Leading Across Culture Analysis

Cultures

This week’s class discussion and the reading are very critical for every leader in this globalized world. I will base my reflections on the article “Leading across Cultures”

One important lesson I learned reading the article is the intersectionality of culture. Culture is not monolithic or comprises of a uniform set of beliefs. Culture varies in ways that are not even visible. These could include ethnicity, race, religion, age, social status, income, occupation, language, marital status and many others. All these different dimensions are interpreted differently from one place to the other. For example, the way in which Ghanaians may interpret someone's marital status in a society may be completely different from someone’s marital status in the U.S.

Therefore, as global leaders, we need to pay attention and be sensitive to these differences. An additional lesson I learned is that the appreciation of diverse cultures is not only important for leaders but also important for every member of a team. For example, if I am working in an organization in the U.S. I should expect that the way my boss conceptualize issues such as standards of performance might be different from how my boss from Ghana might conceptualize

In the very least, the story illustrates how it is very important to broaden our perspectives as leaders and peacebuilders. What the story demonstrated is that the appearance of things can be deceptive. Or the fact that things appear in different forms, shapes, and color do not mean they necessarily have a different value. The lesson here is that the physical appearance of people or things can be misleading and tell us very little about their real value. As leaders, it is important we are prepared to broaden our perspectives because broadening our perspectives open up new possibilities which is good for success in the increasingly complex global