How Are Culture and Leadership Linked Essay

Organizational leadership and culture has been a major issue in today’s highly structured organizations. This has necessitated that organizations understand in depth the inter-relation between culture and organization on strategic leadership. Is it that the leadership determines culture or the culture determines leadership behaviors? While many argue that the leaders have absolute control and influence the direction of organizational culture, research actually shows that leaders themselves are greatly influenced by variables and situational setting in any organization, implying that it is valid to say that leadership itself receives significant influence from organizational culture (Waldner & Weeks, 2006).

Geert Hofstede is a researcher researching on the global leadership he focuses on how culture affects values in a workplace. He defends that all behaviors are defined by culture. The culture of a place affects how an individual behaves. Hofstede cultural dimensions are power distance index it measures the power of members in an organization it shows how the society handles inequality. Individualism is how an individual is integrated in a group. Masculinity this evaluates the distribution of roles. Uncertainty avoidance tolerance to the society, long-term orientation shows the values of perseverance and finally the

I want to begin by discussing some general definitions so that you have a better understand of the topics that I am going to discuss. I think it is important to begin by defining the definition of culture. As we learned in class culture is a unique combination of rituals, religious beliefs, ways of thinking and ways of behaving that unify a group of people. Further

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.

Cultures across the world differ in just about everything. Why would leadership be any different? While listening to Sayaka Isoda, from Japan, and Ali Al-Tameemi, from Iraq, I saw just how different their countries were from the United States. These differences led to differences in leadership between the three countries.

Leadership is perceived and defined in many ways, but in the end, every concept of leadership is brought back on the focus of people. Followers’ reaction towards a leader decides the effectiveness of his or her specific style of governance. Because of the importance of the subordinate, leaders must treat everyone they manage with dignity and respect. To achieve this feat, the leader must understand the meaning of culture and other aspects which stem from it and social perceptions and biases which lead to schema and ultimately unjust stereotypes. In the leadership textbook Preparing to Lead: Introduction to Leadership and Development written by LCDR Litchford, USN and LT Bryant, USN, it defines culture as “the totality of learned socially transmitted

Culture influences leadership in many ways, so it is helpful to first understand what culture is. According to our text culture is defined as the learned beliefs, values, rules, norms, symbols, and traditions that are common to a group of people (Northouse, 2016). Culture is the way of life, customs, and script of a group of people. Different cultures have different ideas about what they want from their leaders, but by understanding cultural differences leaders can become more empathetic and accurate in their communication with others. It is clear that different culture groups desire different leadership behaviors when they are looking for an effective leader. Surprisingly there were effective leadership attributes that was identified as universal characteristics. Positive leader attributes include being trustworthy, positive,

The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Program, or GLOBE, is an extensive research program devoted to understanding how culture influences leadership and different organizational processes (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, Gupta, 2004, pp. 9). This program consists of three separate phases, the first being an empirical study focused on developing research instruments (House et al., 2004, p. 9). The second phase is primarily geared toward the “assessment of the nine core attributes of societal and organization cultures” which are referred to as cultural dimensions (House et al., 2004, p. 9). And the last phase is currently underway as an investigation of the impact and effectiveness of specific leader styles

In this paper I will discuss the effects and responsibilities leaders have on an organizational culture. I believe leaders have an enormous effect on the well-being of an organizational culture. Leaders must take an active role within their organization's culture. Whether positive or negative, in an organization, things tend to follow suit "down hill." A leader has the power and influence to maintain, create, or repair an organizational culture. However, this can prove to be a delicate and challenging task.

Do you know the actually meaning of culture? There are many different definitions to the word, culture according to Live Science it is “The characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people.” Culture is defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. (REFERENCE). There are many cultures in the world, some have their similarities yet are unique in their own way and have a connection to the people of that region.

The term culture is described as ‘a verb’. However it is explained that culture is difficult to define as it can be associated in different ways by different people. Some people think of culture as a thing while others term it as a set of beliefs,

Countless times leaders operate on instinct that has grown from what they have seen in the past. What leaders see others do sets the stage for what they may do in the future. A leader of sound character will exhibit that character at all times.” (p. 7-13)

Organizational leadership and culture has been a major issue in today’s highly structured organizations. This has necessitated that organizations understand in depth the inter-relation between culture and organization on strategic leadership. Is it that the leadership determines culture or the culture determines leadership behaviors? While many argue that the leaders have absolute control and influence the direction of organizational culture, research actually shows that leaders themselves are greatly influenced by variables and situational setting in any organization, implying that it is valid to say that leadership itself receives significant influence from organizational culture (Waldner & Weeks, 2006).

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).

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.