Swimming with Asian Sharks - Business Secrets from the Pacific Rim

Appearances Are Deceiving

Often we make judgment calls on people's worth just by looking at them.  This is the incorrect attitude to have when you are doing business in Asia.  The person who is most well dressed could have little to no say on the decision.  It is much more important to reserve judgment, and do as John C. Maxwell suggests, treat everyone as a 10.

When we got off the train in Shenzhen, it took almost half an hour to arrive at our meeting point.  Drivers in China are often unsure of the roads themselves because many come from outside the city to work.  Our driver got lost three times, and it wasn't until he asked many people on the streets where the place was before we arrived.

When we arrive at the home of Mr. Philosophy, his wife warmly greeted us.  We were led to a room where Mr. Princeton, Mr. RealEstate and Mr. Mineral were poring over maps.  The maps they were looking at were of Mongolia, and Mr. Philosophy was leading a discussion.  He stopped when he saw me, and came over from the other side of the room to greet me. Mr. Princeton introduced me; I have learnt to let him set the stage.

Shortly after I arrived, Mr. Princeton disappeared into the other room to chat with Mrs. Philosophy.  Mr. Mineral briefed me on the situation and began again to look over the maps.  Mr. Philosophy and I chatted briefly, before he disappeared from the room to get some samples.  Mr. Mineral impressed us all with his ability to identify the different minerals that were brought to us, and even make estimates.

I had also studied some mining engineering, but more importantly I had been doing investments in mining for the last few years.  It seemed that Mr. Philosophy was looking to go into the mining business in Mongolia.  I felt it was my duty to inform him that a mine cost several millions of dollars to start, and several more to sustain.  He seemed to be okay with that fact, so we continued to wait for Mr. Mineral's analysis.  Midway through, Mrs. Philosophy brought us some sliced watermelon and loquat, a Chinese fruit.

After some time, Mr. Mineral concluded that he didn't have enough data to make a judgment call, and would need physically to visit some of the sites.  Mr. Philosophy seemed to be content with this conclusion and we set out to return to Hong Kong.  We left the meeting room, and Mr. Princeton finally joined us again.  At Mr. RealEstate's car, Mr. Princeton informed us that Mrs. Philosophy was testing the strength of Mr. Princeton's connections, and confirming he was the real deal.  She actually called many of the people Mr. Princeton claimed to know, and on the spot verified his identity.  It turned out Mrs. Princeton was both a former high-ranking government official, and also the descendant of a prominent Chinese philosopher, making her extremely well connected in the world.  The person really in charge was her.  As expected, Mr. Princeton exceeded her expectations, and knew the people even better than she did in some cases.

Mrs. Philosophy had taken this approach to verify because the last few people who'd claimed to help had swindled several million dollars from her.  She was easily a multimillionaire and was cautious about with whom she would associate.  Trust but verify in action.