I was thinking about blogging about my trip last weekend, when I went ice-fishing with some people from work. Or about how I am learning to snowboard. But then this happened...
I am at our weekly telephone conference with our in-house legal department in the States.
I need to talk about an upcoming project, which I, and one other legal department member, had been put in charge of. While working on the project this week, he and I realized that we needed to add some tasks to the original request we had given our US counsel.
The other person assigned to the project is out of the office, so it fell to me to make it clear that the original task assignments were being changed. I start explaining this, when suddenly, one of the US-based attorneys (who is Japanese) piped up, in Japanese, that this was not what had previously been decided. Now first of all, it is inappropriate to speak in Japanese during these meetings since not everyone understands Japanese. Secondly, I was at that very point explaining the change.
As I try to explain this, our team leader here in Japan then realizes that he also did not know about this change. It should have been irrelevant - I am in charge of the project, and do not need him to sign off on changes. Nonetheless, he began (also in Japanese) to state how he did not know of this change and is not sure if it is correct, etc. etc. Even worse, when I try to explain, he tells the local counsel that we will have to get back to him on the issue and ends the telephone call.
I am furious. I looked like an idiot, and what's worse, I looked like I did not have the trust of those around me. I am certain that this would not have happened if I was a male Japanese employee. But this is Japan, where direct confrontations are just not done. So do I say something, and possibly make it worse, or do I let it lie, and by doing so, possibly acquiesce to such behavior?
My gut instinct is that if I don't say something, this person will continue to act in a similar manner. So, dear reader(s), what do you suggest? Do I let him have it? (In a polite and respectful manner, of course?) Or do I suck it up? Or something in between??
- LS
I am at our weekly telephone conference with our in-house legal department in the States.
I need to talk about an upcoming project, which I, and one other legal department member, had been put in charge of. While working on the project this week, he and I realized that we needed to add some tasks to the original request we had given our US counsel.
The other person assigned to the project is out of the office, so it fell to me to make it clear that the original task assignments were being changed. I start explaining this, when suddenly, one of the US-based attorneys (who is Japanese) piped up, in Japanese, that this was not what had previously been decided. Now first of all, it is inappropriate to speak in Japanese during these meetings since not everyone understands Japanese. Secondly, I was at that very point explaining the change.
As I try to explain this, our team leader here in Japan then realizes that he also did not know about this change. It should have been irrelevant - I am in charge of the project, and do not need him to sign off on changes. Nonetheless, he began (also in Japanese) to state how he did not know of this change and is not sure if it is correct, etc. etc. Even worse, when I try to explain, he tells the local counsel that we will have to get back to him on the issue and ends the telephone call.
I am furious. I looked like an idiot, and what's worse, I looked like I did not have the trust of those around me. I am certain that this would not have happened if I was a male Japanese employee. But this is Japan, where direct confrontations are just not done. So do I say something, and possibly make it worse, or do I let it lie, and by doing so, possibly acquiesce to such behavior?
My gut instinct is that if I don't say something, this person will continue to act in a similar manner. So, dear reader(s), what do you suggest? Do I let him have it? (In a polite and respectful manner, of course?) Or do I suck it up? Or something in between??
- LS
3 comments:
Difficult one, isn't it. You're quite new there, so how about letting it go this time while you continue to see how the company operates, how things get done. Maybe it was par for the course, no matter how upsetting that might be.
Could it have stemmed from a language misunderstanding? This sometimes happens. Sometimes you think someone's English is close to perfect, but often nuance is lost or understanding is limited.
Then again, if you're someone that can't sit on it, maybe it's best for you to express yourself rather than bottling it up and getting tense. Expressing it may sort it, or it maybe snowball into something you didn't want! It depends on what you say, how you say it, and how they take it! Too many permutations.
Perhaps approach someone that you trust, one to one, and ask about the way things are done in your company, comparing to what happened to you. Perhaps you don't need to say you're upset about your situation, you're just trying to understand what happened.
But you also never know, it might have been because you're not Japanese. It's sometimes the way it happens in Japan.
Anyway, sound out the advice of as many people as you can. Good luck with it.
That other lawyer shouldn't have interrupted you, and spoken in Japanese either. It was probably a power play.
As long as you and your boss are on the same page, it's good.
While I'm sure you have by now sorted it all out, whatever you decided, I think I would first wait to speak to the other person assigned to the project and get his advice. If you both think it's a good idea to approach the team leader about it, then at least you know you have his support on how to handle this situation. Or you might have ended up deciding that it's best to let it go and only confront the situation if it does happen to you again. I suspect power play as well. But if you are able to assert your position in other facets of your job, it may be easier to let this one go. Hope it all worked out okay!
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