Leadership and Diversity

1. Leadership and Diversity Chapter 10

2. “Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.” Jesse Jackson

3. Rogers and Steinfatt • Culture – the total way of life of a people, composed of their learned and shared behavior patterns, values, norms, and material objects.

4. Culture • Communication patterns • Verbal and nonverbal • Formal organizations • Artifacts • Collective wisdom • Environment

5. Classifying Culture • Cultures change over time • Scholars disagree about how to categorize some nations • Not every member of a culture group will respond the same way • Political and cultural boundaries are not always identical • Westerners have developed most of the cultural categories and may have overlooked values that are important to non-Westerner societies

6. Covert and implicit Messages internalized Much nonverbal coding Reactions reserved Distinct ingroups and outgroups Strong interpersonal bonds Commitment high Time open and flexible Overt and explicit Messages plainly coded Details verbalized Reactions on the surface Flexible ingroups and outgroups Fragile interpersonal bonds Commitment low Time highly organized High Context-Low Context

7. Hofstede’s Five Value Dimensions • Power distance • Individualism-collectivism • Masculinity-femininity • Uncertainty avoidance • Long-term/short-term orientation

8. Low power distance Uncomfortable with differences in wealth, status, power and privilege Promote equal rights Emphasize interdependence High power distance Inequality natural Superiors are special and deserve special privileges Obligated to take care of subordinates Power Distance

9. Emphasizes needs and goals of individual Respond to material rewards Decisions made by individuals Leader provides autonomy and opportunities for growth Expect to be told of poor performance Emphasizes group identity Prefer team rewards Expect mutual loyalty between organizational leaders and followers New ideas come from the group Manage group behavior through group norms and social values Leaders nurture followers Prefer indirect criticism Individualism-Collectivism

10. Men are assertive, competitive, ambitious and dominant Members more motivated by material success “Live to work” Women are encouraged to serve Are better at interpersonal relationships Put greater emphasis on intuition “Work to live” Masculinity-Femininity

11. High View uncertainty as a threat Less tolerant Believe in written rules Seek security Give more weight to age and seniority when selecting leaders Managers seem unapproachable Are more loyal Low Accept uncertainty as a fact of life Experience less stress Take more risks Less concerned about rules More likely to trust their own judgment Emphasize interpersonal relationships Uncertainty Avoidance

12. Encourage norms and behaviors that lead to future rewards Sacrifice immediate gratification for long term benefits Feelings of shame come from violation of social contracts and commitments Status relationships clearly defined Respect tradition Expect quick results Put much less importance on persistence Spend freely and have lower savings rates Under greater pressure to demonstrate immediate progress Long-Term/Short-Term Orientation

13. Cultural Synergy • Refers to the production of an end product that is greater than the sum of its parts • Leaders draw on the diversity of a group to get a better solution/product • Synergistic problem solving • Identify the dilemma • Try to determine why members act as they do • Try to determine how each culture’s differences contribute • Implementation of a solution that has considered all cultures involved

14. Benefits of Diversity • Cost savings • Resource acquisition and utilization • Keeping and gaining market share • Better decision making • Greater innovation

15. Obstacles to Diversity • Individual level • Prejudice • Discrimination • stereotyping • Group level • Ethnocentrism • Institutional level

16. The Center for Creative Leadership • GOLD – Guidelines on Leadership Diversity • The GOLD Project • Accountability • Internal advocacy groups • Administrative practices • Development • Diversity training programs • Development programs • Recruitment

17. Creating an Enabling Organizational Context • Become personally involved in diversity issues • Build partnerships to ensure long-term success of diversity efforts • Understand that diversity initiatives will both maintain and change corporate culture

18. Ensuring Opportunity • Monitor the distribution of and pathways to opportunity • Spotlight the threshold between upper-middle management and executive level positions

19. Ensuring the Development Takes Place • Facilitate the formation of developmental relationships • Directly address attitudes that create low expectations for minority performance

20. Thomas and Gabarro’s Lessons for Aspiring Minority Leaders • Choose work and an organization that suit your personality • Choose high quality experiences over fast advancement • Build a network of developmental relationships • The organization matters • Take charge of your own career • Race matters, but it alone does not determine your fate • Make sure it is worth the price

21. The Gender Leadership Gap • Very few women in top management or government positions • Difference in male and female leadership?

22. Creating the Gap • Women need mentors • Gender stereotyping • Gender expectations communicated from the moment we are born • Leadership a male domain • Women enter service professions because of their nurturing role

23. Narrowing the Gap • Aggressive recruitment • Greater accountability for developing females leaders • Formation of advocacy groups • Mentorship • Executive development programs

24. Men Apologies-reluctant to do More critical – get straight to the point View saying thank you puts them in a subordinate position Are socialized to express their preferences through open challenge and criticism Women Apologies-to express understanding Soften criticism by interjecting positive comments Express gratitude and will say thank you as a way to end the conversation Discouraged from ritual fighting Differences in Communication

25. Men Associate giving compliments with low status and are less likely to respond in kind Perceive complaints and problems as something to be fixed Women Are more willing to risk lessening their position of control by recognizing other’s strengths and complimenting them Rapport is strengthened by sharing problems and feelings Differences in Communication

26. Men Humor is teasing and hostile Encouraged to tell their accomplishments Are more likely to behave in an authoritarian manner Women Humor is self-deprecating Discouraged from publicly telling their accomplishments Try to create feelings of equality Differences in Communication

27. Common Dysfunctional Communication Patterns • Excluding women from the decision-making process • Dismissing their contributions by interrupting, talking over, or ignoring ideas expressed • Retaliation based on male fear of female competence • Patronizing responses such as treating female participation as unimportant or as an after-thought