The Story
In Al Khobar, a family office principal arrived for his first meeting of the season and greeted everyone present, the assistant who showed him in, the two junior members at the far end of the table. He did this without hurry. His counterpart, watching, said nothing at the time. Months later, he mentioned it to a colleague as the reason he had trusted the man early.

Cultural Principle
In the Gulf, how a person greets those with no standing in the room is understood to reveal more than how they greet those with it. Warmth extended evenly is read as character rather than technique.

Takeaway
As the season opens, greet everyone in the rooms you enter, by name where you can. The most senior person present is usually watching. What they take from it lasts longer than anything discussed at the table.

Until next week,
Taqua