Culture is complicated. Leaders often incorrectly think culture is simply an individual’s race or ethnicity.
Society often uses the term “culture” as an easy way to group people (or entities) and assign value based on their characteristics, traits, behaviors, beliefs and actions.
In some cases, this can present as stereotyping or bias.
What is culture?
Everyone has a culture. Culture includes a group’s beliefs, traditions, customs, norms, language and laws. Culture also includes all the manifestations of a community’s social habits.
Culture is not biology. It is not in the genes we receive from our parents. (People’s genetic DNA is more or less the same, regardless of whether they’re from Asian countries, African countries or urban areas within the U.S.) We learn about culture from our families, schools, peers, interest groups/clubs and other factors in our environment.
Culture always relates to groups of people, but people within specific groups can still be diverse. People are always part of various groups that each have their own cultures. For example, someone who lives in the U.S. is an “American,” but also perhaps German, Korean, Italian or Haitian. At the same time, this same person may feel connected to their city or neighborhood.
Beyond identifying yourself with a country, you—as an individual—belong to various additional cultural groups or subcultures. These are always changing.
Culture impacts our preferences, actions and behaviors, according to social psychologist, Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. For example, Hofstede posits that cultures determine power distance preferences, or people’s willingness to obey authoritative figures. His theory also suggests that a person’s attitude reflects their culture's long-term or short-term orientation, as well as whether their culture embraces individualism versus collectivism.
Ultimately, our cultures are inseparable from our personalities—which means managers who lead multicultural teams have big challenges to address. But, with the right strategies, they can lead employees from all types of backgrounds.
4 Steps business leaders must take to succeed at cross-cultural management
If you get specific, every leader manages a cross-cultural team. Culture is so complex and multi-faceted that there is never just “one” culture represented in a group of people.
But there are some important ways you can better observe, honor and thrive with the cultural differences you find in your organization.
1. Identify subcultures
Groups in society can also have their own ‘subcultures,’ such as students, football enthusiasts or hard-rock fans.
Similarly, groups may form subcultures around their unique backgrounds. For instance, individuals from rural areas might feel more at ease with each other than with people who grew up in cities. Subcultures can therefore play a role in the overall dynamic of a relationship, environment or organization.
Still, when an event like the Olympics takes place, the differences within a country virtually disappear. People focus instead on the differences between themselves and those from other countries. Subconsciously, many people also wonder how to modify their behavior to align with others’ cultural norms.
2. Develop cultural competence
Leaders must have cultural competence to be able to lead effectively in today’s globally connected and diverse environments. Cultural competence begins with cultural awareness.
Managers need to ask themselves important questions: What are the elements of their own culture? What are their values, beliefs, customs, norms, traditions, styles, biases, stereotypes and behaviors? Also, what are other cultural groups’ values, beliefs, customs, norms, traditions, styles, biases, stereotypes and behaviors?
Next, leaders must learn and assess how their own cultural values, beliefs, customs, norms, traditions, styles, biases, stereotypes and behaviors are the same as—or different than—others’. Leaders who struggle to answer these questions may learn through experience by maintaining interpersonal relationships with diverse individuals, traveling, reading, studying or exploring. Managers develop cultural sensitivity once they are able to accept and respect other cultures.
Cultural sensitivity involves recognizing cultural differences without assigning value to them. Culturally sensitive managers share an understanding that their cultures aren’t better or worse than others’ cultures. Cultures are never right or wrong.
Leaders achieve cultural competence when they can adapt to different cultures and view cultural differences and experiences with a more cosmopolitan outlook.
3. Learn to recognize—and combat—bias
There are two types of biases: explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious). While most leaders realize both the legal and reputational implications of conscious bias in their actions and decisions, they don’t often realize they still hold unconscious biases. We all do.
Stereotyping is the most obvious or well-known type of unconscious bias, however, there are dozens more that leaders are less aware of. These other types of biases can also impact leadership strength and organizational culture.
Some additional examples of unconscious biases include confirmation bias, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, self-serving bias and affinity bias. If these biases go unchecked, they can impair leaders’ judgment and have a ripple effect on key organizational decisions. This can negatively impact organizational performance and employee satisfaction and retention.
4. Implement formal decision-making processes
Because we are not always aware of our biases, it is important that organizational leaders adopt formal processes with specific guidelines for non-routine organizational decision-making. There are numerous models to choose from, like the SPADE model or the Vroom-Yetton Decision-Making Model.
These processes can help ensure that an organizational leader is challenging assumptions by considering all viable options and using evidence to weigh the pros and cons of each option before making a decision.
A decision-making process can also help prevent a leader from following their “gut instinct,” which is just another bias, called “availability heuristic.”
Gut instincts cause us to inaccurately believe that our first choice is often the best decision.
Leaders can also share the frameworks for formal decision-making processes with their employees to ensure team members understand how managers reach their decisions. This communication can help increase trust and accountability within a company.
Key skills for cross-cultural management
Globalization has created cross-cultural environments in most companies throughout the world, from micro-businesses to major enterprises. Thus, all leaders must be adept at managing diverse teams.
By achieving cultural competence, understanding biases and adopting appropriate processes, managers of multinational companies can make sound decisions and lead their organizations to success.
Overseeing a multicultural team—especially one that includes members located within different countries—requires strengths like critical thinking, emotional intelligence, conflict management and flexibility.
For more on how that might look at work, check out Why is Emotional Intelligence Important in the Workplace?
Additionally, skills like communication, relationship-building, team-building and collaboration are critical for successfully navigating and embracing cultural diversity.
Changing the focus of management
A good organizational culture in any company, from a small shop to a multi-national conglomerate, should have an employee (people)-centered focus.
Managers should practice strengths-based development, which focuses on each individual’s strengths—and not on their weaknesses. A manager of a multicultural team should also value employees’ differences and create teams of people with diverse expertise and experience.
Of course, it’s important to understand that these facets of great organizational leadership and a healthy company culture are not specifically about crossing cultures. Everyone thrives in work environments when leadership welcomes varying perspectives and backgrounds.
Celebrating cultural diversity is how organizations are able to meet the diverse needs of their customers and remain relevant. The most innovative companies understand the value of cultural diversity, from distribution centers all the way up to the C-suite.
Ready to take on the challenges of cross-cultural management?
Do you want to help create a world where people of all cultures can thrive? Are you a team player? Do you get a thrill out of taking on new challenges?
If so, getting a business management degree could be especially fulfilling. Business management students develop key leadership skills as they explore proven best practices for leading multicultural teams.
Interested in learning more? Check out our article, “What Can You Do with a Business Management Degree? Understanding Your Options."
