Hans is German, a senior-level manager, in a major, global German company. He is an excellent manager, very experienced, and a first-rate engineer. About 50 years old, Hans is married, and has two children. He is respected and liked. Hans is a good guy, a solid guy.

Hans and the U.S. have a long relationship. His father did business in the U.S. The family went on vacations to Florida and to California. As a engineering student, Hans even took a course on American History.

When he married, he and his wife took a vacation to the U.S., and they’ve been there with their children. And, of course, his work has taken him to the U.S. time and again over the last fifteen years.

But for Hans it was always something fresh and fascinating to visit the United States. Always eager to learn something new, to get to know the people, to introduce himself, Germany and Germans to the Americans.

Hans takes the German-American relationship very seriously. He knows how critical it is for both countries politically and economically. Hans’ company did a major reorganization. Two hundred American engineers were added to his team.

Hans has managed Americans before, but not that many. He decided to hop on a plane over to Chicago to spend a week with his new colleagues. Especially important was meeting his three new American direct reports.

They would meet several times over four days. There was a lot to discuss and to clarify. The reorganization of the business unit meant all sorts of changes in its structure, in key work processes, and internal hand-offs of work results.

Questions
How well do you think Hans understands America and Americans? How do you think Americans understand Germany and Germans?

Hans flew over to Chicago on a Saturday. The weather was beautiful. It was early autumn. He checked into his hotel. Then went for a long walking tour of downtown Chicago. Hans took it all in with wonder. Looking for any and every opportunity to speak with the locals about life in one of the world’s great cities.

Hans had suggested meeting his new American direct reports for burgers and beers: Maria, Jack and Nancy. He wanted it to be informal, relaxed, personal. And not stiff and formal.

They met at a popular restaurant located halfway between the office and Hans’ hotel. Hans had gone there Saturday and Sunday for lunch and liked it. Evelyn joined them. She’s German, one of Hans’ direct reports on delegation to the U.S.

It was a Tuesday evening. The place was packed with young professionals. The five colleagues got a booth on the street side with a nice view. The booth was a bit small. They sat closely together. Certainly one way to get to know each other.

Questions
From Hans’ perspective, how do you think the dinner will go? From the perspective of the three Americans, how do you think the dinner will go?

The dinner started off just fine. The food was good. The atmosphere started out very positive. Then Hans asked his American colleagues who they favored, Joe Biden or Donald Trump. It was September 2024, just weeks before the presidential election.

Maria, a Democrat, had grown up in Delaware. For her it was clear that President Biden would win the election. Jack said he liked Democrats and their basic political direction, but was worried about their economic policies, and about Biden’s age.

Nancy was reluctant to engage in a discussion about politics. But in a few words it was pretty clear that she was a loyal Republican. Evelyn played fly on the wall, just listening.

Hans couldn’t wait to get into the discussion. He had followed American politics ever since he was in high school in Germany. He was familiar with the two parties, their political platforms. He knew about their candidates for president going back at least four elections.

But not just politics. Born and raised in Germany, America had been ever-present in his life: politically, culturally, economically. From his perspective, how could any well-educated German not be interested in the U.S., in Americans, in what and how they think !

Question
How will the conversation progress from here?

Hans probed further: “Well, I think Biden is doing a solid job. The economy is strong. He is holding alliances like Nato together. And he is helping the Ukraine to stand up to Putin. And Trump was simply a disaster.”

Nancy cringed, but tried not to show it. Maria was in full agreement, but smiled discreetly. Jack, no fan of Trump, responded: “Well, maybe Trump is a risk, but he did raise three really important issues: our southern border, the mission of Nato three decades after the end of the Cold War, and China eating our lunch in trade.”

Which led Hans to say: “Yes, of course, those are three big issues which need to be discussed. But the guy is a criminal. I mean, he might end up in jail.”

Hans went into several current hot-button topics in American politics. He was proud to show how well informed he was.

As he did Nancy began to focus in on Hans. Maria, with her Latin American background, liked what Hans had to say, even if he was a bit too direct. Jack listened carefully.

Questions
What’s happening here?

“Oh, no!” thought even Maria. Hans is going in the wrong direction here. Jack quickly pulled out the dessert menu and waived for a waiter, hoping to change the subject of the conversation. Nancy was furious. All three Americans had had some degree of experience with, well, rather opinionated Germans.

“Don’t you Americans worry that this idiot Trump could be a threat to democracy himself?”, Hans asked concerned.

Nancy did not agree in the least. But again, she was very careful not to state her opinion. She reported directly to Hans, was new in the organization, and not familiar with the German side of the company. 

And besides, she was not at all comfortable with mixing business and politics. Hans looked at her as if asking for her point of view. Nancy replied discreetly and in a serious tone: “Well, it’s a complex situation. Too complex for me to know what is best.”

The conversation went on like this for another half an hour. Hans probed other topics: health care reform, abortion, high crime rates, the Second Amendment, the influence of money in American elections.

Each time he sensed that his American colleagues were not in the mood for discussing politics. Maybe because it was a Tuesday and not a Friday or a weekend, he thought. Eventually, they moved on to lighter topics like sports, weather and Chicago.

For Hans it was an enjoyable dinner, even if they didn’t get into a good debate about topics of real substance. Evelyn found the interaction between Hans and the Americans rather amusing, making only a few comments here and there.

Questions
The Americans are not amused. What is their impression of Hans?

And the Americans?

Maria started off amazed at how well-informed Hans was about the U.S. Jack was also impressed, but thought that Hans was a bit too enthusiastic. Especially as an outsider picking such sensitive topics about the U.S.

Nancy went from furious to outraged, but without showing it. She thought to herself: “Who was this guy? Comes over here and does nothing but point out our faults? What arrogance! He thinks he’s so smart, just because he reads newspaper and watches TV. Does he have any clue about the things that work well in our country?”

Nancy is an engineer. Her academic studies were very rigorous. She paid her way through college with loans and any job she could get. There was little time to take courses in American or European History.

But she did know the basics of U.S. foreign policy since the end of World War II. And for Nancy it was clear that her country had done good things in Europe, especially in Germany. She thought to herself: “With their history, doesn’t Hans have any sense of shame?” But she bit her tongue during the entire conversation, making only brief and neutral comments.

Questions
For the Americans, the conversation turned negative. For Hans, it was simply a disappointment. Was anyone in a position to prevent it from going negative? If yes, how?

That was Tuesday evening. The five colleagues met several more times during that week. What Hans did not know, however, was that many of the Americans in the organization asked Maria, Jack and Nancy how the dinner and the other meetings with Hans had gone.

All were curious about Hans, his background, how he thinks. He’s a Senior Vice President with a lot of authority. His influence at senior management levels is very significant. And he’s their boss.

The three Americans gave their impressions. At lunch, on the phone, between meetings, always discreetly. Never by email. 

The feedback was mixed, from somewhat positive to very negative: “Smart guy. Very open. Enthusiastic. But, very opinionated. Always pointing out America’s problems. Critical. An arrogant know-it-all. A real jerk. Avoid any contact with him outside of the workplace!”

For those Americans who had similar experiences, what Maria, Jack, and especially Nancy, had to say only reinforced their own negative opinions about Germans.

Word began to spread around the office about Hans. Some of the Americans ignored the gossip. Others became cautious around Hans, and now even around Evelyn. A few decided to do their best to stay clear of him.

Questions
Word began to spread around the office about Hans. How will this affect Hans’ ability to lead the organization? If damage has been done, is anyone on the American side in a position to repair it?