Cultural diversity among America’s workforce has forced strong emphasis to be placed on acceptance and respect for minority workers out of recognition for the representation of the current population, as well as those clients organizations serve. Globalization and education have created wealth and opportunity for many who formerly did not occupy positions of influence. It is important for company leaders to bear in mind their efforts to diversify their workforce should be presented not just as a necessity but also as a sincere effort to broaden their talent pool to reflect society around us, not “collect” workers. Leaders need to lead by example and demonstrate competence in cross cultural awareness and practices. Diversity involves ethnic and social acceptance in conjunction with sensitivity to the individual without assumptions or uninformed expectations for one who has been recruited based on her race or gender.
According to Adler and Bartholomew, Globalization has created a need for cross-cultural awareness. This obligates leaders to understand business practices as well as the political and cultural environments worldwide. They should learn the tastes and perspectives of other cultures as well as learn their technologies. They should adapt to living and communicating with other cultures. Lastly, leaders should learn to relate to other cultures from a position of equality rather than cultural superiority (Northouse, pp. 383-384). This is important to note since we are fortunate in America to have diversity within our own borders. Company leaders only have to look within their corporate walls in America to determine where to begin the lesson of tolerance and sensitivity and initiate learning for themselves and all employees. Many are focused on global or international tolerance yet remain uninformed about their American employees and show little interest in them as individuals or as a culture.
Ethnocentrism, or the tendency to think one’s own culture is right and natural, is described as a major obstacle to effective leadership because it prevents one from fully understanding or respecting the viewpoints of others. Prejudice is related to this in that it is rooted in beliefs held by an individual about another individual or group that is not based on fact (Northouse). David Elgarico, board chairman of the Asian Healthcare Leaders Association and executive director for ancillary services at the University of California at Irvine Medical Center says the hiring process is often a bigger problem than the shortage of qualified minorities. “The challenge” according to Elgarico, “is some people will pick only people who remind them of themselves or someone you know. They’re not consciously aware that this is going on. It’s only human nature” (Selvam, 2013) What Elgarico explains is a form of social dominance orientation, in which people are compelled to protect their own groups. They then engage in forms of in-group favoritism, such as unfair hiring and promotion practices, as a way to maintain their group (The Pennsylvania State University, 2014).
Affirmative Action was created as a result of the Civil Rights Movement to extend educational and employment opportunities to those who would otherwise not be chosen for jobs and promotions such as those in racial minority groups and women. Supporters of Affirmative Action policies still feel they are necessary “ in order to compensate for centuries of racial, social, and economic oppression.” (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014) Women and minorities are still underrepresented in leadership positions in various industries. Healthcare is an example of an industry in which increasing numbers of multicultural groups are being served. According to the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, only 14% of C-Suite Executives are minorities (Selvam, 2013).
Ethnocentrism and prejudice in the workplace can only be diminished when minorities and females are considered less superficially and valued firstly, for their expertise. All employees can contribute to diversity and are an important factor for carrying out a leader’s vision for the successful advancement of a company. They should be integrated as equally talented, capable professionals who were hired to perform a task based on their qualifications for a job. John Bluford, President and CEO of Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City, Missouri acknowledges some organizations need a “primer” in diversity strategies. Bluford states “organizations cannot pin the transformation of its culture on a committee or the chief diversity officer. It needs to be a system wide effort starting at the top” (Selvam, 2013) Leaders need to move beyond the creation of policies and positions. They need to closely examine their organizations and discover how they may cultivate a reputation for being a company that meets the professional needs of employees through actively training, promoting and recruiting minorities that not only possess talent in the industry, but can also aid in integrating sound strategies for diversity with company culture.
Works Cited
National Conference of State Legislatures. (2014, November). Affirmative Action/Overview. Retrieved from National Conference of State Legislatures: www.ncsl.org/research/education/overview/affirmative-action-overview.aspx
Northouse, P. G. Leadership – Theory and Practice (Sixth ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: SAGE Publications.
Selvam, A. (2013, May 18). Making Progress – Sustained efforts to increase minority representation in healthcare executive ranks are delivering results but barriers remain.
The Pennsylvania State University. (2014, November). Lesson 13, Leadership and Diversity. Retrieved from Penn State World Campus – Psych 485: Leadership in Work Settings: courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa14/psych485
Arlacia J Leite says
Hello, Mai,
Thank you for your feedback. I read your viewpoint and say I agree with your additional examples of leadership situations. I recently expressed this within our “discussion” with a classmate. I am fortunate to have worked in many work settings and cultures, from the most conservative, like banking and luxury hospitality, to the most lenient, like fast food or advertising. Each environment and industry, indeed, requires the most appropriate leadership to propel the company toward success. If you should have an additional moment, Mai, I invite you to join our conversation since the information you shared above is most relevant to the discussion. Your observations would be valuable there, as well. As always, I enjoy reading your posts. You have a wonderful insight, Mai!
Mai Dolinh says
You say that if the “right type of individual is selected, servant leadership can produce good results not only for the leader, but also the follower and ultimately the organization.” I must disagree. I don’t think simply choosing the right individual for servant leadership automatically leads to success of an organization. I think we are missing another important factor, which is context. Liden, Panaccio, Hu, and Meuser (2008)’s Model of servant leadership is comprised of three components, antecedent conditions, servant leader behaviors, and leadership outcomes (Northouse, 2013, p.225). The first component, one third of the model- antecedent conditions, focuses on several elements that have nothing to do with the “right type of individual.” Antecedent conditions is broken down to context and culture, leader attributes, and follower receptivity. Yes, leader attributes does involve the leader, having someone that has the specific dispositions that help make servant leadership successful.
There are two other parts context/culture, and follower receptivity, that do not relate directly to a trait or characteristic the leader must have. Context and culture are important factors of whether or not servant leadership will be successful. If you hired the best servant leader (trait-wise, behavior-wise, etc) and had them run a huge financial firm, would they be successful? I would predict not. If we are looking at a typical finance firm, they are highly competitive, cut-throat, and the bottom line (revenue produced) is top priority. This type of firm has different values and norms, employees respect power, strength, and success. Having an empathetic leader who wants to discuss their personal life goals and look after their subordinates wants before their own, would be mocked and laughed at. If you don’t have the respect of your colleagues and subordinates, you cannot be an efficient leader. It would be hard to persuade or influence, making change and growth a struggle.
Another example would be to have a servant leader in a school for troubled teens. These teens lack discipline and regulation. A servant leader in this work culture will not work because they would get walked over. If you are working with subordinates who need rules and strict enforcement, having a servant leader is not beneficial, and will not help the organization. This is why context and culture are important factors to consider besides leadership attributes for use of servant leadership.
Follower receptivity is another important component of antecedent conditions. Follower receptivity involves the concern of whether or not employees show an actual desire for servant leadership (Northouse, 2013, p.226). For example, if you place a servant leader into a tech firm in charge of developers who are highly independent and value working alone, and hands off management; they will resist the servant leader. The servant leader might be viewed as micro-managing, or interfering, which may annoy or upset the employee resulting in low productivity and low morale. You mentioned this in your post as an argument for why servant leadership behaviors cannot be learned by everyone. However this actually is not related to leadership behaviors, it is a separate factor that is completely out of the servant leader’s hands.
So you may be correct that not everyone has what it takes to be a servant leader, but the bigger picture is that there are other outside factors that influence how beneficial servant leadership can be, aside from the leader themselves. To summarize, servant leadership is not applicable to any work setting. Having an excellent servant leader in the wrong context or work culture, or where employees are un-receptive to servant leadership behaviors, can result poorly for the leaders, employees and organization as a whole. Having the correct traits and behaviors of a servant leader is essential to servant leadership success but without the right situation or environment, can be counterproductive.
-Mai Dolinh
Northouse, P. G. (2013) Leadership – Theory and Practice (Sixth ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: SAGE Publications.