Introduction
The evolvement of the global market has ignited a stiff competition among all players in the market as more organizations seek to operate internationally to maximize profitability. However, such endeavors are limited by diversity in cultures as evident in the international market. Therefore, global leaders have to adopt leadership styles that foster organization cultures that favor teamwork and good working relations with the diverse workforce. Confronted by the issue of cultural diversity in the international market, this paper seeks to explore the topic of leadership across different cultures. The paper examines two fundamental aspects of leadership, viz. Influence-based perception and recognition-based perception.
Influence-Based Perception
The theory of influence-based perception centers on the capability of a leader to influence his/her subordinates to act per the organization’s culture irrespective of the individual cultural or religious differences. The perceptions of leadership vary considerably from one culture to another. In some cases, multicultural leaders are subject to such perceptions in choosing the leadership style to implement in an organization (Chong & Wolf, 2010). Even though it is an insurmountable task to cause people from different cultural backgrounds to perform tasks in teams, research indicates that the leadership style adopted by a leader may cause cohesion among workmates. The leader is obliged to remain flexible and open-minded to learn the various leadership stereotypes inherent in individuals from different cultures. The leader must be flexible and ready to adapt to the different cultures in the global market.
Researchers have proposed different styles of leadership for global leaders to provide an amicable solution to the cultural challenges presented by cultural diversity in the workplace. Going by the implicit theory, people possess inward character traits that influence their perceptions towards a leader (Liu & Wilson, 2011). People prefer a leader who is open-minded, caring, honest, and accepting other people’s inputs in the decision-making process. Most studies have recommended the paternalistic leadership style for multinational companies to achieve influence among the subordinates (Liu & Wilson, 2011). The mentioned style of leadership is built on three major aspects namely authoritarianism, benevolence, and moral leadership.
Recognition-Based Perception
The theory of recognized-based perception revolves around connecting the perceived behavior of a leader with how s/he should behave in the course of offering leadership in an organization. People from different cultural backgrounds have varying perceptions regarding the right behavior of a leader. Some behaviors are acceptable in some cultures and unacceptable in others. For example, praise is widely acceptable among employees from individualistic cultures, but it is unacceptable in collectivistic cultures (Liu & Wilson, 2011). Rewarding and praising an employee publicly for achievement may produce the desired results of motivation in the western countries, but it would be de-motivating to an employee from India (Chong & Wolf, 2010). In the mentioned case, the leader’s behavior is the same, but the perception among employees in the two cultures is different. The way subordinates view a leader’s behavior influences their motivation and acceptance of that leader. Therefore, leaders ought to listen to the employees’ input on particular issues to gain insight into their perception regarding leadership. Based on such information, the leader will opt to influence the employees into adopting the organization’s culture or make an alteration to accommodate the varying needs.
Conclusion
The way people perceive leadership varies from one culture to another. Additionally, the perception of employees determines the success or failure of the adopted leadership style. Therefore, multicultural leaders ought to listen to their employees to gain insight regarding their views on the leadership style in place and from the information acquired, make appropriate adjustments in the style of leadership to accommodate the employee’s perceptions.
References
Chong, E., & Wolf, H. (2010). Factors influencing followers’ perception of organizational leaders. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(5), 402-419.
Liu, J., & Wilson, J. (2011). The impact of culture and religion on leadership and management training: a comparison of three continents. Journal of Management, 33, 29-36.