By the time the coffee arrived, you’d been introduced to two people who weren’t on the original invite, the conversation had moved well off the agenda, and nobody in the room seemed to mind.
You left thinking: this one’s going somewhere.
Three weeks later, you’re still waiting for the contract.
The situation
They genuinely liked you. The warmth was real.
But in LatAm professional culture, liking someone is the beginning of a longer process. Trust in Loop logic builds through time and repeated contact. A good first meeting signals you might be worth investing in. It opens a door. Walking through it takes more: another meeting, a meal where the only agenda is the relationship.
On your side, the warm meeting crossed a threshold. Relationship established. Clear to proceed.
You sent the follow-up email. With deliverables. And a timeline.
A Mexican corporate affairs manager spends the weekend before a big London pitch working through a business masterclass online. Lesson four says that holding eye contact is the single biggest signal of trust one can send.
He walks into the meeting and does exactly that. Steady gaze, no breaking away, right through the whole pitch.
Twenty minutes in, his British counterpart has shifted in his se...
Half the room ended up by the window. Half by the bar. Nobody planned it, and nobody moved for twenty minutes.
I watched this happen at a reception mixing UK and Latin American guests. Ten minutes in, the room had split clean down the middle, separated by the Atlantic Ocean.
The Situation
The Latin American guests opened the way they always open: are you married? Do you have children? Where's y...
You sent the agenda four days out.
Three items. Tight. Time-boxed. One page attached to the calendar invite so everyone could come prepared.
They confirmed attendance. Nobody pushed back. You walked in with a deck for each point and ten minutes to spare.
By 11:15, you were still on item one.
The Situation
The meeting didn't collapse. Something else happened.
A question opened up a conversation ...
THE BRITISH-LATAM FRICTION SCORECARD™
Find out exactly where your friction is.
A personalised read of where your British-LatAm friction actually lives. The kind of specific information that changes how you walk into your next meeting. Used by British and LatAm professionals. Takes 4 minutes.
