Leadership From a Global to a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Many people are still confusing cross-cultural and trans-global leadership including some diversity experts.  They mix between both as if they were one and the same.  I beg to differ.  While both sound like sharing the same definition, in actuality there is a difference between both.

Nowadays in order to succeed as a leader, as a business, and as an organization the need for cross-cultural and trans-global competencies is crucial.

In the age of the internet, the new political and economic reforms like the falling of the Berlin wall, the disintegration of the USSR, NAFTA, ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, EU as well as the emerging BRIC countries like (Brazil, Russia, India, and China ) as well as well as the MIKT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey); it becomes clear and evident that organizations’ leaders need to build not only trans-global competence but also cross-cultural competence, awareness and flexibility to have the ability and capability to survive and thrive in the new reality of the flat world we live in.

According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers’s 14th Annual Global CEO Survey (2011) found that ‘‘bridging the global skills gap’’ was one of the top concerns cited for the future, especially for organizations that are looking to attract, recruit, develop, and retain talents  globally.

Confusion, frustration and costly mistakes are the results of lack of global skills mainly due to the ignorance about the impact of cultures on the workplace (we will discuss cultures here below). The old mentality of “We have always done it that way” leads to expensive failures, same with the idea of “Color blindness” (though could be coming from a good place) is actually detrimental to the workplace because there is an erroneous belief that paying attention to color or race is fundamentally discriminative.

“To ignore cultural differences is unproductive… Choosing not to see cultural diversity limits our ability to manage it – that is, to minimize the problems it causes while maximizing the advantages it allows… When we blind ourselves to cultural diversity, foreigners become mere projections of ourselves.” (Adler, 1991, pp. 97)

The most important facets of trans-global leadership are the following three main competencies:

1. Being Culturally flexible: Basically to roll with the punches realizing that there are differences in other countries, populations, and cultures that are not wrong or weird, just different
2. Value Cultural differences and Minimize Ethnocentricity (My culture is better than yours theory)
3. Tolerance of ambiguity (Which is part of Geert Hofstede four main components of Cultural insights)

Now what about the cross-cultural leaders; how and why they are different from the trans-global leaders?

Though both leaders must have the trans-global competencies mentioned above, there is a lot more to add for the cross-cultural leaders.

There is still a misguided assumption that Culture pertains only to race, color, religion, and ethnicity: meaning that there is still a lot of confusion between Diversity and Affirmative Action or even Protected groups.

Diversity are the unique characteristics that makes each one of us as a human being, Culture is the lens that we see the world through and it contains our beliefs, values, assumptions and behaviors, the way we communicate, negotiate, take a decision, behave socially, even the way we feel.

That lens is first imposed on us by our parents our first contact in life, then schools, friends, religious institutions, society etc… so it is an ever changing phenomena.

It is important to note that there are individual cultures within the group cultures.  That being said when we say cultural competence: It means all of that covers the global competence (not limited to) as:

• Color
• Country
• Religion
• Race
• Ethnicity
• Political status
• Family structure

Furthermore it includes (not limited to):

• Age
• Gender
• Sexual Orientation
• Disabilities (Both visible and invisible)
• Parental status
• Marital status
• Military status
• Veteran status
• Job classification (Blue or White collar)
• Socio-economic factors
• Education
• Geographical location
• Even Diversity of thoughts

Why should we care about cultural competence in the workplace?

• One million legal immigrants enter the United States Annually
• The minorities are soon to be majorities (Hispanics 3 to 1, the Asian American and African American communities are increasing as well, more communities emerged in the latest Census report as Armenians, Middle Easterns etc…)
• Women are becoming a workforce to reckon with – very soon the workforce will be 50/50 males to females.  Women are reaching high leadership positions that is totally different from the male leadership style
• Due to the civil rights and the change of laws, the LGBT community is thriving and constitutes a huge buying power and part of the society that can no longer be ignored
• Due to the changes in the ADA (American Disability Act) laws: Now workplaces have to deal with disabilities both visible (Physical) as well as invisible (emotional and other) in a different way to accommodate the disabilities with reasonable accommodation without a hardship on the organizations
• For the first time in US History four generations are at work with different cultures, communication and working styles due to the ADEA (Age Discrimination Employment Act) that protect employees older than 40 years.  Also due to new scientific research people are living longer and enjoying their lives in a healthier way, also the economic events of the last few years forced some employees to continue working due ti the loss of their retirement or 401K.

These are only few reasons why we should get serious about enforcing (yes enforcing) cultural competence and developing cross-cultural leaders that can bridge the gap between the different cultures

In short trans-global leadership deals mostly with International and cross the border issues including expats, and Cross-Cultural leaderships deals with different employees both nationally and internationally.

I am very passionate about Diversity, and cultures that is why I meant to clarify the difference between global and cross-cultural leadership at least in my book.

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh

Diversity, Inclusion, and Leadership Consultant- Social Media Strategist
Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G. Programs
“Diversity And Inclusion for Leadership Organizational Growth”
T: 818 861 9434 •

Sahar Consulting, LLC
www.saharconsulting.com

         

Contact me:  SaharConsulting

9 Leadership lessons learned from Nelson Mandela

When I heard the news of Mandela’s passing I remembered an African quote I once heard “To go fast go alone to go far go together”; Mandela’s legacy embodies every single word in this quote.

“Nelson Mandela” is a name that will be forever be forged in the minds and hearts of many generations to come, he joins the ranks of eternal leaders as Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa.  Mandela’s legacy extends globally and forever.  He had all the characters that make a GREAT leader.

I decided that in this homage to Mandela I will not share his bio or his resume, I would rather share the human and heart of Mandela’s leadership styles and the lessons we can learn from it

Mandela imagined a better world, he didn’t only dream but he took action, being human he did few missteps starting his life with violence, then denouncing it for a united country.

What I learned from Mandela’s leadership (who was imprisoned for 27 years) is that leaders have to have a clear vision and a purpose both greater than themselves extending beyond them, and have a sense of perseverance, leading through adversity no  matter what obstacles they might meet and suffer.

I learned to have a big heart full of forgiveness.  Mandela said on his way out of prison “As I walked out toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I would still be in prison”.

He was hopeful to change the world starting with his own country, he hoped to fight discrimination and oppression, to fight AIDs, and poverty and to unite his country as one.  He knew that hope comes from tenacity and perseverance but also combined with a sense of gratitude for what he has rather than looking at what he doesn’t have

He chose peace versus violence, he chose forgiveness and kindness versus bitterness and hate

Gratitude is a practice not an attitude, that generates feelings of content and of joy and even generate happiness; it is a choice that leaders or anyone can make

Mandela took different people from different walks of life that think differently and think differently and brought them together towards a common goal and that is to work towards the good for humanity embodying virtues like love, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, gratitude, and acceptance.

Mandela was an effective leader as he inspired people to reach beyond themselves, he created an emotional bond with his followers, he accepted them no matter how different they were and he respected who they are.

As a leader he was assertive knowing when to say NO, and when to stand his ground without being aggressive.

As an inspirational leader he shared his vision he shared the “WHY”, he shared his passion, his dreams, and when he shared the Why his followers adopted his dream and it became theirs.  Everyone knows what they do 100%, some know how they do it through their value proposition, but very few people know why they do what they do meaning what is their purpose, what is the cause, what is the belief, why do they exist, why do they get out of bed in the morning and why should anyone care.

Inspirational leaders communicate from the fuzziest to the clearest level from the inside out to inspire others.  People respond to the why, they follow, and become loyal;  we all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves so when inspirational leaders like Mandela shows the way and demonstrates the Why, thousands if not millions of people will follow cutting across races, cultures, ages, genders and beliefs

We observed the same in other remarkable leaders like MLK that shared the why of his vision; MLK said “I have  dream” he put the vision into words he told people about his dream and what he saw some 250,000 people marched to Washington even before the days of Facebook and Twitter, same as Gandhi that said “Be the change you want to see in the world” he used the word see he did not say plan or practice he said see, he made it visual, a vision which when it becomes a reality where people can see it and share it, it becomes a conviction beyond belief

Mandela’s leadership style displayed behaviors like delaying gratification, planning, and investing in the future, he saw the dawn while still enveloped in the darkness of his nights.

When he spoke, every person listening physically or virtually felt like he was talking to them individually, he had a strong sense of love and belonging as well as a deep sense of worthiness.  He had courage facing his fears and all barriers in his way, including the walls of his 8×8 cell where he lived 27 years.  He had the Heart to do it, Courage as a word originates from Latin COR or “heart” a common metaphor for inner strength.

To sum it up, the lessons Mandela left are those of going back to the basics of being a human being:

1. To have a clear vision and purpose and know the “WHY” you are doing what you are doing
2. To respect and value others no matter how different they are
3. To love unconditionally,
4. To forgive with no remorse,
5. To be grateful for everything no matter how small or big- easy or hard,
6. To be peaceful,
7. To trust that there is always a brighter future,
8. To have compassion and empathy and
9. Most of all to believe in yourself and others, to dream and achieve your dreams no matter how long it takes or how hard is your journey.

Mandela Rest In Peace, you will be missed but your message is forever engraved in our hearts.

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh

Diversity, Inclusion, and Leadership Consultant- Social Media Strategist
Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G. Programs
“Diversity And Inclusion for Leadership Organizational Growth”
T: 818 861 9434 •

Sahar Consulting, LLC
www.saharconsulting.com

        
Contact me:  SaharConsulting

7 Things to avoid in a Leadership Presentation

Just attended a session about “Leading with a vision” that left me with a kind of an empty feeling.  First, let me say that I have a lot of respect for session presenters as I know what it takes to facilitate a workshop or even be a public speaker, I also salute their willingness to share their knowledge with others.

I just wanted to share why I felt that way, ad share what I learned from this session, and the presenter on what NOT to do when publicly seeking or facilitating a workshop:

1-    While the session was about “Leading with a vision” the speaker didn’t really share a vision or speak about himself and his own vision to engage me as part of the audience

2-    His tone of voice never changed, monotonous to the point where my mind was drifting off and I had a hard time concentrating.  Never smiled and never used any humor.

3-    The session discussed how leaders should use empathy and connect emotionally with people, the speaker rarely connected even through eye contact with the audience; leave alone connecting emotionally

4-    The body language of the speaker wasn’t open and engaging, he was constantly looking at the slides literally reading them

5-    Though the slides didn’t have a lot of words on them, they lacked pictures and were boring.  Most of the slides were actual definitions of words like “What is a vision? What is Leadership” what is leading? Etc…

6-    At no point the speaker shared a story that would have helped me or the audience connect with him emotionally

7-    The presenter used a video that had almost no sound, and one of the examples of the leaders used were “Hitler” which totally turned me off the presentation (Sometimes I use Hitler in my sessions but as a toxic leadership example and not as a leader with vision)

The presenter could have been the best in his field and just failed to communicate his message to me: the audience.

At the end of the session I waited to see others’ reactions; as I know as a presenter myself my sense of criticizing can be higher, there were almost no questions asked barely one.

My take on this experience is this:  We live in a world that is overloaded with information and unless as a presenter I do not leave an emotional impression on the audience, I will be forgotten in less than a day.

To connect emotionally with others we need to have emotions – simple right? – But in a way it is not for many people.  We need to speak from the heart and share our passion in a compelling way, we need to use story telling either personal or stories about others, it is fine to share our vulnerabilities, it is about being human and sharing who we really are; especially if the session is about leadership.

In my book the more human a leader is – the greater of a leader he/she is.  Leaders earn from their mistakes and vulnerabilities, are transparent to share them with others so they can learn from past failures.  Leaders lead by example so being yourself is the biggest gift you can share with your audience or followers.

Also having emotional intelligence and ability to read and sense your followers or audience are the way to communicate your message and engage them.

As a leader you can have the best message ever but if you fail to communicate well or fail to engage or connect with your follower then chances are they will fail as a leader

Let me know your thoughts –

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh

Diversity, Inclusion, and Leadership Consultant- Social Media Strategist
Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G. Programs
“Diversity And Inclusion for Leadership Organizational Growth”
T: 818 861 9434 •

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Sahar Consulting, LLC
www.saharconsulting.com

         

Contact me:  SaharConsulting