Many people fail in leadership positions that involve projecgs spanning across continents, or leading diverse teams with members who represent a wide range of national, ethnic, generational or other cultures. Many others succeed. I listen to both, but more carefully to those who struggle, and find myself surprised how many tell themselves they are "naturally" unfit for the job. They think they are simply not the kind of people who work flexibly with diverse cultures.
This kind of self-talk can be dangerous when it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Daily inconveniences become "sure signs" that the leader is unfit for the job, which results in low self-confidence, which triggers unhelpful behaviours experienced by others as impatience, sarcasm, judgement and inflexibility. They push back, and the self-fulfilling vicious circle soon turns into a downward spiral. (This is a complex metaphor, but if you've ever been in one, you know haow it works.)
It doesn't have to be this way, because:
Everyone enters intercultural leadership positions unprepared: first-time leaders because of that, senior leaders because the job is usually a huge upward step.
Every success and failure is half "nature" and half "nurture", combined from your talents and how you work with others.
With a bit of self-awareness, focus and a few first successes, anyone can reverse the cycle in a few months, which is basically my livelihood.
In my next free webinar, I we will look at matches and mismatches between individual behavioural profiles (I will rely on my favourite Global DISC assessment again) and typical cultures of nations (like Mexico, Germany or China) and professional sectors (sales, healthcare, finance), discuss their pros and cons (yes, mismatches can have pros as well) and look at practical implications. If you want, bring us your cases and see how we can help.
🌏 Date: 2024 June 20
⏰ Time Zones: Please check your time zone and event details. This webinar will start at:
11:00 GMT+1 (Berlin)
17:00 GMT+8 (Beijing)
Details and registration: https://www.holch.biz/event-details/matches-or-mismatches-between-you-different-cultures-free-webinar-eu-asia-time-zones
Comments