At my company, our differing backgrounds and perspectives make us stronger, but they can also lead to friction. Here’s how I handle it.

“I don’t like him. He’s rude.” That was the chatter I was hearing about our newest hire, an IT whiz from Ankara in my native Turkey.

Dismayed as I was to hear this assessment, I wasn’t totally surprised. The person who made it was American; exactly the sort of eternally upbeat, outgoing person the country’s reputation is built upon. Our new hire, on the other hand, was more introverted and subdued — he was polite, but not overly focused on pleasantries. 

What was happening here wasn’t a difference in personality as much as culture. I experienced this myself when I first moved to the U.S. — people were so friendly, it was almost unnerving. It took me a while to realize the friendliness wasn’t fake. Nor was it the same thing as closeness. Americans will ask how you’re doing, mean it for the few seconds it takes to respond and move on. In Turkey, you don’t ask unless you have the time to actually hear the answer. It took time for me to understand this and adapt to it.

Jotform has offices across five countries; even within those offices, our teams are incredibly diverse. Our strength comes from our differing backgrounds and perspectives, but they can also lead to moments of friction, like the one with our new hire. As leaders, it’s incumbent on us to build a culture that leverages these differences rather than suffers from them.

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