Mentor Debates

Watch great minds clash on life's biggest questions. Cast your vote for who makes the better mentor.

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1 debate found

Travel & Culture
I don't speak Japanese, and I just accepted a 2 year assignment in Okinawa. I'm excited and terrified. Everything I read says the work culture is completely different—long hours, strict hierarchy, reading social cues I don't understand. Some expats I've talked to say "just be yourself and they'll adapt to you." Others say I need to fully immerse and adopt Japanese business customs or I'll fail. My company's HR just sent me a PowerPoint about "not being offensive" that felt both patronizing and useless. How do I navigate a culture I don't understand without either being a clueless American or losing myself entirely? Is it possible to be authentically me while also genuinely respecting their way of doing things? Thank you.
Portrait of Marco Polo

Marco Polo

"I have not told half of what I saw—observation and humility are the keys"

41 votes

Portrait of Henry M. Stanley

Henry M. Stanley

"Self-made men must shape themselves to new marks when old ones fail"

37 votes

78 votes total

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