Secrets of Working Across Five Continents

Thriving Through the Power of Cultural Diversity

Meltem Etcheberry, Bettina von Stamm, Meltem Etcheberry, Bettina von Stamm

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781800430129
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Organisational Behaviour
• Index: Business

As technology erodes the impact of time and distance, more and more people live and work across cultures. This can be one of the most joyful experiences, as collaboration and diversity emerge as key drivers of innovation, yet there are also many challenges.
Acknowledging that it is often the search for best practice, and the 'one right way', that creates prejudices, and even causes a disregard for diversity, this book brings an authentic and inclusive perspective to tackling the challenges of cultural diversity. Based on interviews with 145 individuals, it weaves together stories told in the voices of those who have experienced them, with key concepts, insights, and the expertise of each of the authors and editors, each of whom has lived and worked in at least 2 different countries.
This book seeks sets out to inspire the reader, invite reflection, and nurture a curiosity and appreciation for those who are different from ourselves. Collectively, the authors and editors equip readers with the tools to embrace the richness and beauty brought by diversity, and ultimately engage with the key skills for thriving in today's fast-paced, highly interconnected and interdependent world. They envisage a mindset they call CulturAll Intelligentsia©, which thrives on authenticity, embraces those who and that which is different, and thus creates a pathway to more sensitivity, and peace.

Visionary and Authentic Leadership

Chris Igwe, Bettina von Stamm and Meltem Etcheberry

Why Visionary and Authentic Leadership Matters – Bettina

Let me start by sharing a story about how classical music helped me recognise the importance of leadership. At the age of around 16, I got my first classical LP (for those of you who remember … also known under the name ‘vinyl’), Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony played by the Berliner Philharmoniker and conducted by Herbert von Karajan. I thought it was quite a nice piece of music.

Then, probably a year or so later, I was with a friend who played this amazing piece of music for me, full of energy and passion; I was blown away. What, I asked, was that? Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony, he replied. Seriously?! I had been listening to the same piece of music and it had left me untouched – it was nice, but nothing more. What was going on? It was the same piece music, a similar set of professional musicians, yet in one performance the music had felt so different: engaging, emotional, inspiring, energising! (In case you are wondering who the conductor of the second recording was, it was Sir Georg Solti.) That’s when I realised the importance of a leader, and the difference he or she can make. Since then it has been my belief that it is the leader who shapes and makes an organisation’s culture. Though what is true for leaders at the top of organisations is true for leaders at all levels, be it the department or a team – or a meeting. In her latest book, Who Do We Choose to Be? Margaret Wheatley (2017) declarers:

This world does not need more entrepreneurs.

This world does not need more technology breakthroughs.

This world needs leaders.

Indeed. So, leadership matters. Why is it though that visionary and authentic leadership matters so much more today than ever before?

The short answer is: because we live in a world that is more complex and faster paced than anything we have experienced before – I have already introduced the drivers of the Perfect Storm of Complexity. In such context, there is no time for playing (political) games, and what is urgently needed are clarity and direction, a vision that helps guide our decision-making and prioritisation. Indeed, and not just any leaders, but visionary and authentic ones.

If you are wondering what key characteristics of complex systems are, here you go:

• self-organising, meaning that the elements of a system, for example, members of a team, create their own structure rather than the structure being imposed on them from the outside.

• self-similarity, meaning that a self-similar object is exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself like broccoli, where one broccoli flower looks like the whole broccoli

• adaptive capacity, meaning they react to and integrate new information, which leads to

• emergence, meaning that the properties of the whole system are emerging from the properties of the parts of that system

• interconnectivity, meaning that elements of the system impact each other, yet there is also

• non-linearity, meaning that small changes in one part of the system can lead to big changes in other parts of the system (butterfly effect)

You may argue that change has always been part of life, which is of course correct, but not at the rate which we experience since the turn of the millennium. A colleague of mine, Nick Obolensky (2010), has undertaken a very useful piece of research: he looked at the rate at which change has been introduced, over time. To be more precise, from 2000 bc to 2000 ad, what he found was that for almost 4,000 years the rate at which change has been introduced has been fairly constant, almost linear; he also found that a number of different areas he looks at have developed in accord – until the turn of the millennium. With the limitless connectivity facility by the internet the rage at which changes have been introduced has exploded exponentially, in all areas but one: leadership. We seem to believe that despite everything changing around us, we can continue to think about leadership and lead in the ways of the last century. What are the chances that an entire system can change and one aspect remains unchanged?

As there are no leaders without followers, it is also worth looking at different levels of followers. Again drawing on Nick’s book, there are five levels of followers:

1. Those who wait to be told.

2. Those who ask to be told.

3. Those who seek approval before taking action.

4. Those who seek approval for action taken.

5. Those who get on and inform in a routine way.

Moving up those levels is analogue to a shift from a hierarchical structure to a team-based structure, and in a complex world, we need to see as many people moving up those levels as possible – and this is clearly a leadership task.

If you have followers who are waiting to be told, asking what to do or even seeking approval, any existing opportunity might have gone by the time the followers have been brought up to speed. What is necessary to succeed in such complex systems is for everyone to know the task (vision/direction), and what their contribution to achieving it is. Each and every one who is part of the complex system needs to be able to assess the feedback he or she constantly receives (by observing) and judge what next steps will bring him or her close to completing the task (vision). They need to have freedom of choice and make decisions in the best interest of the overall system – which means that everyone needs to have the will to take responsibility as well as the ability to complete their assignments. Trying to achieve results by putting one person in charge, like we do in traditional, hierarchical organisation, would take a very, very long time. Hence, leading in complex system is very different from leading in complicated systems. For the latter hierarchies and lines of command work perfectly well; followers of levels 1–3 are to be preferred. In complex systems, leadership is about preparing the ground for others, to provide vision and direction, and then let them get on with it. You need followers at levels 4 and 5 in order to succeed.

Building on the work of Paparone, Anderson and McDaniel (2008), the following table compares leadership tasks in a hierarchical context with those in a complex context.

Hierarchies are disappearing, things are happening faster, are more complex and diverse, and our public and private lives are converging. We can no longer rely on external factors to understand whom we should follow, or what should guide our decision-making; we have to develop different criteria. Such criteria will rely on our ability to understand others and, even more importantly, ourselves. Only then can we, as individuals and organisations, communicate clearly what we are about and what we stand for, and by doing so get others to engage with us, to follow us. In order to be able to deliver against the leadership tasks of a complex adapt system, both vision and authenticity are urgently required.

Authentic Leadership

But what does it mean to be authentic? While we hear more about it in Chris’ chapter, I’d like to share four traits of authentic leaders identified by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones (2000) in their book titled, Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?

In their work with leaders from around the globe, Goffee and Jones have identified four traits that successful, authentic leaders share in common. I’d like to introduce the briefly.

Situation Sensing. Authentic leaders pick up signals that help them explain what is happening; they can sense tension, reservations, resistance and support; hence, they have great observational skills. Such leaders can not only read the context, but they are also able to actively influence and shape it, often for the better. The ability to understand situations also helps them to know where and when to make compromises, and when to stick to their guns. Such leaders are likely to listen and ask questions before they form their own opinion and intervene. In the context of sensing, it is interesting to note that we form our judgement of someone within the first two seconds of meeting them and then start to verify our initial judgement.

There are some questions you may want to consider to find out how good a sensor you are:

• How well do you know what motivates others?

• Are you flexible/change plans to respond to the mood of others?

• Can you turn situations around?

Some evidence for your sensing ability might be:

• You being asked about what is going on.

• You know ‘who’s zooming whom’.

• Your presents are spot on rather than off the mark.

There are also certain conditions that make it more difficult to accurately sense situations, including

• Over-analysing – interpreting too much, over-reacting to signals.

• Political contexts and unspoken agendas – highly political behaviour, where people aim to mask their true intentions and play games makes sensing more difficult.

• Lack of respect – resulting in a tendency to judge or misjudge.

• Time constraints also make sensing more difficult, that is, if people are too consumed by what they have to do and manage rather than being able to stand back once in a while to just observe.

Interestingly, working in a language that is not your own can improve sensing capabilities. When we cannot rely on words to communicate, we automatically focus more on non-verbal messages. If you are wondering what you can do to improve conditions for sensing in your organisation, encourage face-to-face meetings; make sure it is safe to venture personal and critical points of view. Make time for people to ask questions.

Tough Empathy. Effective leaders evoke high levels of...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Setting the Scene
• Visionary and Authentic Leadership
• Nurturing People and Culture
• Innovative Design and Creation
• Inspiring Communication and Relationships
• And Every Ending Has a New Beginning …
• The Lead Authors
• Index