Who is who?

Here is a question from a regular reader:

Dear Charlotte: I grew up in Michigan and really never experienced such rank and file until I came to live and teach in Turkey. Within a few months I noticed that the Turkish society is very rank-oriented rather than stratified. Can you give me some more insights on this whole area of determining who is important when you met a group of people? From: Anita (US)

Dear Anita: You are so right about this society being rather rank-oriented. It may not be as extreme as India or Japan, but there is definitely an element of rank and importance. It is important to learn some of the signs and how to interpret them in order not to offend individuals and be able to conduct more successful business.

At any important meeting or conference the most important people sit farthest from the door or in the middle, surrounded by lower-ranking associates. In a home or office you will be asked to sit further from the door if you are someone of importance in their eyes. A person of high rank walks slightly in the front, goes through the door first and sits down first. When traveling in a group with other work colleagues in a car the most important person gets in the car first.

There are some other subtle signs of rank, such as clothing. Usually a person who wants to indicate his importance will take great care in his or her dress and often dress on the conservative style in well-tailored clothes than communicate prestige, power, poise and politeness. Thomas Rohlen, author of “For Harmony and Strength,” writes, “Close attention to the implications of behavior and the arrangement of groups allows those with a practiced eye to perceive differences in rank readily.”

After living here for many years I have learned that if you have a problem such as a customer complaint, you will not get the result you want unless you talk to the right person. Finding the person of the right rank to handle your problem is a must. A staff member will be afraid to overstep boundaries. It’s all about rank.

A foreigner was telling me about a recent hotel experience where their family of six arrived and the person at the reception desk was the security guard. The receptionist had just gone somewhere for a few minutes. The family had driven in after a long journey and the kids were tired. They had no other option but to wait in the lobby until he returned. The security guard was not about to tell the family their room number and give them a key or have them fill in the check-in registration form, as he did not want to overstep his rank and position.

For Turks and many other Middle Easterners and Asians, order depends on people knowing and accepting their proper place or rank and on not disturbing the “proper order” of things. Although it is changing some in Turkey, in certain settings informality can be perceived as rude. In an official setting, rather than a Turk calling you only by your first name, to show respect Turks will call you by your first name and add the title Bey (Mr.) or Bayan or Hanım (Ms.). In a more official setting, a form of friendliness will be shown, but the American-style back-slapping and attempts to be buddies are not so common. In the wrong setting, the latter behavior would be seen as insulting.

Westerners living in a non-Western culture who are not comfortable with formality and order would like to see things become more relaxed and informal, whereas those who prefer things with a bit more order and formality would resist such change.

Understanding the local (and organizational) culture can help you understand why change does not take place or why a project fails. It will also help you to determine where to strive to make changes to the culture.

“There is no situation as awkward in Japan as when the appropriate order is ignored or broken.” Chie Nakane, “Japanese Society”