Leaders and Culture - Part III

Leadership in a cultural context calls on leaders to do what is right in a complex changing enviornment. The ability to lead effectively in a cultural context requires in-depth understanding and thoughtful application of how culture supports or detracts from organization and individual performance and output. Tushman & O’Reilly’s (2002), congruence theory assists in understanding the relationship between task, culture, organization and people. Their congruence theory recognizes the need for leaders to focus on four (4) foundational aspects of an organization and ensure a hand in glove synergy to realize preferred results.

Marquardt & Berger (2000), help leaders, institutions and organizations better understand global leadership by defining attributes –

A10-year research project by House, et al. (2004), produced the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness) project and identified 9 cultural dimensions of leadership.

Subject matter expert, Hofstede’s early work (1980 & 1997) noted predictive culture patterns, i.e. power distance, individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity and future orientation (added in 2000). These patterns remain in the GLOBE report with the addition of new dimensions for a changing world. House, et al identify cultural dimensions and emphasize one should be very careful in placing any one culture into a stereotype. Respecting there is a high probability for clustering areas of the world into regions, significant differences remain (McIntosh & Irving, 2010).

I recently completed the Thunderbird's School of Management Global Mindset Inventory to better understand my own cultural-intelligence or CQ. Thunderbird’s definition of a global mindset is the ability to influence others who are different than you. They acknowledge that global leaders need a critical combination of intellectual, psychological and social capital to lead in a world that is more globally connected than ever before, in pursuit of global relationships and operating with a global workforce.

My CQ score is –
Psychological (passion for diversity, quest for adventure, self-assurance) = 4.47 (a= 4.10 b= 3.94),
Social Capital (intercultural empathy, interpersonal impact, diplomacy) = 4.20 (a = 3.76, b = 3.55),
Intellectual Capital (global business savvy, cognitive complexity, cosmopolitan outlook) = 3.39 (a= 3.64 b= 3.36).

(NOTE: bracketed text below, a = average and b = benchmark).

With this insight I am in a better position to assess my personal and professional strengths and weaknesses in relation to my leadership and cultural competency and to identify learning goals to improve same.

In your increasing awareness of leaders and culture what have you identified as your personal or professional strengths and weaknesses?

What are you doing to improve your leadership competency in a cultural context?

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With a broad understanding of leaders and culture, the next few blogs will focus in on leaders in their environment including Leadership in Canada, Leadership in Latin America, Leadership in a North-South partnership to help established and aspiring leaders develop their leadership in a cultural context knowledge, skills and competencies. 

Tim and I invite readers to register and post comments – we will do our best to respond in a timely and thoughtful manner. If you would like to contribute content please feel free to forward us your submission. All submissions are subject to editorial review and final approval before posting.

Terresa Augustine - LinkedIn

References -
- Hofstede, G. (1980). Cultures consequences: International differences in work-related values. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
- Hofstede, G. (1997). Culture and organizations: Software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., Gupta, V. (2004). Culture, leadership and organizations: The GLOBE study. CA: Sage.
- Marquardt, M., Berger, N. (2000). Global leaders for the 21st century. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
- McIntosh, T., Irving, J. (2010). Leadership in Latin America: a literature review. USA: Regent’s University
- Tushman, M., O’Reilly, C. (2002). Winning through innovation. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation