Module 5
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Describe how you can prepare to be an ethical leader in a global environment.
Discuss the challenges of leading global teams and how you can respond to them as a
leader.
Identify ways that you can practice strategic leadership.
Introduction Notes
o Global Leadership
o How much does the local culture perceive what is right or wrong? (Ethical
relativism)
o Only one absolute ethical law everyone should follow (Ethical imperialism/moral
absolutism)
Reflection Journal #5
This week I learned about global, strategic, and adaptive leadership. In
the article Global Teams that Work by Tsedal Neeley, I learned about the S.P.L.I.T. framework and
how it will combat the challenges of social distance and team inefficiency. For structure it is crucial
to understand the perception of power amongst team members and mitigate any imbalance. 3
key messages leaders need to implicate is ‘Who we are’, ‘What we do’, and ‘I am there for you’.
It's important to unify diverse teams by enabling cultural sharing, fostering a common purpose,
and acknowledging individual contributions. Process relates to building “deliberate moments”
and empathy into a team dynamic i.e., gaining feedback to routine interactions, incorporating
unstructured time for team members to connect, and encouraging positive disagreement when
developing decisions. Language can be summarized with the Rules of Engagement: Dial down
dominance in fluent speakers, Dial up engagement in less fluent speakers, and balancing inclusion
for everyone. Identity involves mutual learning and teaching from everyone, and leaders need to
“set the example they want others to follow”. (Neeley, 2015) It is important for leaders to
understand when instant vs delayed communication is needed and to encourage prefer
communication technology. I believe that this framework will be helpful when working with any
type of team and I am grateful to have learned this method. Initiating ways to connect with team
members and working towards open communication and understanding will further improve
common team goals.
In the tedtalk, How Culture Drives Behavior, Bourrelle states some
statistics that I was pleasantly surprised by. He stated that executive boards composed of both
genders are 15% better, boards composed of varying cultures will perform 35% better, and they
experienced an increase in problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. I am fond of his concept
of Equality of Results. Not everyone may be given the same opportunities to grow, but the
suppressed groups of individuals are given opportunities to raise them up to be equal amongst
their peers who are already excelling. When these groups of now equal opportunity are joined
together, they create a diverse group who is more productive and collaborative. Leaders are then
having to lead these diverse groups and enable communication amongst them. Cultural
differences may cause some obstacles as people may not know the best way to effectively interact
with each other according to each other’s culture. Being willing to adapt and learn is important
in overcoming these obstacles and form authentic connections with those of differing cultures.
A strategic leadership style focuses on using six skills simultaneously:
anticipate, challenge, interpret, decide, align, and learn. Anticipate involves being more alert to
changing times and preparing for the future. Challenge is important because it fosters debate and
encourages diverse viewpoints, which can lead to superior solutions than just sticking with the
status quo. Interpret is important to be able to understand the details of issues and hidden
implications and make necessary adjustments. Decide is refers to leaders having courage about
their convictions and having a well-rounded, robust decision process. Align is important for
leaders to find common ground and make meaningful connections. Learn refers to the
importance of learning from your failures and seeking innovation. I believe that it will be
important for me to harness and excel at these aforementioned skills as they will be beneficial is
making meaning connections that foster efficiency and success.
Raise children to be self-sufficient in western control. Group prevails society – friendship prevails
Change cultural glasses
What is one key takeaway that resonates with you from Bourrelle's talk on culture that will
influence your practice of leadership?
I really like the concept of Equality of Results. Not everyone may have the same
opportunities to grow, but by giving opportunities to specific groups that are struggling in
certain situations, those struggling groups are able to take a step up and have a part equal to
their counterpart who was already exceling in that circumstance. This leads to increased
efficiency, problem-solving, innovation and collaboration among teams. Enforced diversity
Astro discussed the importance of creating a culture that embraces and rewards failure as a
means of learning and continuing to grow and innovate. This overlaps with what you read about
Strategic Leadership in Shoemaker et al.'s (2013) piece. What is one strategy that you can use to
embrace failure (instead of trying to run from it or hide it!)?
Creating a safe workplace environment where failure is recognized and eagerly sought after so that
you can gather more insights and further innovative improvements.
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We allow our Unchecked optimism to fuel our visions; harness enthusiastic skepticism.
Discovering a major flaw doesn’t always end the project, it can help the project.
Shifting perspective is more powerful than being smart, adapt current projects.
Being audacious and working on risky things makes people uncomfortable. To get people
to work on risky things is to make that the path of least resistance. Safe to fail