T for Tea..

I had a very interesting experience with a Chinese customer recently in Africa during a business trip. He hosted us in his office and like any other meeting we went ahead to sit around his desk. Instead, he guided us to a seating area with an elaborate arrangement for making fresh green tea (nothing short of a mini kitchen).

Once seated, he proceeded to boil the serving cups in a pot while preparing a boiling water pot, fresh green tea leaves in a strainer pot and separate serving bowls. The discussion started over how they have been performing in the region, the durability of our products, while he was busy with his preparation.

Through out the one hour long exchange of ideas and exploring the future of African market, he diligently made sure our cup was never more than half empty and us being four people, that was quite a lot of personal attention from one individual.

A few lessons I took away from this remarkable culture of hosting :

T for Tolerance : While sipping from a small cup of tea, it is not easy to get excited and be dramatic all the time focusing on the fact that you cannot physically spill the tea. It invariably guides you to be calm, receptive and ensure you never end  flaring up or make a sudden gesture to drive a point. It comes off at the end giving a very positive image of patience being the norm of the discussion.

E for Energy : The slow sipping of the tea gives you time to think, to distract one self from letting the brawn take over the brain emotionally, gives you the energy to focus on how to react. More often than not, when a conversation heads south, we tend to become defensive by instinct but the warm tea ensures that your balance is not lost in words. With a touch of positivity, you are able to focus at your strong points rather than the weaker links of the conversation.

A for Ambience : The gesture of getting your cup filled with fresh tea by the host every five minutes ensures that the exchange of respect is being carried from one to another along with the flow of the green tea. If any inhibitions or points of contention do arise, with the small act of giving breaking up the build up of any walls, it sets a stage of acceptance of different views and respect for the time being spent for the discussion.

Next time you want a productive conversation guaranteed and make your guest feel inspired enough to remember you, serve them with your best tea!