Leaders have to become more competent in cross-cultural awareness and practices when it comes to being an effective leader. Cultural awareness is something that everyone should be aware of no matter what their position is or where they are from. As a leader working with followers of different cultures can pose some challenges if the leader is not familiar with their followers’ culture and their norms. Ignorance and prejudices of different cultures in the workplace can be very challenging when leaders and followers are of different cultures. The follower and the leader may have some reserved prejudices on different cultures as well so it can go both ways.
There are compensatory measures that can be taken to increase the leaders’ effectiveness. The leader can educate his or herself on different cultural norms on their own or they can get to know their followers to have a better understanding of their culture. “Globalization has created a need to understand how cultural differences affect leadership performance” (Northouse, 2013).
A good way to approach cultural differences is to learn as much as possible about the culture. I believe if a leader applies compensatory measures to his or her leadership in dealing with multicultural groups and biases they will be successful leaders. “GLOBE studies gives good useful information about what is universally accepted as good and bad leadership. Clearly, people from most cultures view good leadership as based on integrity, charisma, and interpersonal ability” (Northouse, 2013).
Without clear and concise leadership skills a leader will be an unsuccessful leader. If the leader lacks intelligence and confidence the team will not have confidence in that leader. Also if a leader lacks communication and social skills, the subordinates or followers will not want to be a part of the group. I use these approaches when I am in a leadership role to be successful.
An example of a phenomenal leader is Mother Teresa she was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. Mother Teresa took the initiative to devoting her life and time to the poorest of the poor when no one else cared. She had no hesitation when it came to helping the poor even thou she was not poor. She immersed herself into that life in order for her to better relate to them and be their leader even if she wasn’t part of that culture.
Resources:
Mother Teresa. (2011). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved from
http://www.biography.com/people/mother-teresa-9504160?page=2
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.
bbs5079 says
Great Read!
I also work in a leadership role in retail. My career is with computers however. It is my job to ensure that my team is trained and knowledgeable when it comes to our products. Aside from a training perspective, I also am customer facing. I go to work everyday knowing that I can make a difference with a persons experience and I love it. The way I look at it is yes, I am working retail.. however, if it were;t for myself helping the team and customers, some would go with questions unanswered with their devices!
I know next to nothing about cars, so I go to my mechanic and seek his advice and knowledge. I look at it the same way, when a customer comes to my store, they can talk with myself, or my team about our products and how it can impact their life! I take pride in leading my team and I know that I can count on them as much as they know that they can count on me!