A leader needs to be mentally tough.

No one can lead without being

criticized or without facing tough situations. A tough-minded leader sees
things as they are and will pay the price for it- Leadership creates a certain
separation from one's peers which comes from carrying responsibility that
only the leader is able to carry The leader must be able to keep his or her
own counsel until the proper time. A leader possesses the ability to live with
criticism and not be affected by it. It is not possible for a leader to please
every'one. Leaders are able to limit the impact of stress on their lives. A good
leader thrives on the energy of stressful situations not the negativity. They
assume control even when they don't have it thus eliminating the stress of
not having control. Good leaders have a self-esteem and self-confidence to
ride out of any tough situation.

SUPIRIOR COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Effective leadership necessitates good listening skills. They need to create a

system of communication for the organization. Interaction should take in
account the cultural differences too. They possess the ability to ask the right
questions. A good leader possesses superior Interviewing skills In order to
choose the right candidate. He is able to communicate clearly the objectives
and procedures required for a task. He needs to be excellent in public
speaking and reading body language. A leader has to be open to constructive
feedback. They have the ability to convince others and also communicate
their vision to their team. They are endowed with the ability to inspire others
to work more productively by their speech or words.
CHAPTER -7 CROSS-CULTURAL ISSUES IN
LEADERSHIP

COMMUNICATION AND CO-OPERATION

PROBLEM

PHILOSOPHICAL DIFFERENCES

COMMITMENT TO THE COMPANY AND

WORKERS

PERKS AND STATUS

COMMITMENT IN A SINGLE COMPANY

 FOUR MOSTIMPORTANT QUALITIES OF A GOOD LEADER

Good leaders are required in all fields. They lead, motivate and inspire
others. Superior leadership is essential in today's high-pressure competitive
world. The four most important qualities of leadership are given below.

RISK TAKING

A leader needs to be. ready to take risks. It is claimed that higher, the risk
A leader should not be living In a comfortable zone and
being happy with whatever he has achieved. He does not rest on past laurels.
Such leaders soon lose their position and the time wave removes them from
the peoples' mind. The constant urge for innovation is one of the most
important leadership qualities, It helps the leader to be in tune with the
modern times and help them to face new challenges much more effectively.
A leader doesn't accept society's definition of what is possible, they make
their own outlines. Good leaders refuse to allow the norms and limits defined
by society to guide their actions or plans. They are characterized by lack of
acceptance for what you see as reality. They just don't see the world the same
way as others, Everything IS possible for them despite the arduous and
bumpy road to getting there.
MENTAL TOUGHNESS
The increasing growth in international business has resulted in research
being focused on cross-cultural issues in leadership of particular interest
have been Japanese manufacturing organization which operate on American
soil. These Japanese management methods on American employees. The
Cultural difference prevalent in such orgamzation, have resulted in certain
types of problems such as:

COMMUNICATION AND CO-OPERATION PROBLEM

Language has been a major cause of communication and co-operation

problems In such transplant organization.
American managers are often unable to interpret the communication that
they receive from officials in Japan

PHILOSOPHICAL DIFFERENCES

The Japanese believe that workers have a right to refuse a legitimate (legal
or rightful) request by the managers and they should not be punished for it.
Rather the manager should aim at developing a sense of obligation and
ownership among the employees.
On the other, the Americans believe that insubordinations should be dealt
severly.Such ideology differences is another cause of problems In
crosscultural orgamzations.

COMMITMENT TO THE COMPANY AND WORKERS

Japanese managers strongly identify with their company and are highly
committed and dedicated to it. The Japanese often find that this quality is
lacking in their American counterparts

American managers put their personal interest above those of the company
and co-workers. Such differences In commitment are another cause of
problems.

PERKS AND STATUS

The Japanese prefers to do away with such symbol as private office; reserved
parking spaces and management meeting rooms. They believe that lack of
such symbols reduces the gap between the management and the workers.

On the other hand, American managers think that loss of such perks is a loss
of status and that they are not being treated well.

CAREER IN A SINGLE COMPANY

The Japanese strongly believe in lifetime commitment to the organization.

They want everyone who is recruited by the orgamzation and then retire with
it.

When a manager leaves the company, the Japanese view it as a double

loss:Therefore, bringing the notional leader together with the team to explore
these similarities (rather than focusing on the differences) bnngs positive
results. Th1S approach has been particularly successful In Sweden where
the power distance between manager and team is small.
 Do Implement. Examples: communicating, coordinating, supervising,
evaluating.

Do motivate. Examples: develop moral and esprit de corps in the

organization, train, coach, and counsel.

THE PROCESS OF GREAT LEADERSHIP

The road to great leadership that is Common to successful leaders:

• Challenge the process - first, find a process that you believe needs to be
Improved the most.

• Inspire a shared vision - next, share you vision In words that can be
understood by your followers.

• Enable others to act - give them the tools and methods to solve the
problem.

• Model the way - when the process gets tough, get your hands dirty. A
boss tells others what to do...a leader shows that it can be done.

• Encourage the heart - share the glory with your followers' heart, while
keeping the pains within your own.

THUMB RULES OF A SUCCESSFUL LEADER

Whether a leader is operating in the West or In India, these are some Of the
thumb rules when it comes to successful leadership:
• The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake. "

• The five most important words: "You did a good job.

• The four most important words: "What is your opinion?"

• The three most important words: "If you please."

• The two most important words: "Thank you,"

• The one most Important word: "We"

• The least most important word: "I"

Among key concepts m leadership development one may find.

• Experiential learning: positioning the individual in the focus of the

learmng process, going through the four stages of experiential learning
as formulated by David A. Kolb:

I. Concrete experience
2. Observation and reflection

3. Forming abstract concept

4. Testing In new situations.

- Self efficacy: The right training and coaching should bring about 'Self
efficacy' in the trainee, as Albert Bandura formulated: A person's belief
about his capabilities to produce effects

- Visioning: Developing the ability to formulate a clear image of the

aspired future of an organization unit.

DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AT A COLLECTIVE LEVEL

More recently, orgamzations have come to understand that leadership can

also be developed by strengthening the connection between, and alignment
of, the efforts of individual leaders and the systems through which they
influence organizational operations. This has led to a differentiation between
leader development and leadership development. Leader

I. Managers tend to take impersonal attitudes toward goals, whereas leaders

take a personal and active attitude towards goals.

2. Managers tend to take moderate risk and establish strategies and make
decisions. Leaders work from high-risk positions.

3. Managers are appointed to their positions. Their ability to influence

employees is based on the formal authority inherent in that position.

4. Leaders are appointed or merge from within a work group and are able to
influence others for reasons beyond formal authority
5. Managers prefer to work with people; they avoid solitary activity because
it makes them anxious. Leaders, who are concerned with ideas, relate to
people in more intuitive and emphatic ways.

6. Good management brings about order and consistency by formulatmg

plans. designing organization structure and monitoring results against the

7, Leadership. in contrast. is coping with change. Leaders establish vision of

the future and articulate this vision and inspire people to overcome

8. Managers use the authority inherent in their designated formal rank to

obtain compliance from organizational members

THE PRINCIPLE OF LEADERSHIP

development focuses on the development of the leader, such as the personal
attributes desired in a leader, desired ways of behaving, ways of thinking or
feeling. In contrast, leadership development focuses on the development of
leadership as a process. This will include the interpersonal relationships,
social influence process, and the team dynamics between the leader and
his/her team at the dyad level, the contextual factors surrounding the team
such as the perception of the organizational climate and the social network
linkages between the team and other groups in the organization.
One practical example of developing leadership specifically so as to
influence an organization's safety culture is described by Burman & Evans
Both forms of development may mutually influence each other, as
exemplified In the concept of "Deep Change" in Robert E. Quinn's 1996
book of the same title.

Leadership development can build on the development of individuals

(including followers) to become leaders. In addition, it also needs to focus
on the interpersonal linkages between the individuals in the team

In the belief that the most Important resource that an organization possesses
is the people that comprise the orgamzation, some organizations address the
development of these resources (even including the leadership).

In contrast, the concept of "Employee ship" recognizes that what it takes to

be a good leader is not too dissimilar to what it takes to be a good employee.

Ifyou are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow to
respect you. To be such a leader, there is a leadership framework to guide
you:

Be a professional. Examples: be loyal to the organization, perform selfless

service, and take personal responsibility.

Be a professional who possess good character traits. Examples: honesty,

competence, candor, commitment, integrity, courage,
straightforwardness, imagination.
 Know the four factors of leadership - follower, leader, communication,
and situation.

Know yourself. Examples: strengths and weakness of your character,

knowledge, and skills.

Know human nature. Examples: human needs, emotions and how

people respond to stress.

Know your job. Examples: be proficient and be able to train others in

their tasks

Know your organization. Examples: where to go for help, its climate

and culture, who the unofficial leaders are.

Do provide direction. Examples: goal setting, problem solving, decision

making, planmng

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Traditionally, leadership development has focused on developing the
leadership abilities and attitudes of Individuals.

Just like people aren't all born with the ability to, say, play football like
Zinedine Zidaneor sing like Luciano Pavarotti, people aren't all born with
the ability to lead. Different personal characteristics can help or hinder a
person's leadership effectiveness and require formalized programs for
developing leadership competencies yet; everyone can develop their
leadership effectiveness. Achieving such development takes focus, practice
and persistence more akin to learmng a musical instrument than reading a
book

Classroom-style training and associated reading is effective in helping

leaders to know more about what is involved in leading well. However,
knowing what to do and doing what you know are two very different
outcomes; management expert Henry Mintzberg is one person to highlight
this dilemma. It is estimated that as little as 15% of learning from traditional
classroom style training results in sustained behavioral change within the
workplace

respect for their leader. Hence, one of the most important leadership strengths
is the ability to listen to your teammates. You need to genuinely listen to your
team members because they are the only ones that will tell you if you go
wrong at any point of time. Furthermore, listening will make sure that you
connect with your team members on a personal level, which will improve the
performance of your team greatly. Read more on tgam_
r
hi
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

No two people are alike and hence, even the thinking of no two people will
match. Hence, there is always scope for discord and dispute within group
members. In such cases, you need to be the peacemaker- You need to be the
one who manages to listen to both sides of the story from an untmased third
person's point of view. Furthermore, when an idea is conveyed, be sure to
never out rightly rule out any kind of suggestion offered, no matter how
Irrelevant or unrealistic it may be. This makes it look like the group is
following a dictatorship, which in general, brings down the morale of the
group. Thus, relationship building within a team, and outside of it, is one of
the most important leadership strengths examples that a person needs to keep
in mind. Read more on strategic leadership.

• ACCEPT MISTAKES

There will be times when as a leader and as a group, you may fail. This will
be a hard time for you but you need to understand that you have been
patient. Lashing out at your team members, blaming them for failure will
The success of leadership development efforts has been linked to three
vanables

• Individual learner characteristics

• The quality and nature of the leadership development program
• Genuine support for behavioral change from the leader's supervisor

Military officer training academies, such as the Royal Military Academy

Sandhurst, go to great lengths to only accept candidates who show the
highest potential to lead well. Personal characteristics that associated with
successful leadership development include leader motivation to learn, a high
achievement drive and personality traits such as openness to experience, an
Internal focus of control, and self-monitoring.

Development is also more likely to occur when the design of the

development program
 • Integrates a range of developmental experiences over a set period of
time (e.g. 6—12 months). These experiences may include 360 degree
feedback, experiential classroom style programs, business school
style coursework, executive coaching, reflective journaling,
mentoring and more.
• Involve goal setting, following an assessment of key developmental
needs and then evaluate the achievement of goals after a given time
per10d.

only add to your resentment. If the success is shared, then so must the failure
be shared. So in fact, when the team fails. ensure that you take an equal
amount of responsibility in the failure. Do not cower to admit defeat
because if you do so, then you may lose the respect of your team. So accept
your mistake, learn from it and try to improvise as a leader. This will earn
you respect and the most loyal team members you can ever hope to find.
Read more on leadership.

Leadership strengths are essential qualities that distinguish a good leader

from a bad one. Irrespective of what the saying is, I believe that leaders are
made, they are not born and a person can always be a good leader if he
capitalizes on the above given list of leadership strengths
 LEADERS AND MANAGERS : A COMPARISON

Experts argue that leadership and management are different. Abraham

Zaleznik (1986) argues that leaders are different from managers and they are
very different kind of people. They differ In motivation, personal history and
how they think and act.

a - The manager has to repair employees network and assume the role of the
departed peer. b - Prepare a new person to grow and adjust in the various
networks of the organlzation.

In sharp contrast to the Japanese belief of loyalty to the orgamzation,

American managers will swear loyalty to the organization but will not
hesitate twice to quit the organization and join the organization of the
competitors.

The reason why such cultural clashes occur is because:-

a - American fear that adopting the Japanese system will damage their
values of individualism.

b - The Japanese fear that adopting the American management system

will harm their values of teamwork.

The solution to these problems lies In creating willingness in both the parties
to learn the other's culture and build a new hybrid culture. Effective
leadership requires sensitivity to such cross-cultural issues.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

Good leaders always put more effort than the organization expects from
them They do activities that the majority of people won't do. Where most
people quit they persevere. This serves as an excellent example to their team
which then strives to achieve much more. A good leader doesn't just order
things; he does it so that others can do it. They not only motivate themselves
in personal development but also motivate those around them. Good leaders
do what is necessary to upgrade their knowledge and skills and be on the
cutting edge In their field.

LEADERSHIP STRENGTH

Leadership is the ability of a person to guide people In a group

achieving a task at hand. There are many leadership qualities that help you
to become a good leader. These are certain leadership strengths a person
needs to capitalize on to be able to execute effective leadership. So, given
below is a list that entails the important strengths of leadership that you need
to keep in mind to be a good leader.

KEY LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS

• TASK EXECUTION
CHAPTER-8 LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AT A
COLLECTIVE LEVEL
There's many a slip between cup and lip. Coming up with a brilliant idea and
executing that idea are two completely different things. Bringing an idea to life
is lot easier said than done. An idea really comes to life only when it is executed
to perfection. Thus- this is one of the most important leadership strengths.
For this, you need to be a team player. There is a fine line between having
followers that follow you out of respect and having followers that follow
because they have no choice. Any kind of discord In the team reflects In the
end result and the efficiency of the task performed.

• ENVISION

Before you go on to put any kind of strategy into place, you need to
understand and envision what you wish to achieve. This is important because
the expectations of the entire group will ride on your shoulders. Thus, one
of the important leadership strengths is to be a visionary because you need
to have a very clear vision about how to go about a task at hand, keeping the
long term and short term goals and repercussions In mind. You need to be
realistic yet optimistic about the prospects involved in any task and must
take Into consideration all the risks involved.
• LISTEN

Berng the leader does not mean that you own the people you work with.
Many people tend to get carried away and do not listen to their team
members. This can go against them as the team members then tend to lose