Cross Cultural Leadership And Diversity

Northouse (2013) states, “…ethnocentrism is the tendency for individuals to place their own group (ethnic, racial, or cultural) at the center of their observation of others and the world” (p. 385). Obstacles to effective leadership occur when the beliefs, attitudes, and values of one group supersede another. Today diversity in our culture presents as differences of gender, ethnicity, background, sexual orientation, age, physical status, or other characteristics (Chemers & Murphy, 1995). The White man North American bias paradigms that have informed leadership theories are no longer effective for the health of today’s educational institutions and organizations (Chin, 2010, p.2). Changing societal norms have removed the glass ceilings for, “…not only women but for other historically low-power groups” (Klein & Wang, 2010, p. 2). Preconceived opinions cause harm to the leaners, human capital, and leadership of organizations. Development of leadership skills to meet the challenges of diversity is essential to the efficacy of an organization.

Why is executive-level support important and what are 3 key ways to gaining leadership commitment to multi-cultural diversity?

Ayman, R., & Korabik, K. (2010). Leadership: Why gender and culture matter. American Psychologist, 65 (3), 157-170. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0018806

Leaders who are well versed in the foregoing leader-follower communication concepts will also be successful in global and in cross-cultural environments (Rentfrow, 2007). For example, when leaders: (1) model willingness to engage others; (2) are sensitive to differences/diversity; (3) promote the establishment relationships beyond their immediate environment; and (4) eliminate organizational barriers, these principles are universal and

Those that go into the business world quickly recognize that each work environment they find themselves in can be total different from another. This can especially be said even of environments within the United States, from region to region. There is definitely a disparity of workplace environments from country to country. Not only can culture drive a varied atmosphere, but the diversity of the personnel making up that environment can equally create a challenge that a leader must be prepared to manage. Recognizing that special care needs to be placed on communication and perception skills is crucial in our present professional domain. Managers of today need to employee tools from the psychological and sociological field to be successful. Having a deep understanding in the differences in culture and diversity in the workplace is critical, especially when debating about accepting a position overseas or assigning an employee to an embedded position abroad. With a broad knowledge of cultural differences and diversity, success as a manager and the stability of a positive work environment can be achieved and maintained without unnecessary effort and focus.

Managers in today’s world are important assets to the multicultural organisations. Leadership styles of managers are highly important in terms of managing the team of followers, which has a correlation to the productivity and results that the team would achieve in the future. By having good management, it contributes to the success of the organisation. Hence, it is vital to identify the different leadership styles especially in different cultures to suit the working environment and culture of the organization. In the present multicultural global business industry, cultural differences can come in the way of the success of project completion (Anbari, Khilkhanova, Romanova, & Umpleby , 2009) . It has been claimed that rigid leadership does not promote motivation and creativity, therefore, managers should lead by flexible leadership and be culturally sensitive, adapting to different cultures, for the team to be able to move forward and reach their goals (Anabri et al. 2009). The way a manager’s leadership takes place also affect’s the experience of the employees at work and the relationship between the manager and the employee. Jariya (2012, p66) states that ‘different cultures differ in the values they endorse, people from these cultures often interpret the same managerial practices

A key theme of this book is that effective leadership requires considerable self-knowledge about one's own cultural beliefs and assumptions. Terrell and Lindsey (2009) review historical and contemporary beliefs about race, ethnicity, language, gender, and social class, and they challenge readers to examine their own experiences and beliefs in these areas. They suggest that development of a culturally proficient perspective will help provide prospective leaders with an ethical framework for their

Today’s management in the workforce is composed of all types of people verses thirty years ago when white males held a majority of upper-management positions in companies. These positions are now held by a mixture of ethnic back grounds and women who hold just as many if not more management positions then men. Just by looking at the changes in management demographics shows how important it is for people to understand cultural competency in the workplace. Dr. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. (1999) stated, “Diversity is the collective mixture of whomever we have in our workforce characterized by their differences and similarities” (p.11). Managers and supervisors must understand the characteristics of a diversity mature individual; they also need to be

Questions will often arise as to the effectiveness of varying leaderships styles and techniques used with differing cultures. Not all people will respond the same in certain circumstances, largely due to their cultural or ethnic sensitivities. “Evidence reflects that particular styles of and approaches to leadership may not be as successful with all cultural groups” (Aritz & Walker, 2014). Leaders working with either groups or individuals face many challenges today. It’s highly likely that most groups will be made up of individuals from across many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Leadership styles and techniques must be made inclusive of culturally sensitive issues and tendencies. Some people have been taught that being direct and straightforward is the most effective way to solve problems. Straight to the point with little or no deviations in order for all those involved to remain focused on the task at hand. While this may seem like a normal and most efficient approach for some, others may not be as comfortable and accepting.

Inclusive leadership is the practice of leadership that carefully includes the contributions of all stakeholders in the community or organization. The way a leadership mind is structured depend on how he structures his organization. An individual mindset might over shadow their ability to effectively overturn certain decision or behaviors. A leader’s values and characteristics strengthen the organization cultural diversity. Modern leaders use different styles and skills to shape human intuition. Their instinct reflect their ability to understand other’s cognitive ability. As a consultant in a global multicultural company, it will be very challenging to effectively lead an organization without implementing a strategic plan that promote respect, trust, loyal, and integrity. Prewitt, Weil, & McClure (2011) note, “Leadership involves creating a vision of the organizational future, devising a strategy for achieving that vision, and communicating that vision to all members of the organization” (p. 13). Depending on the structure of the organization, the leader’s mindset can and will change to adopt to the cultural diversity of the organization. Leadership, unlike management, is not dependent on position, title or privilege; instead it is an observable, understandable, and learnable set of skills that can be mastered by anyone that is willing to take the time and put forth the effort to learn them (Yukl, 1998). While implementing different strategies to improve the organizational

Cultural differences between countries have strong effects on individual personality and behavior, as well as on organizational culture (Hofstede 2001). These differences can be a significant barrier for an international business leader. Failure to understand and adapt to these differences may

In today’s society there are many culturally diverse people in the workforce. Most organizations can no longer make the assumption that every employee has similar beliefs or expectations. When entering into the global marketplace, people are considered one of the most valuable resources to an organization’s success. A well-managed culturally diverse workforce has the potential to thrive if managed correctly; or if mismanaged, there can be devastating negative attributes. With great expectations, culturally diverse employees can foster positive outcomes in the workplace. A company’s acknowledgement to embrace diversity and change, and implement the value of management techniques are

Leadership is a difficult task, and, for it to succeed there has to be a strong leader on board to lead the team. There is increasing challenges to having an advanced management systems and a leadership talent capable of stirring all these emerging and rapidly growing economies. These challenges arise from the fact that people from different countries have their own cultures and behaviors which conflict with others, therefore making it difficult to have a unified leadership. Different economies rely on certain leadership style for them to flourish therefore, it takes lots of effort to choose on the appropriate one and incorporate it into their system (Korotov, 2012).

In times of rapid globalisation and economic development growth, the environment of business has become more and more complicated as a huge number of firms want to globally expand their businesses. Subsequently, the managerial implications of cross-cultural management is the challenge of this development. As Abbe (2007) states, cross-cultural leadership has developed as a way to understand leaders who work in the global markets. Culture is the “software of mind” that can influence people’s patterns of thinking and behaving.

Many opportunities are associated with a culturally diverse workplace and global expansion may have potential to provide just such a diverse work group. Cross-culturalism in business can provide leaders and employees with a wonderful opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds and cultures. In addition, “the more opportunities for business leaders to interact with people from different cultures, the more likely they will be to have positive attitudes from different cultures and identify, learn and apply diverse culturally-appropriate business behaviors” (Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012, p. 614). Culturally diverse environments offer a multitude of benefits including “the variety of perspectives, skills and personal attributes” (Matveeve & Nelson, 2004, p. 254). Moreover, multicultural teams have potential to “generate more ideas of higher quality in brainstorming tasks” (Matveeve &