The person who decides is rarely the person who speaks. Recognising them is a skill, and it can be taught. The Unwritten Room, 27 August.

The Story
In Doha, a partner reopening a relationship after the break suggested lunch rather than a meeting. There was business to discuss and they discussed it, but only after an hour of something else entirely. His counterpart remarked, walking out, that it had been the first proper conversation he had had since returning. They set the next date before parting.

Cultural Principle
In the Gulf, sharing a meal carries a register that a scheduled meeting does not. Opening a season at a table rather than across a desk signals that the relationship is being resumed, and not merely the file.

Takeaway
For your first exchange with an important counterpart this month, propose a meal instead of a meeting. The business will be covered. What surrounds it is what makes the season begin well.

To your cultural intelligence,
Taqua