Leaders need an understanding of and appreciation for cultural diversity, called cross-cultural literacy here. It means being literacy or knowledgeable about the fundamental differences across cultures. Organizations seek diversity in order to compete, and leaders need to be better educated about culture to lead effectively and to take full advantage of the value diversity provides.
Defining Culture a definition that is useful when talking about communicating across cultures is that “culture is a fuzzy set of attitudes, beliefs, behavioral conventions, and basic assumptions and values that are shared by a group of people, and that influence each member’s behavior.” The key words here are “interpretations” and “meaning.” Culture is the lens through which we see others, understand them and their words, and interpret the meaning of those words and respond.
The Layers of Culture: A National Level, A Regional/ and or ethic and/or religious and/or linguistic Level, A Gender Level, A Generation Level, A Social Class Level, and Organizational or Corporate Level.
Recognizing Major Cultural Differences: When visiting another culture, leader should always review such do’s and don’ts. These five variables are important to and applicable across all cultures: Context, Information Flow, Time, Language, Power and Equality, Collectivism versus Individualism, and Spirituality and Tradition.
Connecting and Communicating across Cultures: By understanding and appreciating cultural diversity, leaders can better know how to connect and communicate with all of the different audiences that form the professional environment and most of the professional word today. Basically, to connect and communicate, leader should adopt the following approaches to any cross-cultural encounter: Be open and respectful, Know the social customs, Learn as much about the culture, history, people, and even languages as reasonable, Obtain pointers and feedback from members of the culture, Be patient, be flexible, and value the time needed to develop relationships, Keep a sense of humor, and Keep language simple and avoid jargon.
This chapter provides a beginning and should have increased the recognition of the importance and value of understanding and appreciating cultural differences. This chapter has provided an introduction and basic foundation for leadership communication across cultures.
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