I am in China and Japan for two weeks on business. In the last 10 years, I have been going to Asia regularly to do things like signing partners or customers, looking for joint venture projects or exploring manufacturing options as a representative for the companies I have worked for, and now either as a consultant or a serial CEO.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I know the languages of all the countries I visit. Perhaps, had I been in one location regularly, I could have picked it up, but my travels take me across borders and languages constantly. Out of respect for the cultures, I would like to become fluent… one day.

That being said, I can find my way easily no matter which Asian country I am visiting by finding someone around that speaks English and can translate. Obviously, this translation aspect is critical and I have learned that business in Asia works better when I have a local contact with me acting as my guide and translator (compared to relying only on my contact inside the company I am visiting). Having this translator is important but so is the body language and the way that I listen, even when I don’t understand every word that is being said.

I practice active listening, which according to Wikipedia is “a structured way of listening and responding to others. It focuses attention on the speaker. Suspending one’s own frame of reference and suspending judgment are important in order to fully attend to the speaker”. So how can I do this if I cannot understand the language? I focus on the people, their body, their hands and their eyes. By concentrating on specific things like the tone, the pauses in their speech, their body language and facial expressions, more can be picked up than you might expect.

Also, when I speak in English to make my point at a meeting, I do not talk to the person that understands English (the translator); I look straight into the eyes of the people I am trying to do business with so they really feel I am participating and interacting with them. And, when they talk amongst themselves, I continue to follow the discussion, showing my interest in what they say and following the eyes of the individual talking. By doing this, I find that they answer back, talking to me in their language, which makes it easy for me to stop and look at the translator who will jump and translate the discussion. By doing this, I show that I am really interested in what they say and I am avoiding the mistake of waiting too long to have the translator give me a 2-phrase summary of a 10-minute discussion they had in their language.

At some point, I am even surprised to find myself laughing with them about something they said that I did not fully understand. Laughing is contagious and I find the relationship gets stronger. There’s nothing insincere about it, there’s actually something I “get” from seeing them laugh - of course, I hope the joke is not about me!