ycm5014

Land of Tragedy and Promise

November 29, 2017 by ycm5014 1 Comment

33 of 48 least developed countries are on the African continent. That means that 70% of the world’s poorest countries are in Africa and that 60% of the entire continent is considered underdeveloped. The African continent only contributes 1% to the global economy. Less than 10% of land in Africa is owed, and only 1 in 10 Africans live in a house with a formal deed and title (Moran, et.al., 2015).

M168 in our DNA can trace every one of us back to the African continent – needless to say, there is a tremendous amount of diversity present in Africa. Europeans imposed their control, and borders on the continent (Moran, et.al., 2015, p. 505) leading to extensive tribal conflict throughout Africa. Consider that there are over 2,000 languages in Africa, there are distinct groups who identify with one another based upon a common ancestry. Ethnicity then plays a major role not only in everyday life, but certainly in leadership through putting tribal and ethnic ties above that of national interest (Moran, et.al., 2015, p. 504).

There is frequently a feeling in leadership that friends get rewarded, there is nepotism in politics and leadership, and corruption is rampant in African leadership (Ntata, 2015). There are also tremendous challenges with AIDS, and a general problem of this being addressed (Moran, et.al., 2015). Africa needs effective leadership.

I also happen to be from the African continent. I was born and raised in South Africa, and I lived through the end of the apartheid era, and the election of one of the greatest leaders ever, Nelson Mandela. He was the epiphany of servant leadership, and it’s a shame that other African leaders can’t follow such an exemplary and classic example.

References:

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., Moran, S. V., & Harris, P. R. (2014). Managing cultural differences. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Ntata, Z.A. (June 1, 2015). 7 Challenges of Leadership in Africa. LinkedIn. Retrieved on 11/29/17 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-challenges-leadership-africa-z-allan-ntata

Do the French Really Hate Americans?

November 12, 2017 by ycm5014 4 Comments

There is a general stereotype in America that the French just do not care for Americans. Recently I read an interesting article about the eight biggest differences between American and French work attitudes and habits. The article lists the following (Lebowitz, 2017):

Many American workers define themselves by their profession; most French workers don’t
French coworkers don’t share personal information with coworkers right off the bat; Americans open up to new colleagues more quickly
French workers take longer lunch breaks than American workers
French workers see confrontation and debate as healthy; American workers generally shy away from conflict
French workers take more vacation time than American workers
French workers are more inclined to give direct negative feedback; American workers tend to sugarcoat it
American workers drink coffee primarily to feel alert; French workers enjoy the taste and experience
Meetings in France last longer and involve more discussion than meetings in the US

It is said that the French are casual about time and that people are frequently late and few think anything of it (Moral, et.al, 2016, p. 477). On the contrary, mainstream Americans look at time as money. Time is to be used, saved and spent (Moral, et.al, 2016, p. 554). The US is a low context culture while the French culture is high context. Low context cultures are very task oriented and follow rules and standards carefully as opposed to the French that have fewer rules and structure. From a communication standpoint, Americans would explicitly deliver a message whereas the French believe that unspoken communication is implicitly transferred through the exchange (Machlachlan, 2010).

Figure 1

It is also evident through Hofstede’s cultural dimensions that there are clear cultural differences between the two countries (Figure 1). The US scores higher on Individualism and lower on Power Distance. Hofstede states that the French culture is one that accepts some degree of inequality. The US’ combination score between Individualism and Power Distance supports the US standpoint of “liberty and justice for all”, a premise for equal rights for all. The two biggest differences are in Uncertainty Avoidance and Long Term Orientation. In terms of Uncertainty Avoidance, US culture seems to be more open to new ideas and innovations whereas the French require structure and planning and are less open to surprises. Long Term Orientation differences indicate that France is more pragmatic than the US where individuals strive for quick results in the work place. (Hofstede)

So do the French really hate Americans? Or is it simply a question of different strokes for different folks? Sometimes a little bit of adjusting from each side goes a long way to mending cultural difference fences!

References:

Hofstede Insights: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/france,the-usa/

Lebowtiz, S. (August 1, 2017). 8 things that drive French people nuts about American offices — and vice versa. Business Insider. Retrieved on 11/10/17 from http://www.businessinsider.com/differences-between-french-american-work-culture-2017-7?r=UK&IR=T

Machlachlan, M. (February 12, 2010). Cross-Cultural Communication Styles: High and Low Context. Communicaid. Retrieved on 11/10/17 from https://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/blog/high-and-low-context/

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., Moran, (2014). Managing cultural differences. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Women in Leadership Positions in Brazil

October 15, 2017 by ycm5014 1 Comment

Dilma Rousseff was the first female president of Brazil and served from 2011-2016 after serving as chief of staff to her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from 2005-2010. She was impeached in 2016 for allegedly breaking a Brazilian budgetary law.

Rousseff did not accept the impeachment as a fair conduct of business or anyone looking out for the country of Brazil. Instead, she calls it sexism. Upon further investigation, the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff was shining a light on the problem of sexism in that country as a whole.

In 2016 women were largely “employed” as domestic help (Salek, 2016). Rousseff’s vice president took over from her upon the impeachment and appointed a newly formed cabinet of 23 white men, the first cabinet in Brazil made up with no female representation since 1979 (BBC Staff, 2016), during a time of a military dictatorship (Salek, 2016). It’s important to note that women make up 51% of the Brazilian population while only 22% of the nation identify as “white men” (BBC Staff, 2016). One member of the cabinet, Eliseu Padilha said “We tried to seek women but for reasons that we don’t need to bring up here, we discussed it and it was not possible” (BBC Staff, 2016).

According to Moran, Abramson and Moran (2014) psychological research identifies two types of sexist ideologies namely benevolent sexism and hostile sexism. Benevolent sexism is the belief that “women should be protected and taken care of” while hostile sexism “is rooted in the belief that women are inferior to men” (Moran, 2014). When I look at some of the statistics about women in leadership roles in Brazil, I am inclined to think that there is a sexist culture of the latter. Here are some factoids that make me think that:

Brazil is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women to live—every two hours a woman is murdered (Garcia-Navarro, 2014)
Only 11% of CEOs in Brazil are female (Moran);
Of 81 members in the Brazilian senate only 12 are women (Salek, 2016);
The “Party of Brazilian Women” has only one elected Member of Parliament – a man! (Salek, 2016);
Between October 2015 and January 2016 the search for the word “feminism” on Google rose by 86% (Hao, 2016);
59% of Br
azilians believe that there would be fewer rapes if women knew how to behave (The Globalist, 2014);
Women receive 68% of men’s salaries (this plummets to 35% if a woman is either black or multiracial);
71% of all workers making less than one-quarter of the minimum wage are women (Doremus, 2016);

So can women in Brazil overcome the sexist culture in that country? I say YES! Women heading up the household is on the increase and female entrepreneurship continues to rise (Doremus, 2016). Rousseff maintains that there is large prejudice against women in Brazil, and while women still make up only a fraction of management positions in the country women do make up 52% of college grads (Novais, 2013) and women in that country continue to fight for their rights and their independence. You go (Brazilian) girl!

References:

BBC Staff (May 14, 2016). Brazil impeachment: Rousseff attacks cabinet for being all-male and all-white. BBC. Retrieved on 10/14/17 from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36292137#

Doremus, M. (May 17, 2016). Working as a Woman in Brazil. Plus 55. Retrieved on 10/14/17 from http://plus55.com/brazil-business/2016/05/working-woman-brazil

Garcia-Navarro, L. (March 16, 2014). Which Place Is More Sexist: The Middle East Or Latin America? NPR. Retrieved on 10/14/17 from http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/03/11/289058115/which-place-is-more-sexist-the-middle-east-or-latin-america

Hao, A. (July 5, 2016). In Brazil, Women are Fighting Against the Sexist Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. The Guardian. Retrieved on 10/14/17 from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jul/05/in-brazil-women-are-fighting-against-the-sexist-impeachment-of-dilma-rousseff

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.). Oxford: Routledge.

Novais, A. (March 15, 2013). Women and Business in Brazil. The Brazil Business. Retrieved on 10/14/17 from http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/women-and-business-in-brazil

Salek, S. (May 16, 2016). How Rousseff has highlighted Brazil’s sexism problem. BBC. Retrieved on 10/14/17 from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36303001

The Globalist. (July 6, 2014). 8 Examples of Sexism in Brazil. The Globalist. Retrieved on 10/14/17 from https://www.theglobalist.com/brazilian-women-under-attack/

Worldmindedness

September 3, 2017 by ycm5014 1 Comment

It is a world-wide phenomenon: immigration and cross-border living and working arrangements. The foreign-born population make up over 13% (or 43.2 million people!) of the entire US population (Cohn, 2017), there are more than a fourfold increase from the 1960’s of immigrants that call the US home (Lopez & Radford, 2107), salaries for H-1B work visas in the US are rising (Ruiz & Krogstad, 2017), and while there has been a 10% decline in babies born to US-born women, there has been a 6% increase in babies born to immigrant women between 1990 and 2015 (Livingston, 2017). All these stats to make one point: the world is changing. More specifically, the population of the United States is changing and whether you like it or not, you are more likely today than ever before to live next to or work with an immigrant with a different cultural outlook than your “American way”. Immigration can change the social fabric of a host country (Moran, et.al, 2014), and it is no different here.

“Worldmindedness” is a global awareness of other cultures and people. It is the opposite of hate and fear toward those that are different. And in today’s world, we have a true opportunity to create greater understanding of various cultures (Moran, et.al, 2014 p. 10-11). Culture in short can be said to be the way that things are done and seen in a specific place or setting. And culture influences people’s believe of who they are, where they belong, how they should behave. Culture is a dynamic driving force behind human behavior (Moran, et.al, 2014, p. 11).

And while our culture impacts our behavior and belief system we should be reminded that to some extent, all people are like all other people. We are all unique, but as Einstein said, we are all alike people of our own tribe (Moran, et.al, 2014). Culture is taught and our experiences as children have solid effects on personality and behavior, we learn our culture from our tribe (Moran, et.al, 2014). Einstein also famously said that you can’t solve a problem with the same mindset that created it. An excellent reminder that in order to understand other cultures, we must rethink the way our own cultural thinking impacts our perception of other cultures. In order to understand it, we have to change our level of consciousness.

Worldmindedness is about respect for other cultures and avoiding the need to judge people simply based upon their cultural background. It’s the antithesis of ethnocentrism: the belief that your own culture and values are superior to those of your neighbors. It’s about human rights. It’s about having diverse skills, listening for understanding, broadening one’s perspective on an interconnected global world. It’s about truly believing that we are all human, and appreciating the impact of another’s culture as much as you do your own cultural background. And thus not imposing your own cultural attitude on that of another culture (Moran, et.al, 2014).

Becoming worldminded is an important skill and trait to develop, and luckily research points to the fact to global leaders are not born , but made (Moran, et.al, 2014). Worldmindedness is “a frame of reference apart from knowledge about or interest in international relations…the individual who favors a world-view of humanity, whose primary reference group is mankind, rather than American, English, Chinese, etc.” (Sampson & Smith, 1957). I think we can all learn from this definition and grow into better people, better managers, and better leaders by adapting our frame of mind.

Pleasure to meet you!

August 22, 2017 by ycm5014 1 Comment

Hello everyone! Let me start by saying that I have no idea what I’m doing as far as blogging goes. But here goes… My name is Yolandi, I am currently finishing my BS in organizational leadership and have two more semesters to go. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I work full time at a hospital association in Cleveland, OH where I am vice president of our supply chain division. I live in Copley, OH with my husband and two daughters. My goals include continuing to grow as a leader, it’s not so much about title as it is about respect and feeling like I am making a difference. I am also committed to being a role model for my daughters and supporting their young minds and hearts! In my current position I lead a team of 19 which includes sales, customer service, contract negotiation and operations. I’m charged with developing long term strategy and drive execution of those strategies. I have to say that I have a fantastic team in place.

I love this quote by Nelson Mandela because it’s something that can be applied to every single challenge in personal issues as well as in a business context. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Frequently people will not even try, because of a fear of failure, but I believe that if you stand up and move forward from a set back, this gives you valuable life and business lessons. You get to know yourself and improve yourself this way, and I don’t think you can be a leader without knowing yourself first.

Best wishes for a successful semester!
Yolandi