As Global Leaders, we need to consider the many factors or styles that influence the effectiveness of various strategies to persuade others. In The Culture Map, Erin Meyer describes the Persuading dimension as the way different cultures build arguments and influence others.
When a leader uses the “wrong” approach for their audience, even the best ideas can fall flat.
Leading to confusion, resistance, or a lack of engagement. For example, presenting abstract frameworks to an examples-first team may come across as too theoretical, while diving into examples without context in a principles-first culture might seem superficial.
By recognizing these cultural preferences, leaders can tailor their communication, build stronger consensus, and influence more effectively across borders, ensuring their message not only reaches others but also resonates within them.
The Persuading Dimension
Erin Meyer’s Persuading dimension identifies two main styles:
- Principles-first: also known as Deductive reasoning, people start with theories or concepts before reaching conclusions
- France or Germany
- Applications-first: also known as Conductive reasoning, where reasoning is grounded in concrete examples and practical cases
- US and Canada
Managing To Persuade Effectively In Different Cultures
- Principles-first (Deductive): Value logic, theory, and abstract principles before examples
- France, Italy, Spain
- Applications-first (Inductive): Prefer practical examples and case studies before drawing conclusions
- US, Canada, Australia
More centered on the scale we have:
- Strong principles-first. Heavily structured arguments; logic must be explicit and rigorous.
- Germany
- Practical, example-driven communication: often, concrete examples or real-life stories initiate conversations, especially when trust and relationships are involved. For leaders, it’s helpful to start with relatable cases and then draw out the principles.
- Mexico and much of Latin America
- Mixed but leaning inductive. Often data-driven but with appreciation for underlying rationale
- UK
- Contextual/implicit: Emphasis on harmony and intuition; persuasion may be subtle and indirect
- Japan
Remember the importance of cultural relativity. Where two cultures fall relatively on the scale is more important than where they’re positioned independently – its objective is to help you to compare the different countries.
Approaching The Dimension In Different Cultures
To communicate persuasively across cultures, it’s essential to understand where your audience typically begins their reasoning. DO they favor a principles-first approach, starting with theoretical frameworks before moving to examples?
In contrast, do they tend to be applications-first, preferring to begin with data, stories, or case studies and then draw conclusions? Adapting your pitch to align with these preferences can significantly improve clarity, engagement, and impact:
- Applications-first thinkers prefer to start with concrete examples or case studies and derive general principles from them through experience and observation
- Principles-first thinkers want to understand the underlying theories or frameworks first, and only then move to practical application, seeing each situation as unique
- Mixed groups with both principles-first and applications-first thinkers, the best approach is to alternate between theory and practice. Use practical examples to engage applications-first participants, but don’t skip conceptual explanations, or you’ll lose the principles-first audience.
- While you can’t please everyone all the time, being aware of these styles helps you adjust in real time and communicate more effectively
As you prepare for your next meeting, sales pitch, or even interview, reflect on your own reasoning style and how it impacts collaboration and persuasion across the cultures you work with or are meeting with.
Understanding how people are persuaded is as important as what you are trying to persuade them about.
A culturally agile leader translates between persuasion styles to quickly align stakeholders, especially in global decision-making.