Leading in today's multicultural world

In the world of globalization with technologies such as Skype, easy access to other countries resources --leadership will need to take on a new form. Leaders will no longer be expected to lead a small group of people who are from the same social background as themselves, but to lead groups of people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.

Leadership--the process of social influence and the ability for a person to enlist the aid and support from others to achieve a set goal. Many of you who are reading this have done this is some form, through student groups and associations, at work, or even during class projects. Leadership is a great thing, but if you are an effective leader in one cultural domain does that automatically mean you are an effective leader in a different country?

It is my belief that you should build on your skills and knowledge. Sometimes as a leader we are always the ones who are formulating ideas, talking and making decisions. Sometimes it is just better if we temporarily set aside our leadership role when we are in a new environment (in my case a new country, China!) and listen and learn from others. You can learn a lot from others and the environment around you. Always ask questions and be curious about new techniques. It is okay to dig deeper to understand the reason why they are doing something in a certain way-- you will understand their viewpoint this way. At the same time there will be things that both cultures do the same. It's kind of like when you go out on your first date, you look for similarities and differences, "You love Bad Boys 2? Me too!". These commonalities will help each party with accepting new ideas and beliefs.

For those of you who are in school you don't need to travel to a new country to be able to do this. Universities such as Ryerson (disclosure: Ryerson alumnus '10), are a filled with students from many different cultures, next time you do a group project or work with a multicultural team, step back and embrace a new paradigm of leadership.

After you have been able to absorb new ideas, beliefs, and techniques--review, reflect, and compile what you have learned and apply  it as you lead a new cultural group. Once you can do this you will be able to embrace new cultural norms, and become a cross cultural leader.