Transcript Challenges for Leadership in a Multicultural, Global Society

CHALLENGES FOR LEADERSHIP
IN A MULTICULTURAL, GLOBAL
SOCIETY
Dr. Gary R. Weaver
American University
WHY IS DIVERSITY
IMPORTANT?
Changing demographics
Not just in urban areas
“Globalization”
The American Culture
Today
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Not a Cultural Cookie Cutter or Melting Pot
Patchwork Quilt
Salad Bowl
Mosaic
Minorities in USA Today
12% African American
13% Hispanic
4% Asian and Pacific Islanders
1% American Indian
TO MORE EFFECTIVELY
SERVE YOUR CLIENTS
Conveying information
Developing skills
Overcoming barriers caused by differences
Using differences to create synergy
TRAINING DOES
IMPROVE
EFFECTIVENESS
Drop-out rates overseas
Decreased culture-shock
Critical incidents
TRAITS THAT CORRELATE
WITH FAILURE IN CROSSCULTURAL INTERACTIONS
• Low tolerance to ambiguity or high
uncertainty avoidance
• Overly task-oriented or high need
for individual achievement
• Overly closed-minded and inflexible
What is “Culture?”
• culture - the way of life (values, beliefs
and behaviors) of a people passed
down from one generation to the next
through learning
Generalization vs.
Stereotype
• Cultural Generalization
• Cultural Stereotype
– Never applies to everyone
– Applies to everyone
in every situation
in every situation –
no exceptions
– Only a first “guess”
– Retained even when
– Discard it when no longer
no longer accurate or
accurate or useful
useful
Culture
is like an
Iceberg.
6/7th’s of it is
UNDER the
water.
BEHAVIOR
BELIEFS
VALUES AND
THOUGHT
PATTERNS
Erroneous Assumptions
• Just get the right “cookbook.”
• By emphasizing differences, you’re just
stirring things up.
• As we interact, differences will become
LESS important.
• It’s just a matter of communication.
• It’s just a matter of applying basic
management principles.
• Conflict is the same in all cultures.
As we interact, differences will
become LESS important.
• Leon Festinger
– Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
• Muzafir Sherif
– Development of a “Superordinate Goal”
Nature of Early Immigrants
Religiously Persecuted - Fanatics
Avoided Wars - “Draft Dodgers”
“Criminals”
BASIC BELIEFS
Extreme individualism
Distrust of strong centralized authority
Dominant or Mainstream
American Culture
“Middle Class”
Protestant
Psychology of Abundance
CULTURAL CONTINUUMS
To Do
To Be
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Earned Status
Individual Achievement
Individual Action
Equality
Immediate family
Self Reliance
Independence
Individual Competition
Individualism
Guilt
Future
Class Mobility
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Ascribed Status
Affiliation
Stability
Inequality
Extended Family
Reliance on Others
Interdependence
Cooperation
Collectivism
Shame
Past or Heritage
Caste Rigidity
CROSS-CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
What Doesn’t Fit?
Nice weather we’re having!
Sunny, high in the 70s.
Haven’t we met before?
What Doesn’t Fit?
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Nice weather we’re having!
Haven’t we met before?
High-Context - Relational - Associative
To Be - Poets
• Sunny, high in the 70s.
• Low Context - Abstractive - Analytical
• To Do - Memo Writers/Lawyers
Communication Styles
A
B
Communication Styles
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B
Communication Styles
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B
Communication Styles
A
B
Project Timeline
Stage One
0-6
Months
Stage Two
6 - 12
months
Stage Three Stage Four
12 - 18
18 - 24
Months
months
Project Timeline
Stage One
0 - 12
Months
Stage Two
12 - 18
Months
Stage Stage
Three
Four
18 - 22 22 -24
Months Months
NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION
We send messages, not meaning
To Do people tend to be verbally-oriented
To Do people trust vision
Cross-Cultural
Conflict
QUESTIONS:
How do you know if it’s a conflict?
Is it escalating or de-escalating?
When do you resolve it?
When it is beyond resolution?
How do you resolve the conflict?
Other Resources
• Hall, Edward. Beyond Culture.
• Weaver, Gary R., ed. Culture,
Communication and Conflict, 2nd edition.
Boston, MA:Pearson Publishing, 2000.
• www.interculturalpress.com
• www.imi.american.edu