Italy is hot, beautiful and the home of some of the best food in the world. While renowned for its gastronomical delights, Italy also has plenty to teach us about our professional selves. After traveling there this summer, here are four career tips I think North Americans can learn from Italians when it comes to working well and happily.

Dress the part

Tasteful clothes and good grooming are crucial when it comes to making a great first impression. Don’t believe me; believe Forbes. Are you clothes wrinkled? Black shoes scuffed? Not in Italy (at least not from what I saw). Despite searing heat, just about everyone looked well put together sporting casual slacks (instead of grungy jeans), well cut shirts (rather than the typical stretched t-shirt), and tidy and clean cut blouses. To look good you don’t need to spend a lot of money. You just need to put a little extra consideration into your appearance and not “mail in” your dress. Looks matter, so whenever you are looking at your wardrobe, think like an Italian.

Take your time during (most) of your meals

A longer lunch will benefit your health and network. There’s been plenty of North American books about this (Never Eat Alone among others), but in Italy they really take it to the next level. Every meal (lunch and dinner) includes appetizer options, a first course (usually pasta) and a main course (not to mention dessert). What’s more, people actually seem to frequently order the full menu. There’s fast food around (the local Shwarma shop here or Piatta guy there) but not to the same extent of North American cities where quick and cheap seems to dominate the dining scene. Aside from a more healthy diet, there are clear social advantages to a longer, leisurely social lunch. Part of the reason to not eat alone and is the value of enhanced relationship development. When it comes to building relationships, long and purposeful lunches will benefit your career.

Think cooperatively

Italy is home to thousands of cooperatives. They’re everywhere and they make lots of money for lots of people. They dominate the consumer grocery sphere, produce wine, fruit and jams, provide financial services, and even offer innovative social services for vulnerable Italians. So embedded into the fabric of everyday business life in Italy are they that Italy has specific federal legislation designed to support their growth and success. Cooperatives offer a different way of doing business – one that is about more than maximizing shareholder value; cooperatives enrich the collective wellbeing of both their members and community. Still not sure about why cooperatives rock? Read this great post by John Horn.

Tolerate chaos

There are a lot of little things that don’t seem to quite work so well in Italy. From the airport announcements that interrupt and garble each other to the hilarious road rules that see cars, bikes and people all careening towards each other through narrow and tiny streets built originally for mini-horse and carts, you just can’t shake the seemingly chaotic nature of how life happens in Italy. But this same chaos is inextricably linked to Italy’s character. Sure the trains may leave 10 minutes late (or even 5 min early), but (shrug) such is life. People adjust and live their lives comfortably in the chaos – in fact, it probably doesn’t seem too chaotic for them. This offers a valuable lesson for all of us control freaks who obsess about all the little details and have frequent mini-heart attacks when things don’t work out precisely as they should. So the next time things seem to be going a little off the rails, just take a deep breath and pretend you’re in Italy. Then shrug and know things could be worse and it’ll all work out in the end.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons Kevin Poh

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