The Role Of Cross-Cultural Leadership In A Global Environment
“Our soft skills, or lack thereof, is what gets us into trouble on our projects, not our technical abilities, ” said a former CEO of the organization I work for during the Interpersonal Leadership module of an inter-company project management training course. Interpersonal skills are those we use daily to interact with others, both individually and in groups, and they are mainly centered around communications, such as word choice; voice tone, proximity, and body language; listening; negotiations; conflict resolution; problem solving; and many others. Non-verbal communication skills, the most underused skills according to Dr. Goman (2011), have greater impact than words and therefore can help leaders advance their abilities in leading global teams.
Our interpersonal skills are in continuous development since childhood and are influenced by family, friends, colleagues…etc. ; i. e. culture. Dr. Jaques (1951), who first introduced culture in the organizational context, concluded that people’s commitment to work together towards a common goal is proportionally related to the common values and behavior they share. In a nutshell, organizational culture can be summarized as the beliefs, values, and expectations that are shared by members of an organization and that are visible in the way work gets done. From the local grocery store to the international corporations, each organization has its own identity. Based on several factors including line of business, structure, employees’ count and origins, targeted clients, an organization’s identity defines its behaviors and balance those with the cultural values where business is conducted.
Based on my professional experience, I strongly believe that cross-cultural leadership is an important skill leaders should acquire, develop, and master in a rapidly globalized world. Globalization is not limited to business; education has as well gone global. While global online learning comes with an abundance of benefits; such as lower costs, a variety of programs, more comfortable learning environments, and flexibility, it also presents learners with some challenges; i. e. time management, computer literacy, and adaptability to the new learning environment. In the context of cultural influence, perhaps the biggest challenge will be in online collaboration.
My approach to overcome any potential adverse impact cross-cultural influence may have on the learning process will be similar to that I utilize when faced with a business problem; an approach that is to a great extent consistent with the three components of the cultural intelligence model suggested by Thomas and Inkson (2004).
The first step is recognizing the challenge. We, the students, come from different backgrounds, with different sets of experiences, skills, and maturity levels. We approach topics and express our opinions thereof differently.
The second step would be to embrace those differences and attempt to find our common grounds. In absence of the “non-verbal” communications, it is important that I expressed my opinions and responses in a clear academic and professional language.
The third step would be to reconcile differences by soliciting common knowledge and information to create harmony. I should avoid interpretation and expectations based only on my knowledge. When in doubt, ask. In terms of asking for help, the University of Liverpool took the challenges that may face an online student into consideration and integrally included additional resources and support systems in their online programs. For example, the e-Library is made available to students for research and readings beyond modules’ textbooks, the Writing Center can be reached for cross-checking and enhancing one’s academic writing skills, the Academic Skills & Knowledge contains great videos about many academic topics, the Quick Answers, the IT Support…etc. are all made available for students’ assistance in order to maximize the learning experience benefits.
