Diversity leadership is the process by which leaders influence and empower their workers by recognizing, understanding and adjusting to diversity in all its forms (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015). It enables people to interact respectfully in the workplace ad for decisions to be made amidst the differences and similarities that occur between groups in the workplace (Lepsinger, 2018) . Managing a diverse workforce requires a leader must recognize the cultural influences that affect people’s behaviors and perspectives in order to guide them in a direction that increases productivity and respect (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015). Therefore, a diversity conscious leader must distinguish between assimilation and inclusion. Assimilation requires that diverse groups give up their unique cultural differences and adopt a common workplace culture while inclusion allows people to accept each other’s differences and capitalize them for optimal production.
Diversity conscious leaders are flexible thinkers that are required to shift their management styles when it is required. For instance, in western cultures, democratic leadership is preferred while in eastern ones authoritative styles are more effective. These leaders are also competent in cross-cultural interactions which have equipped them with the knowledge to assess situations without predicting actions based on what they would do (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015). Although it is not easy to acquire, anyone can become a diversity conscious leader by allowing themselves to be exposed to different cultures and observing without bias how different people react to different circumstances (Lepsinger, 2018) . This information can then be applied in the workplace to manage diverse employees and make them feel respected and included in key activities.
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A diversity conscious leader is crucial for organizational success because today’s workplace is filled with diverse groups of people in terms of age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Globalization has also led to the expansion of the workplace and companies that are expanding oversees find themselves interacting with workers from different backgrounds. Immigration has also increased diversity in most parts of the world as there are barely any places left where only one cultural group is found (Lepsinger, 2018). Therefore, a diversity conscious leader can help mitigate differences between groups in the organization to ensure a culture of mutual respect and acceptance that is required for these groups to work together (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015) . This helps to foster innovation as people with different perspectives are allowed to voice their opinions, challenge each other, and create productive teams and opportunities (Lepsinger, 2018). Diversity consciousness also helps organizations to succeed because the markets they are selling to are probably as diverse as the workforce and it takes a diversity conscious leader to be able to channel this variance of ideas and preferences into productivity and profit (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015) . For instance, a leader whose organization sells beauty products in a multicultural city will recognize the need to use his or her diverse workforce to produce specialized products that suit each group.
Cross-cultural communication is a process where messages from one culture must be understood and interpreted in another culture. These messages can be in form of language, symbols, gestures, beliefs, and customs (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015). Cross-cultural communication considers how people from different cultural backgrounds communicate in different and similar ways among themselves and across cultural groups. One of the best instances of cross-cultural miscommunications in recent times have been where big brands like Prada and Gucci have been caught up in blackface scandals for making products that derogatively represent African Americans. This is caused by the failure to recognize that certain symbols mean differently in other cultures.
Leaders must communicate inclusively in today’s multicultural world because it is impossible to avoid interacting with people from different cultures. Such leaders are able to avoid problems that are caused by miscommunications among employees and between the business and its market (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015). Today, many companies are opening branches in foreign countries and they need to know how to communicate inclusively with people there so as to penetrate these new markets. For instance, inclusive communication with staff in communities that do not eat certain kinds of meat such as pork would help a fast food chain in such places provide appropriate products that will sell in the new market. When a leader knows how to communicate across cultures, they are able to recognize ways that other people understand certain symbols differently and thus use them appropriately.
Cross-cultural communication allows leaders to understand the needs of their workers and their target market. It helps to solve problems in the workplace and foster good customer relations within the organization (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015). It reduces cases of discrimination and its consequences such as law suits and damaging the company’s corporate image. With the case of products that represent blackface given above, these cases show a lack of diversity and cross cultural communication in these companies because if they existed, someone would have pointed out the inappropriateness of these products.
Cultural intelligence is the ability of an outsider to interpret unfamiliar gestures the way people in the originating cultural group would. It requires ignoring one’s preconceived biases and viewing a situation from the other culture’s point of view. Cultural intelligence may seem natural but it is always learned because people are wired to view life through their own cultural filters and being able to give this up can be difficult (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). One also has to be aware of their own preconceived biases so that they can avoid them (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015). It requires one to have a degree of emotional intelligence, patience, and to be objectively attentive to other people’s reactions. A person with emotional intelligence understands what generally defines humans and what makes us similar or different from each other (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). However, CQ is a level higher as it requires one to decipher which behaviors are common to all humans and of those that are not which ones are influenced by the person’s membership to a certain group or their unique personal traits. For instance, on encountering an aggressive Russian in the workplace, CQ requires one to determine whether this aggressiveness is part of the Russian culture or the person’s character.
Cultural intelligence is a crucial element of effective leadership in any organization that has a diverse workforce because it helps leaders to communicate effectively with their employees. This is achieved by understanding which behaviors are caused by cultural values and thus finding a respectful way to address them. CQ can mean the difference between creating problems and solving them (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004) . In Eastern cultures, small talk is usually part of business meeting, while in the West, people go straight to business. Understanding this can help a leader dealing with different cultures understand how best to plan activities and approach them in the most productive manner. CQ can also help to build a rapport and subsequently a good relationship with a new team that either has diverse members or is found in a new cultural setting. Adjusting to meet the needs of the new team becomes easy, and thus increases the chances of success.
Cultural differences are an important issue in today’s global workplace because diversity is a reality. It is undeniable that people are seeking for job opportunities all over the world and thus most organizations will have some form of diversity. Even in places with little ethnic and racial diversity, there are employees of different ages and the female workforce has penetrated nearly every sector so cultural differences still persist (Bucher, R. & Bucher, P., 2015). Furthermore, globalization has led to a movement of global expansion of businesses where these companies employ locals where they move and have to serve people whose culture is different from their home country. Technological advancement and the spread of the internet has also seen many companies operate remotely all over the world to provide services to people they cannot even see. For instances, companies such as Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix have a global market, yet they operate online and have to be culturally conscious to thrive in foreign markets. Ultimately, to thrive in thee diverse settings, companies need to embrace inclusiveness.
Temperaments are traits that are innate and thus form a fundamental part of who we are. They are unique to a person and they cannot be changes. In contrast, attitudes are informed by our cultural values and they also form a fundamental part of who we are. In essence, a temperament is nature while attitude is nurture. We learn our attitudes from our environment. For instance a person may be irritable and intolerant and while the former is a part of them they inherited from either parent, intolerance is learned based on the values that a culture has. For instance, many white people are intolerant of other races because their cultural values portray them as superior to other races.
This is crucial for those in leadership roles because these culturally learned values is that they can be changed when a person is culturally sensitive and allow themselves to see life from other people’s perspective. For instance, although many white people are intolerant of other racial groups, when they live in diverse communities and develop relationships with such people, they learn to consider the alternative viewpoint. Consequently, a tolerant white person will not see all African Americans as lazy or criminals, but will recognize the social inequalities that cause high prevalence of crime and poverty in their societies. Therefore, leaders should try to be culturally conscious so that they can reduce their unconscious biases and thus understand the perspectives of the diverse groups working under them.
Diversity awareness and my consciousness of global perspectives have evolved during this course by drawing my attention to my own biases when it comes to dealing with people from other cultures. There are stereotypes that I had attached to certain cultural groups because I had learned them from others in my own culture and this course has taught me the value of understanding the background story behind these groups. I have also learned the importance of accepting other people as they want to be viewed and communicating with them in ways that show respect for their unique cultural backgrounds.
This course has challenged my cultural encapsulation by teaching me that as the world evolves people who seem different from us because of features such as their skin color and countries of origin may have much more in common with us because of our shared experiences. For instance, a Chinese or Latino who has grown up in my neighborhood has more in common with me than with their relatives in their home countries. I have also learned that a person can have different cultural experiences that cumulatively inform their identity. For instance, a person can be Africa and American at the same time and one does not have to be defined by one thing. I will definitely regard people around me differently because who they are has more to do with the experiences they are exposed to than their outward appearance.
References
Bucher, R. D., & Bucher, P. L. (2015). Diversity Consciousness: Opening our minds to people, cultures, and opportunities (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Early, C. P., & Mosakowski, E. (2004). Cultural intelligence. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2004/10/cultural-intelligencehttps://hbr.org/2004/10/cultural-intelligence
Lepsinger, R. (2018, August 23). The Importance of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.onpointconsultingllc.com/blog/diversity-in-the-workplace
