Member-only story
Working with Dual Cultural Mindsets: Poland
If ever geography and politics have shaped a national character, it is in Poland.
Here are some cultural tips to help you successfully work with the Poles as well as the zlotys (that’s the national currency).
Understanding Poland
Poles can seem alternatively proud and defiant, warm and indifferent, formal and friendly. Each contrary characteristic is the result of a long history as a country placed exactly in the center of Europe and being the coveted prize of Central European Germanic, Czech and Hungarian empires that were vying with eastern Slavic and Baltic regimes. Throughout the centuries, Poles have had to develop mechanisms to preserve their own individual culture, while fighting back against being overrun and torn apart from both the east and west. The resulting personality is one of resiliency, personal loyalty to those who are trusted and fierce resistance to those on the outside, as well as an odd mix of Latin fatalism (Poles are a Roman Catholic, Slavic nation) coupled with an unexpected Slavic attraction to risk and possibility.
