Max and Cary Grant

Dear Blog,

For those people that have worked with Max, we all know that he is charming, intelligent, lucid and can sell anything to customers. He and Robert share this trait, and Robert perhaps is one of the best people in the industry at doing so. I have known Max for a number of years now, and I constantly hear how he can help with sales, and how widely he seems to be liked in the company.

But seeing him operate in the US, I am always struck by what I view as his underlying caution. In working with him I have tried, (like I did with Robert as well) to get him to trust his judgement and be less cautious. When I've asked him about it, he says that he is never quite sure in the US how people will react and this makes him overly sensitive to interpersonal communications. In response, he just says he listens more carefully. Personally I think it has something to do with his work as a Translator here in Russia when he was just out of college.

So, it has been fascinating to see him work people on his home turf. He is like a walking Cary Grant. He charms everyone from clerks and salespeople to officials with a friendly and sincere and rational manner that is disarming. It's a bit like walking the streets with a conservative version of Bill Clinton. I have never felt so comfortable in a foreign city. It's like having Obi-Wan Kenobi around. He says "these are not the droids your looking for" in Russian, and all of a sudden people are smiling, happy and compliant. He can tell someone that htey're absurd and they agree and apologise. I can't figure out whether to be jealous or in awe.

When we travel, I usually ask Allora to be the politician. I have not patience for pettiness in the US and even less so in other cultures. (Again, this is not indignation, but my view that by doing so these people are hurting themselves.) I am simply not likeable enough, and am certainly too intolerant unless I am sure how to use the local protocol. I can usually get it within two weeks, but Allora can charm people in almost any culture within a minute or two.

Max on the other hand, when he is here, in his native element, has lost all caution, and all self doubt, and operates like a french fencing master deftly maneouvering voice, language and ideas with such charm and eloquence that it inspires awe.

It is something to behold. Cary Grant would be impressed.

Curt