How to enhance leadership for multicultural success? Top 3 expert advice

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Globalization and multiculturalism are unstoppable megatrends that go hand in hand, inevitably affecting the everyday life of companies. Better decision making, financial improvement, and finding broader talents from overseas are just a few examples of the benefits multiculturalism brings to businesses. But how does multiculturalism affect leadership?

Even though cross-cultural transfers are more common than ever with the globalization of business life, these still face a lot of challenges, especially when it comes to adaptation. According to Richard D. Lewis, an English communication consultant and social theorist, leaders cannot readily be transferred from one culture to another. For instance, Japanese prime ministers would be largely ineffective in the United States, while American politicians would fare badly in most Arab countries. Same diversity-based challenges also appear in Finland, causing the loss of the companies’ full potential.

Multiculturalism and leadership as collaborative challenges of TSE exe’s EMBA Global Strategic Management class 

During our EMBA Global Strategic Management GSM class (23.8.2023) the participants thoroughly familiarized themselves with various issues of multiculturalism and leadership, led by our specialist David Goddard. David is a British-Finn leadership coach and entrepreneur, who has been working with leaders and their teams around the world for the past 25 years. The theme of the day was Global Negotiation and Influencing skills, around which was discussed for example how culture affects the way we work, and what is the future of diversity in the workplace in Finland.

According to Goddard, the most significant multicultural challenge leadership faces in Finland, is integrating the population as it comes. In 1990, the non-Finnish background of Finland’s population was around 18 000 while it currently stands at 450 000. Even though there are a lot of non-Finnish born talents living in the country, they are not hired in companies as easily as native Finns. Also, Finland’s demographics, the aging population and low birth rate tell us that we need younger population. Therefore, another challenge is how to attract young, talented immigrants to come to work in Finland.

Top 3 expert advice on leadership enhancement

We asked David Goddard his top 3 advice to improve leadership at workplace, in order to affect different multicultural challenges.

  1. Self-awareness. Recognize your own cultural influence and be aware of your own biases. Also, take a look at the current culture in your organization or in a specific team: what are the values and what is the future goal?
  2. Self-observation. This is strongly related to self-awareness: In Goddard’s words, take a “helicopter view” and notice what is happening in your organization. Is your company’s values and words meeting with the actions? Are the leaders setting great examples? Is everyone’s voice being heard inside the company?
  3. Adaptation. In order to build inclusive culture to the workplace, possible problem areas must be addressed.

 

Take your understanding to the next level by watching the YouTube video featuring David Goddard, where he discusses these tips in detail.

References:

Lewis, Richard D. When Cultures Collide : Leading Across Cultures. 3rd ed. Boston (MA): Nicholas Brealey, 2006. Print.