Inevitably, through industrialization, technological advances, and advances in travel, the world is more connected than ever. With this connection comes the ability to grow businesses and provide products and services to consumers worldwide and requires a shift in the traditional leadership norms across the world. National and international leaders need to not only understand business, political, and the cultural environments of their consumers but also have a feel for the perspectives, tastes, trends and technologies a client across a sea may have. These new leaders must know how to work simultaneously with people form other cultures, and sometimes even adapt to living and communicating in other cultures.
Culture, or “collective programing,” (PSU WC, 2015)” not only indicates the differences between one group of people and another but also helps to shape the thoughts, values, and traditions of each group (PSU WC, 2015). Within a community, a country, or even in teams or clubs, culture encompasses the “learned beliefs, values, rules, symbols, and traditions” associated with those groups (Northouse, 2013 pp.384). Culture, across groups can share similarities but is generally quite varied form peoples to peoples, depending on their customs, courtesies and traditions, and also can be found on a more interpersonal level, in ones gender, race or age. In addition to all of the factors that contribute to our understanding of a culture, it is important to also be aware of our own ethnocentrism and prejudice.
Ethnocentrism, simply defined, is the tendency of an individual to put their ethnic, and or race and culture, at the forefront or center of their thoughts. According to Northouse (2013, pp.384), no one is free of ethnocentrism to one extent or the other. Ethnocentrism can create problems in our perceptions of people, places, and cultures, especially when approaching them without knowledge or experience of the other culture. A leader should be aware of their own ethnocentrism, as it affects their ability to correctly perceive others. Prejudice is similar to ethnocentrism in that it is based on the lack of, or bad information about the other culture a leader is dealing with. Prejudice is often fueled by a false idea or a past interaction with a person or group of people that left an impression and can be based on anything from gender or sexual orientation to race or any other affiliation to a specific group or culture. Like ethnocentrism, prejudices affect us all and must be balanced in order for us to work well in multicultural situations.
These two biases can stifle a leaders ability to harness the power of a multicultural workforce. If a leader is unaware of their own prejudices or ethnocentric predispositions, they are in jeopardy of missing out on the wealth of human capitol. Leaning on candidates that fit the mold or “pre-assimilate” into the company’s culture causes a vacuum in which removes the opportunity to add value through cultural diversity (Ashoka, 2013). This approach to a more global understanding of human capital is essential for today’s leadership.
Today’s leaders are dealing with multicultural organizations and in order to be successful, they need to be aware of the significant role that culture plays within their organizations, outside organizations, and even within their community. No leader is going to be able to fully absorb and understand all there is t know about every culture or society but knowing and understanding the basis of intercultural interactions in business. The GLOBE Study, an ongoing project that started in 1991 by Robert House and is a compilation of the recent studies and research form past studies (Northouse 2013, pp. 387) focuses on the dimension of culture and is one of the most highly referenced of these past studies. GLOBE focuses on the dimension of culture and was gathered from 100,000 questionnaires of people representing over 500 countries and identified five major dimensions of culture that separate us. findings detailed above is the first step in becoming a more aware and informed leader. Even having the basic understanding of the universally desired qualities of a leader are a step in the right direction and gives a leader a more global understanding of leadership. Being aware of ones own biases associated with prejudice and ethnocentrism is also very important in being successful multicultural leader.
References
Ashoka. (2013, August 12). Why Underprivileged Employers Need To Employ The ‘Unemployable’ – Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2013/08/12/why-underprivileged-employers-need-to-employ-the-unemployable/
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2015). OLEAD 497B Lesson 02:
Introduction to Culture. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp15/olead497b/00/content/02_lesson/01_page.html
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