Competencies

Understands their own cultural values and assumptions

In order for one to recognize subtle, and perhaps not so subtle, differences between cultures one must first understand his/her own cultural values and assumptions. It is not possible to begin to look for common areas at which to meet if one does not understand their own values and assumptions. One needs to be on the lookout for common areas when dealing with those from other cultures in order to be able to relate in an effective and long lasting manner with them.

A common mistake is to assume that everyone does things the way that we do them in the United States only to discover that things are much different cultures. On must come to an understanding of how we view the world in order to begin to relate with the different ways in which the world is viewed by others.

For example, if one fully understands that women in leadership is an acceptable practice in the West due in large part to a Christian influence the one should not be surprised to find that those countries not impacted to any significant degree by the Christian faith view women in leadership much differently. In some countries the very fact that in the Unites States women in leadership is acceptable is a confirmation of our decadence. It would be foolish to send a woman to those countries in a leadership position. It is unlikely that centuries of culture will be changed in less than a decade.

Leads and participates effectively in multicultural teams

This is an area in which I have little practical experience. While I have worked with people from different cultures it has not been in an environment that was conducive to teams. In order to develop proficiency in this competency I will need to involve myself in the learning of what it means to work in a multicultural team.

I will need to better learn about the cultures of those who are fellow members of the team of which I become a part. This team will be a part of the Alliance for International Christian Business Education (AICBE) which will include members from Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lithuania, and Romania. I need to learn more about their higher education systems in order to better understand how they approach learning differently than we do in the United States (U.S.). This understanding will allow me, along, with the other members of the team, to find a middle ground at which we can better serve our international students.

How to develop the ability to facilitate organizational change

In order to be able to facilitate organizational change in the AICBE program I will need to do a better job of understanding the cultures of the countries in which we serve. I will do that through the increased study of these cultures and by increasing the amount of feedback we receive from the schools we serve in these countries. As we begin to better understand one another’s cultural backgrounds we will also gain a better understanding of how learning is achieved and be able to adapt our courses accordingly.

I am in the process of developing a survey that will attempt to measure our effectiveness as judged by those who are students as well as by the administrators in the schools in which we provide courses. We will use the results of the survey to make necessary changes in the AICBE program to better serve our constituents. One change we have made for this academic year is to charge a fee that is ten percent of what the international schools charge their students to take our courses. This was an organizational change within AICBE that we felt was necessary in order to determine if the schools did indeed place value in our program.

Global Leadership Skills Not Covered in Class

Article summary and skill description

Brett, Behfar, and Kern (2006) write about a project team made up of members from the U.S. and from India who are charged with producing a new product quickly for an international software developer. An issue that arose quickly within the team was the reluctance of those members of the team from India to report setbacks in the production process. This led to such conflict that the project manager found himself having to be involved in the smallest details of the project.

As a result of this assumed need for micromanagement, the project quickly became bogged down. Part of the key leadership skill that is discussed in this article is the ability of the leader to recognize when it is differences in culture that leads to conflict or a lack of productivity and finding ways to address these issues in a manner which keeps everyone on track without having to be micromanaged.

Understanding how to communicate effectively based on culture is another key issue in this article. As the authors of the article noted lacking understanding of how people from other cultures with whom you are working is a recipe for misunderstanding and potential failure.

The role of understanding cultures in leadership

The understanding that some cultures prefer direct communication while others prefer indirect communication is critical to effective leadership when dealing with multicultural teams. Choosing to use direct communication with a person from a culture that prefers indirect communication will likely be very offensive to them as it may cause them to feel as though they have lost face. A very possible result might be an inability to gain the trust of that person resulting is a poor working relationship with them.

In order for a leader to be effective in a global sense one must recognize when conflicts that arise are motivate by cultural differences and seek to find strategies that blend the strengths of each culture in a way that makes the team effective and efficient. This may include helping the members of the team to understand that the differences are cultural and not personal. This may assist the members of the team to step back and view their differences more objectively leading to them finding creative ways to overcome their differences.

Moran, Harris, and Moran (2007) list an understanding of a sense of self and space, communication and language, dress and appearance, food and feeding habits, time and time consciousness, relationships, values and norms, beliefs and attitudes, mental process and learning, and work habits and practices as keys to leading cross culturally.

Miller (1994) offers a way of using a system to understand other cultures. Miller notes that one must understand kinship, educational, economic, political, religious, association, health, and recreational systems in order to begin to understand the culture.

Schmitz (2003) also list ten areas in his model including environment, time, action, communication, space, power, individualism, competitiveness, structure, and thinking. While it is unlikely that any one model will work in understanding all culture a combination of the three will likely be of assistance in a leader beginning to understand better those within the organization.

Cross-cultural application

As a leader the cross-cultural application for me would be to get more involvement from our international AICBE partners. I need to recognize when issues come up that may frustrate me I need to be more aware of when these issues are culturally driven and devise strategies that lead to both creative and informed resolutions to the problems.

In order to do this I need to become more proficient in understanding how to effectively communicate with our international partners. I also need to work at getting them more involved in order to make the program more successful. One step I have taken for this upcoming academic year is to ask each of our contact people at the international schools to meet on at least a biweekly basis with the online students in order to hold them accountable for submitting their assignments. I have done so believing that they will be better equipped to communicate effectively with the students since they are from the same, or at least similar, cultures.

Global Learning Exercise

Key features

In reflecting on the Global Learning Exercise papers I wrote I find a couple of common themes throughout all three papers. The first is my desire to work with people of diverse cultures. I have a heart for working with people from different cultures and greatly enjoy learning about their cultures. I have been told by people form other cultures with whom I have had the opportunity to interact that I have a unique ability to blend in with their culture very quickly. When I was in Kenya the president of Daystar University told me that in just a day or two people had already forgotten that I was a white American and was just “Kevin” to everyone with whom I had come into contact during that time.

The second is my love of learning about other cultures. One of my favorite things to do is to either read about other cultures or to watch documentaries about them. I believe that gaining an understanding about the cultures of other people will both give me a better understanding of them as well as give me a greater love for them.

New insight

This is where I wish I could access the old discussion forums for this class. Mush that was written I found to be insightful, particularly when written by people with extensive experience with working with people from other cultures and countries.

One insight I gained from the actual week that we spent in a face to face setting was the questions to ask when considering international research for our dissertation (Johnson, 2007, lecture). The questions really caused me to think about what it would take to be able to do research on an international level.

Defining Global Leadership

Global leadership is taking the time to understand the culture of those you are leading in order to be able to develop strategies that enable strategic goals to be met which in turn allows the organization to move towards its mission. This includes understanding the difference between direct and indirect communication, challenges presented by language fluency as well as differing accents, views and attitudes toward organizational structure whether flat or hierarchical, understanding of the values, norms, and cultural assumptions of those in the organization and the ability or desire of those within the organization to adapt. The leader who is able to recognize when conflict is caused by cultural differences and not by personalities and is able to make strategic adjustments in his/her approach has the opportunity to become a truly global leader.

References

Brett, J., Behfar, K., & Kern, M. C. (2006). Managing multicultural teams. Harvard Business Review, 84(11), 84-91.

(Miller J G 1994 Living systems)Miller, J. G. (1994). Living systems. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado.

Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2007). Managing cultural differences: Global leadership strategies for the 21st century (7th ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier, Inc.

Schmitz, J. (2003). Cultural orientations guide. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Training Press.