5 French Character Traits To Be Aware Of
When I first landed in San Francisco 4 years ago, I wish I had known more about the American culture. I was green and thrilled, bringing my truly transparent French culture to American soil. Unsurprisingly, nobody told me what to expect and maybe this was for the better. I learned on the field. I learned from meeting exceptional as well as awfully bad marketers. I learned that your native background always sticks to you and to your work. That is why we are hired as international talents.That is why I’m writing this piece today.
Today, I look back and realize how tough it can be to work with internationals. I have watched and listened to French people at work, I have observed them and asked them questions. Today, here are my top 5 truly “Made in France” character traits that you should be aware of if you’re working with French fellows.
1. Frankness and Independence
Frank friends are the best, as we say in France. Frankness is a gift. This is so strong in our culture that we welcome negative feedback and sometimes assess positive feedback as hypocritical. This character trait may turn into a handicap as we may hurt other culture’s sensitivities.
This frankness also ties to our independence. The French revolution was so long ago, after all. We’re autonomous, as we know we can raise our voice, speak up and express frankly. We are autonomous, as we have acquired our freedom of speech and this is one of our dearest values. We are autonomous as a French people within a free and liberal European Union.
2. A Love for Debate and Questioning
We’re not afraid of asking questions. We love to challenge the one who is speaking. Everything can be subject to debate and discussion. We are ready to challenge anything and everything. Crazy, right? We might even waste everybody’s time… True.
Yet, debate is seen as a healthy process which will help to bring more ideas to the table. We welcome anyone who stimulates this energy in a discussion. After all, France is not so far from Greece and from Socrate’s lessons:
Maïeutic — Of or relating to the aspect of the Socratic method that induces a respondent to formulate latent concepts through a dialectic or logical sequence of questions.
3. Numbers, Facts and Details Matter
Every French talent you may work with has been through great studies. We have among the best mathematicians (Cedric Villani, Alain Connes, Arthur Avila…), and we are crushing it with our Schools and Universities. We are all very sensitive to processes. We like to put everything back in order. While speed is highly valued at school, we are also accountable on structuring our thoughts.
This will affect our trust in Marketers and Salespeople. Also, we will focus more on the core message of a presentation rather than its layout, sometimes making us bad at selling compared to our American friends. On the opposite side, we will be very good at pulling out and analyzing the data to support our statements.
4. A Strong Irony, to Hide Our Tenderness
Never take things at face value with French people. We love being ironic. And take me at face value or not, we are ironic because it’s funny and because we can hide our tenderness. Yes, we are romantic on the inside, but hard as a coconut on the outside.
It means that small talk doesn’t work. We won’t pick up the phone to talk with a stranger, without a very precise and thoughtful approach. We might feel disarmed by your “How are you doing?” and some of us might even assume bad intent.
Our inner tenderness can make us tough, demanding and rude on the outside. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
5. A Different Perception of Time
French people have a slightly different perception of time. We might spend a few hours at lunch, and stay longer at work in the evenings. We are hard-workers, except when it comes to food, wine and cigarettes. Maybe because we’re an old and traditional country. But in the end, we might work longer hours than our English or German compatriots, staying efficient thanks to our food delicacies!
While I’m excited to work with other cultures, I hope you’ll enjoy working with us as well. At least, I am sure, it will be worth it!
