I remember being a little girl and playing the game Prince of Persia on my dad’s big box of a mac computer. Fast forward to now and I can Skype with my friends thousands of miles away, download just about any app I can think of, and even submit this blog while on a flight home. The world as I know it has changed and with these advances in technology, so has global leadership and at the heart of it lies differences in culture. Culture is complex and overcoming its obstacles are more-so. Whether it be on a national level or within an organization, at the root of culture is a shared social system of ideas and values that can be contrasted to another culture (Redmond, 2015). The question is how to overcome this difference and the answer is to travel!
There is no better way to understand and respect another culture than to submerge ourselves in it. Research shows that global leaders report benefits from international assignments and indicate that the opportunity to live and work abroad was the most powerful experience that helped them develop their global leadership capabilities. For example, having more of a global perspective for business operations and an increases ability to communicate with and motivate people from different cultural backgrounds (Kok-Yee, Dyne, & Ang, 2009).
Through cultural intelligence observations, it has also been proven that it is not the quantity of travel that is important, but rather the quality of the travel experience that aids global leadership development (Kok-Yee, Dyne, & Ang, 2009). This reminds me of several people that I used to work with in the military that wanted absolutely nothing to do with local culture while traveling overseas. On every deployment, they would literally never leave the base, or if there was no base, they would never leave the ship. That being said, they also weren’t very good leaders locally. The Navy is strong because it is diverse, and although one may not travel leaps and bounds within the organization, they are still dealing with many different cultures on a day to day basis.
Overall, simply knowing about differences in culture isn’t going to have much of an impact on a leader unless their is an open mind along with it. We can all learn a great deal from each other whether it be through customs, values, food, or gestures. There is a monument of respect that bridges the difference gap, so the next time you travel, leave the tour guide behind and ask a local where to go and what to do. The experience will not only help develop skills as a global leader, but it will also leave you humble.
References
Kok-Yee, N., Dyne, L., Ang, S. (2009). Developing Global Leaders: The Role of International Experience and Cultural Intelligence. Advances in Global Leadership, 5, 225-250.
Redmond, B. (2015). Lesson 01: Introduction to Leadership in a Global Context. Angel, Lesson 1, 1-8.
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