As world became smaller with the new and latest technologies, changing our lives every day, it brought with it the empirical requirement of our adaptation to this ever remaining constant, Change. Globalization opened many opportunities for multinational companies but it also created some major challenges for its global leaders. It became critical than ever for organizations to succeed that its multicultural leaders have the skills to navigate both the opportunities and challenges of a more connected world. As very well said by John Maxwell, “The Pessimist complains about the wind. The Optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails”. Therefore, Leaders of multicultural teams need to understand different cultural values, behavioral attributes, and organizational dynamics which are essential to succeed in global marketplaces and strive for a better humane leadership culture.
As Kotter very well emphasized in his title ´A Force for Change – How Leadership Differs from Management´, the era of management only will not be enough, leader will need to equip themselves in some more skills in order to better manage a healthy team structure. Although there is no one generic formula for the effective leadership of multicultural teams, there is a need to systematically approach leadership of multicultural teams in order to create a framework that takes into account the cultural dimensions as well as individual characteristics and behavior. In order for leaders to develop themselves in this direction, following steps plays a very critical role.
- Understanding (Multi) Culture.
“Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.” (Hofstede 1994.). As very well represented in the cultural iceberg model by Edgar Schein, artefacts or the visible products of a cultural
group depends on the visibility or understanding of the observer. Therefore the future leaders, who strive to establish the equilibrium in team, must have the level of zeal, openness and the warmth in welcoming such changes, before they could understand it.
The effort to develop a cultural intelligence plays a very important role in developing the skills to understand the multicultural team as a whole. The role in the development of cultural intelligence on creating developmental experiences is often the projection of their
behavioral pool. Often a mature team knows how to behave in a given situation, however the true core of the strength are tested during time pressure. With time pressure, cultural imprints take over and all things go awry. So future leaders must train themselves in
situations or leadership development moments when the time pressure is really strong and see how they behave and get better ready for testing times.
- Break down cultural differences to appreciate aspect of cultural dimensions.
In Understanding the cultural dimensions it’s very important to address critical cross-cultural issues and collaborate with employees from different cultural backgrounds. It’s imperative that a leader understands clearly on how their team member might view them. They
themselves must reflect confidence and must challenge themselves to understand if their behaviors uphold cultural stereotypes, and acknowledge them with good humor. Taking the time to learn about the cultures of your team members can help you relate to them on a
personal level and take away some of the stigma associated with different cultures. The best way to show your colleagues that you respect and appreciate them is by being open to the traditions and values of all cultures. This means avoiding, promoting or embracing only one
culture in the workplace. There are a lot of ways that they can challenge such cultural differences; few of the ways are like
– Organize informal gatherings for your team members. This is an ideal way to learn more about other cultures. For example, you can talk about what makes a certain culture unique: their food, holidays, customs and more.
– Delegate work assignments according to the cultural customs of your team members. Keep in mind that every culture has its own work schedule, vacation rules, and list of holidays. This is truly important if you’re managing your multicultural team remotely. - Minimize the language barrier.
As very well said, Communication is simply exchanging meanings, However as Rebecca Solnit puts it correctly, “You can use the power of words to bury meaning or to excavate it.”
Therefore communication can be as simple as needed to be, also an Art with a combination where, Communication includes sending verbal messages, words and non-verbal messages such as tone of voice, facial expression, behavior etc. Communication therefore is a multi-
layered process through which meanings are exchanged and it becomes even more complex in a cross-cultural setting. Every culture nurtures its own communication style, like speaking patterns and nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication includes everything
beyond words — gestures, facial expressions, and body language. It’s crucial to understand diverse communication styles between cultures and speak to your colleagues according to these rules. Therefore it is imperative that a culture is established where the environment
assists collaborative communication. Create the norm that asking someone to repeat themselves is not offensive, especially when it comes to a heavy accent. Use pictures, stories and data to help illuminate the conversation. While conversing in a business setup, emphasize the company terminologies to establish a common understanding to which team can align them to. Language and communication has always been believed to be the most determined factor in building a team.
- Leader’s Behavior.
As perspective of companies changed, the perception of how a leader should behave evolved with it as well, leaders are now required not only to be sound technically, but developed emotionally as well. The bandwidth expectation has gone so wide, that a true leader, who wants to grow with it, must continuously equip themselves with the trait and tools that would help them stay up to date. Although the process seems a lot and lengthy, many great leaders were found saying that it’s equally easy as well, only if they do not lose touch of the place, they normally start from. Studies have identified many a traits that leader must have, however studies done by R.J House, identifies six global leader behaviors such as value-based leadership which inspires and motivates employees for high performance outcome, team-oriented leadership which emphasizes on effective team building, participative leadership that reflects the degree to which managers involve others in making decisions, humane-oriented leadership which includes compassion and generosity, autonomous leadership which refers to unique
leadership attributes, and self-protective leadership which focuses on the safety and security of the employees. One of the top outcome of the case study on leaders behaviors during the course study was that the future leader must be empathic and human in their approach
while dealing with their teams, which goes on to prove that requirement and obligation is as challenging as it can be, yet as simple as it has to be. - Mitigate the Conflicts.
Building the trust and the collaboration in the multicultural team can be the foundation of a successful, flourished and productive team. Thus a team approach on achieving this must be applied. In doing so it will be helpful to understand and adapt cultural differences which
exist in the physical, physiological and communication environment. For doing so, professional or organized cross cultural training needs to be enforced within a company that focuses not only on cultural dynamics but also interpersonal skills and ethical teachings. Leaders applying these personality traits and internalized skills to mitigate conflict situation has many a times been quoted as the best disaster management. A practiced culture of good listening skills, open-mindedness, respect for other cultures, strong sense of humor and understanding about local values and norm are some of the very practical practices to enforce tolerance and appreciation within team members, with focus of
common company goal and vision as the guiding path towards success. For handling the conflicts it is imperative for leaders to understand the personality traits of their team member, as some seek guidance and a transformational leadership while on the others the extrinsic motivation keep fueling their passion and team alignment for some others. It’s often been observed that a leader with developed personality with personal vision and global mind-set, often are able to achieve the balance their team needs.
- Work around cultural customs.
Companies with multicultural teams should proactively accommodate different work schedules and vacation norms. Be sensitive to dietary and religious restrictions in planning days off, choosing restaurants and selecting food in the break room. This will create a warm and inclusive work environment and allow those who have become accustomed to certain working conditions to continue with their usual working style. It also shows respect and consideration, thereby making employees feel like they are really being seen and heard by
their manager and team members. Any leader who understands their team requirements, values and motivations knows how to
optimize the team output while working around the cultural customs as multicultural team might pose a lot of challenge in a lot of scenarios but it definitely provides a very strong support in terms of providing the opportunity to leverage support whenever needed. In one of the examples of working around the cultural customs, there is a common practice in a known multinational bank that for a religious holiday, the practice of priority of extended holidays is given to the team member practicing that religion and a culture of understanding and appreciation from its team members. - Propagate the culture of collaborative Servant leadership.
Servant leadership is the buzz word going around in recruiting world, however when you dive down and try to observe this term coined by Greenleaf, R.K. in his title ´The Power Of Servant-Leadership´ he defines it as a multidimensional leadership theory that starts with a
desire to serve, followed by an intent to lead and develop others, to ultimately achieve a higher purpose objective to the benefit of individuals, organizations and societies. Servant leadership offers a multidimensional leadership theory that encompasses all aspects of
leadership, including ethical, relational and outcome based dimensions. It is similar yet different from current leadership theories and proposes a more meaningful way of leadership to ensure sustainable results for individuals, organizations and societies. Servant leadership includes practices known to sustain high performing organizations such as establishing a higher purpose vision and strategy, developing standardized and simplified procedures, cultivating customer orientation and ensuring continuous growth and development. In addition, servant leadership has gained its popularity as it has produced favorable individual and organizational outcomes such as enhanced corporate citizenship behavior and work engagement.
- Organize a Cross-Cultural Training
All the above success criteria and understanding is only possible when there is a very clear understanding within the team and from its leaders in a multicultural team. To do so and to improve workplace happiness and morale, organize cross-cultural trainings with topic
experts. The purpose of this training is to overcome cultural challenges at the office. That way, people will get to know each other and educate themselves about various cultural beliefs. Leaders arranging and participating such training itself projects a culture within itself
that shows the inclusivity to its team members. These trainings are very good platforms for taking help and understanding on how to avoid stereotypes, prejudices and cultural barriers. - Deliver Honest Feedback
Providing your team with honest and constructive feedback is significant part of a leadership role. A successful leader can use all the skills of a transformational leadership in an honest yet more assistive way to deliver an honest feedback, your colleagues deserve to know the
truth about the quality of their work, be it positive or negative. As a leader of a multicultural team, you have to be cautious about evaluating someone’s work. Each culture, and even each country, has a unique way of giving feedback, especially when it’s constructive and can
be easily viewed as negative. The learning and a guidelines by Erin Meyer, author of “The Cultural Map: Breaking through the invisible boundaries of global business”, establishes a very good insight on the guidelines for giving constructive feedback by country. The learning
from this book and the understanding of each of our team member personality traits can definitely help leaders be more successful and in achieving an optimized feedback delivery skills.
People of diverse backgrounds and places of origin offer a mix of skills, perspectives and ideas that brings new perspectives from around the world, which can lead to better problem solving. Multicultural teams are known to make businesses more inclusive and forward-thinking and the right focus on recruiting to bring diverse, multicultural candidates into the company is equally important as well. This multiculturalism also affects leadership in many ways, which needs to be acknowledged by the leaders of multicultural teams. Making multicultural experiences an explicit part of career path conversations and performance reviews makes young managers to view multicultural skill development more seriously. Leaders must focus on structured mobility programs that bring rising managers to different cultures and geographies on both short-term projects and medium-term rotations. This shared leadership aims at engaging all team members as
full participants, empowering them in a manner that recognizes their worth and importance as equal members of the team. This leadership leads to an ecosystem, where all members work in an influencing relationship that is multidirectional between leaders and its followers. This will ensure that multicultural leadership development is embedded throughout an organization’s core processes translating multicultural insights into successful business decisions and strategy.
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