In recent time, we have all been inundated with news about the financial crisis. I don't know anyone who has not been affected by
the devaluation, the increase in interest rates, and the uncertainty about Mexico's economic future.
Little mention, however, has been made about the impact of this crisis on the image of Mexico and the Mexican's image abroad.
For the past seven years, I have been working with multinational companies to help their executives understand the Mexican
personality and work environment. In a sense, I function as an interpreter of the Mexican business and interpersonal culture for
executives from Anglo cultures.
Up until December 20, 1994, the general attitude of these foreign executives had been, "Well, I don't really understand how the
Mexican does business. But he must be doing something right. Things are going pretty good down here." This attitude led many
Anglo executives to be more respectful of the Mexican work environment and more likely to treat their Mexican counterparts as
equals.
Despite this trend, many foreign executives from the United States maintain a somewhat condescending attitude towards the
Mexican. They typically see themselves as technically superior and are more likely to be impatient with the Mexican professional
style. Many believe that they come to Mexico as near saviors and cannot understand why the Mexicans do not receive them with
open-arms and profound gratitude.
The Mexican is especially sensitive in his relationship with the Americans, expecting and resenting the "holier than thou" stance
assumed by many of these executives. The Mexican's sensitivity to this critical attitude leads him to be somewhat defiant and
uncooperative with the North American. In the face of the American's perceived arrogance, the Mexican's pride frequently deteriorates
into stubbornness and passive-aggressive resistance.
While struggling to find a way to work within the Mexican professional environment, many Anglos complained about the Mexican
and his way of conducting business. Some of the more frequent complaints about the Mexican have been:
1. There seems to be more concern for appearances than for substance.
2. The Mexican tends to be more interested in the short-term results. Long-term benefits are often sacrificed for the security
of the immediate return.
3. They seem to be inefficiently resistant to change. They tend to defend already existing systems regardless of the undeniable
need for modernization.
4. It is difficult to trust him. There always seems to be something else going on, something behind the scenes that is more impactful than what can be observed on the surface.
5. Despite all they say and do, they need us more than we need them.
Much of my work in my seminars has been to soften these criticisms by placing the Mexican's personality and professional style
into a psychological context. By doing so, behaviors which appear strange and impossible to understand, suddenly make sense.
As the Anglo comes to understand why the Mexican is the way he is, it is easier to respect his way of acting. With greater respect,
comes a better opportunity for a collegial relationship.
With the apparent "Mexican miracle" my job was made easier. I could argue that, despite what seemed to be strange and difficult
to understand behavior, the Mexican had proved himself to be a world-class player. As such, the Anglo had to struggle to fit-in, more
so than to force-feed new managerial systems to the Mexican.
Then the bubble burst. Suddenly the Mexican's image was devalued worse than his peso. If his government had just given the world
(and especially the United States) further reason to think the worse, how can the Mexican now defend himself from all of these
criticisms. Salinas was thought to have concealed important information. Sierra Puche was called a liar. Politics decisions once
again interfered with economic policy, and political systems were maintained to the detriment of the Mexican people. And possibly
worse of all, the United States had to bail out Mexico.
I can just imagine what a newly-arrived executive on his first overseas tour was told before he came to Mexico. "Hey, you better get
down there and see what you can do to straighten out those Mex'cans. Someone has to do something to protect our investment down
there. Heaven knows, they sure can't do that for themselves!" And a new cycle of the arrogant, superior-minded American and the
proud, defensive Mexican starts anew. What a pity!
