CULTURAL SENSITIVITY FOR GLOBAL LEADERS
Dr. Adalat Khan
July 28, 2007
CULTURAL SENSITIVITY FOR GLOBAL LEADERS
by
She was fuming with anger and deeply shocked as to why he did not shake her hand rather just said “Hello Maam”. I am referring to an incident in 19888 which happened in Karachi Pakistan during a function where many diplomats were invited. The lady who was angry was the wife an American diplomat while the person who avoided shaking her hand was a high court judge. The lady thought she was not treated with respect while the judge as customary in most Muslim culture out of respect avoided shaking her hand and thus verbally greeted her. I was sitting on the same table with this lady, her husband and some other people and she got further shock when I explained to her that in Pakistan and in fact many Muslim countries men are not supposed to shake hands with female who are not their close relatives. It was only then that she cooled down. This incident is just one example of how people of different cultures interact differently and it is extremely important for everyone to learn about other cultures. This is because everyone value their culture and expects others to respect it. By understanding and showing respect to other’s cultures we can win their support and cooperation. Cultural sensitivity- the ability to understand, relate to and respect the culture of other people is one of the key skills which a global leader must posses.
Culture means the set of beliefs, values and attitudes deeply held by people of one country, race or religion which set them apart from other people belonging to different countries, races, and religions. Culture deeply affects peoples values, beliefs and perceptions and make them different than that of others. This may lead to a lot of misunderstandings. For example a Westerner while talking to someone in the East who is looking down and not maintaining eyes contact with him may perceive that person to be some one telling lies. Contrarily the Easterner being looked directly into his eyes may find it rude or intimidating. To overcome these types of problems managers must develop cross cultural sensitivity-the ability to correctly understand, respect ad successfully deal with the people of other cultures. It should be emphasized here that cross cultural sensitivity is extremely important for a modern manager as trivial mistakes can lead to great losses and problems.
STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING CULTURAL SENSITIVITY AND COMPETENCY:
In order to be effective in cross-cultural environment a modern day transnational leader need to acquire cross cultural sensitivity and competence. The following are some of the points which should be taken into account to acquire this skill:
Take initiative to understand other cultures:
It is primarily the responsibility of a person visiting other places and regions where values differ to understand the culture, dos and don’ts of the people. Do not leave it to others to understand you. Rather what Steven R. Covey says “ Be the first to understand than understood” should be the principle embraced when dealing with people of other backgrounds.
Genuinely respect others:
Respecting others is the key to gain their support and cooperation. Great leaders who have left their mark on human history and remembered even today were true fans of other people. Giving undivided attention, listening, taking effort to understand others and giving importance are some of the signs of respect. It is said that anyone meeting Prophet Muhammad would receive his un-interrupted attention no matter what their position was.
Identify commonalities:
When meeting people of different cultures ask yourself what is common between you and those you are meeting with and if possible do highlight that to them. People feel very happy when others point out to them some of the common things. It could something as trivial as using the same brand of pen, wearing the same color of shirt, playing the same game or any other commonality and pointing it out to others communicate just one message “ We are the same and we can be friends”. So next time you meet any one search for commonalities and point out it to them and you will be amazed the warmth you will get from them.
Use of straight forward language:
We should always talk in simple, straight forward, and easy to understand language when talking to people who are not fluent in our language. It will also be very useful if we take the initiative and learn the language of those whom we are dealing with. I was once on a 10 day trip to Iran where our prospective business partner could not speak a word English. He was thrilled to note that I could communicate with him in Persian and that made things much easier. Taking language classes and acquiring other languages will be an asset. Chinese, Malay, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, and Spanish are some of the useful languages worth acquiring working knowledge of.
Avoid Criticism:
One of the quickest ways to make enemies of others is to criticize, or worse still ridicule their ways of doing things or beliefs. Religion, country, race, economic conditions etc. are some of the taboo topics which should be avoided in first encounters. You can only discuss these topics if you become very close to the other person.
Seek something good in others and avoid suspicions:
Suspicion is the sure killer of creating cultural and communication gulfs while searching for good in others helps in creating a good relationship. Positive as well as negative perception of others gets us the desired results. A term called self-fulfilling prophecy denotes that our hopes and fears become reality when we continuously hold to them. As such it is always good to trust people and give them a benefit of the doubt rather suspect them for the faults which they may not possess.
In the age of globalization every leader is bound to constantly interact with others and the cultural influences on these interactions play a dominant role. Cultural sensitivity is an awareness and honest respect about other peoples cultures. To deal with these differences effectively beyond cultural sensitivity leaders also need to take proactive measure of acquiring cultural competencies – i.e. the skills of dealing effectively with people of diverse backgrounds.
Dr. Adalat Khan is the president of Mina Resources Sdn Bhd a leading training organization providing training in Global Leadership Skills who can be reached at 012-5010033 e-mail mina@streamyx.com or visit the website: www.mina.edu.my
by
She was fuming with anger and deeply shocked as to why he did not shake her hand rather just said “Hello Maam”. I am referring to an incident in 19888 which happened in Karachi Pakistan during a function where many diplomats were invited. The lady who was angry was the wife an American diplomat while the person who avoided shaking her hand was a high court judge. The lady thought she was not treated with respect while the judge as customary in most Muslim culture out of respect avoided shaking her hand and thus verbally greeted her. I was sitting on the same table with this lady, her husband and some other people and she got further shock when I explained to her that in Pakistan and in fact many Muslim countries men are not supposed to shake hands with female who are not their close relatives. It was only then that she cooled down. This incident is just one example of how people of different cultures interact differently and it is extremely important for everyone to learn about other cultures. This is because everyone value their culture and expects others to respect it. By understanding and showing respect to other’s cultures we can win their support and cooperation. Cultural sensitivity- the ability to understand, relate to and respect the culture of other people is one of the key skills which a global leader must posses.
Culture means the set of beliefs, values and attitudes deeply held by people of one country, race or religion which set them apart from other people belonging to different countries, races, and religions. Culture deeply affects peoples values, beliefs and perceptions and make them different than that of others. This may lead to a lot of misunderstandings. For example a Westerner while talking to someone in the East who is looking down and not maintaining eyes contact with him may perceive that person to be some one telling lies. Contrarily the Easterner being looked directly into his eyes may find it rude or intimidating. To overcome these types of problems managers must develop cross cultural sensitivity-the ability to correctly understand, respect ad successfully deal with the people of other cultures. It should be emphasized here that cross cultural sensitivity is extremely important for a modern manager as trivial mistakes can lead to great losses and problems.
STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING CULTURAL SENSITIVITY AND COMPETENCY:
In order to be effective in cross-cultural environment a modern day transnational leader need to acquire cross cultural sensitivity and competence. The following are some of the points which should be taken into account to acquire this skill:
Take initiative to understand other cultures:
It is primarily the responsibility of a person visiting other places and regions where values differ to understand the culture, dos and don’ts of the people. Do not leave it to others to understand you. Rather what Steven R. Covey says “ Be the first to understand than understood” should be the principle embraced when dealing with people of other backgrounds.
Genuinely respect others:
Respecting others is the key to gain their support and cooperation. Great leaders who have left their mark on human history and remembered even today were true fans of other people. Giving undivided attention, listening, taking effort to understand others and giving importance are some of the signs of respect. It is said that anyone meeting Prophet Muhammad would receive his un-interrupted attention no matter what their position was.
Identify commonalities:
When meeting people of different cultures ask yourself what is common between you and those you are meeting with and if possible do highlight that to them. People feel very happy when others point out to them some of the common things. It could something as trivial as using the same brand of pen, wearing the same color of shirt, playing the same game or any other commonality and pointing it out to others communicate just one message “ We are the same and we can be friends”. So next time you meet any one search for commonalities and point out it to them and you will be amazed the warmth you will get from them.
Use of straight forward language:
We should always talk in simple, straight forward, and easy to understand language when talking to people who are not fluent in our language. It will also be very useful if we take the initiative and learn the language of those whom we are dealing with. I was once on a 10 day trip to Iran where our prospective business partner could not speak a word English. He was thrilled to note that I could communicate with him in Persian and that made things much easier. Taking language classes and acquiring other languages will be an asset. Chinese, Malay, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, and Spanish are some of the useful languages worth acquiring working knowledge of.
Avoid Criticism:
One of the quickest ways to make enemies of others is to criticize, or worse still ridicule their ways of doing things or beliefs. Religion, country, race, economic conditions etc. are some of the taboo topics which should be avoided in first encounters. You can only discuss these topics if you become very close to the other person.
Seek something good in others and avoid suspicions:
Suspicion is the sure killer of creating cultural and communication gulfs while searching for good in others helps in creating a good relationship. Positive as well as negative perception of others gets us the desired results. A term called self-fulfilling prophecy denotes that our hopes and fears become reality when we continuously hold to them. As such it is always good to trust people and give them a benefit of the doubt rather suspect them for the faults which they may not possess.
In the age of globalization every leader is bound to constantly interact with others and the cultural influences on these interactions play a dominant role. Cultural sensitivity is an awareness and honest respect about other peoples cultures. To deal with these differences effectively beyond cultural sensitivity leaders also need to take proactive measure of acquiring cultural competencies – i.e. the skills of dealing effectively with people of diverse backgrounds.
Dr. Adalat Khan is the president of Mina Resources Sdn Bhd a leading training organization providing training in Global Leadership Skills who can be reached at 012-5010033 e-mail mina@streamyx.com or visit the website: www.mina.edu.my
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