U Ltd.
Author of The Groupness Factor

The Japanese: Highly Emotional??
Readings from “The New Japan. Debunking Seven Cultural Stereotypes” by David Matsumoto

By Sebastien Henry

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Are the Japanese highly emotional? As a leader, if you work with Japanese on a regular basis, this question may sound quite provoking.

Last month, I wrote an article about my experience taking a coaching training in Japanese with a group of 24 Japanese. I mentioned that I was absolutely amazed at the way participants in the group would share about their emotions, and open up on a very personal level.

I received several comments from people who said that it was inspiring and opened the field of possibilities for them. At the same time, they were wondering how this was possible, considering their own experience with Japanese colleagues. They pointed that perhaps there were special conditions during this training that made this possible.

Of course, this experience was created under special conditions:

- The conversations were all in Japanese, so there was no language barrier, which is often a major one for the Japanese when dealing with foreign people.

- People who had come to this training were probably more open than the average on sharing their emotions. They were here to become professional coaches in the future, after all.

Still, I kept thinking that our Japanese colleagues are much more open to sharing their emotions and to opening up on a personal level than we think they are.

Comments from these readers prompted me into doing some more research on this topic (thank you again to them). And I found an interesting book called “The New Japan. Debunking Seven Cultural Stereotypes”, by David Matsumoto. Although Mr Matsumoto is an academic in the US, his book is easily readable, while remaining rigorous.

Mr Matsumoto, whose name indicates Japanese origin, writes that “the Japanese are highly emotional and value their own feelings and those of others.” Well, pretty obvious, you would think. At the same time, considering the many stereotypes around Japanese people in the workplace, this is a pretty strong statement.

When it comes to emotional expression, David Matsumoto challenges a classic study conducted by Ekman and Friesen in the 60s that concluded that the Japanese had a display rule that prevented them from displaying their true feelings in the presence of the experimenter.

According to his own studies, the Japanese express negative emotions less toward in-group members – family, friends, work colleagues, and peers – than do the Americans.

But they express positive emotions more frequently than do the Americans toward the same groups. There would then be a significant difference in emotional expression depending on whom they are talking to, whereas for Americans it would be more uniform.

There would be much more to say about Matsumoto’s findings, but I am going to focus on this particular point today (for more insights, please read pages 57-67 in “The New Japan”.)

Matsumoto’s conclusions say that if you are a leader and have Japanese team members, it is very unlikely that you will see negative emotions surface spontaneously. Emotions like resentment, anger, jealousy, sadness and hopelessness are very likely to stay underground, where they tend to accumulate and grow in intensity.

My own conclusions are in line with the main message from last month’s newsletter. It is your job as a leader to uncover these emotions before they create serious trouble. By spending time regularly to inquire about the “emotional landscape” of your Japanese team members, you will definitely increase your chances.

I fully agree that it is challenging. The language and the cultural differences won’t make your life easy. You are likely to face setbacks at the beginning. At the same time, I am fully convinced that you will obtain results if your inquiries are done with a spirit of care, and wanting the best for your people. Don't give up! And write to me if I can be of any help. It would be my pleasure to assist you if I can.

Warmly

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