The Business Diplomat Deficit: Why Your Global Strategy is Failing at the Human Level.
George Orwell wrote that insincerity is the great enemy of clear language, forcing one to retreat into exhausted idioms "like a cuttlefish squirting out ink."
Look at the language of most European "global strategies." It is a cloud of ink.
We have established the brutal fact of the Demographic Cliff. We know the future of demand lies in the GCC and across the Belt and Road. Yet, deal after deal fails. Billions in value evaporate. Why? Because we send executives who speak English but think German, French, Italian, or Dutch. They are pilots flying a state-of-the-art jet with the navigational charts of a single country.
This is the Diplomat Deficit. And closing it requires three brutal, honest disciplines.
Discipline 1: Dismantle the Monocultural Cockpit.
I witnessed a €38 million green-tech deal with Qatar collapse after 12 months of work. The product was superior. The terms were agreed upon. The deal was cancelled for one reason: "a lack of trust in a long-term cooperation."
The German CEO, guided by a personal coach who spoke no English, used force instead of power. His direct, efficient style was perceived as arrogance. His team copied his language, and the Qatari partners gave five chances before walking away. This is not a unique story. I’ve seen French executives, trained in the logic of "thesis-antithesis-synthesis," treat a negotiation like a debate to be won, alienating Asian partners who value harmony over argumentation.
The brutal fact is this: Cultural fluency is not a "soft skill." It is the core competency of global business. Your best domestic leader can be your worst international ambassador.
Discipline 2: Fire the 'Cultural Trainers'. Earn the Scars.
Personally and sincerely, I would laugh you out of the room for suggesting a two-day seminar can teach a person how to build trust. This knowledge is not learned; it is earned. It is paid for with time, with failure, with personal cost.
My six years in Moscow were my real MBA. No textbook can teach you that trust is built not in the boardroom, but at a dacha on a Saturday where business is never mentioned. No classroom can prepare you for an FSB screening to join a business club. I learned that in many cultures, a handshake in a forest is more binding than a 200-page contract. I learned to read the silence in a negotiation, which often carries more weight than the words.
You cannot "train" this. It requires years of immersion. It requires intellectual humility. It requires the scars that prove you have survived contact with reality.
Discipline 3: Find the Person Whose Heritage is Global.
The greater leaders insisted on getting the "right people on the bus." To cross borders, the right person is the Builder-Diplomat—the operator with deep cultural fluency.
How do you spot them? They don't have all the answers, but they have a high tolerance for ambiguity. They listen more than they talk, showing genuine interest in their counterpart's family. They possess a flexible ego, adapting their approach without ever yielding the ultimate objective. For them, this is not a job. It is an identity.
My own family has operated on the world stage for centuries. From Johannes van der Kemp, who bridged worlds in the 18th century, to Admiral Maarten Tromp, who built a nation's sea power through innovation. This is my heritage. My work is a continuation of that legacy.
The right person for your bus may not have a famous lineage, but they will have a life story that proves they can thrive between worlds. Find that person.
A global strategy is not a document. It is a person. The question is not what your plan is, but who will execute it. Look at your leadership team.
Who on your bus has the scars, the heritage, the fluency to actually drive it across a new border?
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