Leading internationally: What are the challenges?

by Dustin Flowers Friday, 17 December 2021

In today’s globalizing world, teams are becoming more and more culturally diverse in the working environment. Therefore, increased pressure is being put on leaders to foster collective relationships within these culturally diverse staff bodies. With that said, there are bound to be misunderstandings and miscommunications between different cultures.

Walker and Riordan (2010) discussed five key issues, in their article “Leading collective capacity in culturally diverse students”, namely:

1. Positioning,

2. Structuring,

3. Expectations,

4. Expression, and

5. Profiling.

Let’s take a closer look at these five sections mentioned by Walker and Riordan (2010), and expand upon them by looking at:

(1) What are their main ideas?

(2) Do I agree with them, or not?; and

(3) What challenges might there be?

Positioning:

According to Walker & Riordan (2010, p.53), ‘positioning’ is “how leaders position themselves within the cultural milieu of the school.” The main idea behind ‘positioning’ is that the leaders of a team composed of different cultures should position themselves accordingly, to allow others to be involved in the process, and their inputs/contributions valued.

With that said, I agree with leaders culturally positioning themselves, as Walker, Chen, & Qian (2008) states that these aspects impact peer-relations and the organization.

However, there is a potential challenge in that it is possible that a few of the collective are not able to examine their own culture, and how this could affect others. This would negatively affect the understanding and cooperation amongst the team.

Structuring:

According to Walker & Riordan (2010, p.54), ‘structuring’ is “how leaders structure schools’ and teachers’ work for collective capacity.” Collective capacity is the way in which people work together to enhance students' education and livelihood. Therefore, the main idea behind ‘structuring’ is the physical design of the school and the effects it has on teachers’ and students working together.

With that said, I agree that the physical structuring of schools and classrooms is important, as noted by Walker & Riordan (2010, p.56) that “the development of collective capacity among teachers in schools leads to improvements in teaching and learning and decision making in schools which in turn directly impact student learning outcomes.” To ensure this, leaders need to be clear in what is to be expected regarding behaviours from the staff.

However, the challenge here might be that not all staff members share the same values. Meaning that in some cultures staff value privacy, and prefer that their space is closed off from the inspection of others. Whereas, other cultures prefer a more collaborative working environment.

Expectations:

According to Walker & Riordan (2010, p.54), ‘expectation’ is “how leaders and teachers understand collective work within their own cultural and professional heritage.”

The main idea behind ‘expectations’ is the diverse understandingunderstandings of different features of the school from their objective to their function. These expectations have a big impact on how staff associate with coworkers and therefore their teamwork.

With that said, I do agree with the concept of ‘expectations’, and the part it plays in how colleagues relate and work together. Lustig & Koester (2006) state that this is particularly important in expectations with regards to classroom management.

However, once again, the challenge here is that the expectations can vary greatly. Therefore, how do leaders gain a better understanding? With the assistance of Lustig & Koester (2006) questions mentioned in their book titled “Inter-cultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures.” Questions such as “what motivates a teacher to work and collaboratecolloaborate with each other”, will help provide the leader with the necessary understanding needed to build successful relationships and construct collective action.

Expression:

According to Walker & Riordan (2010, p.54), ‘expression’ is “how leaders and teachers give expression to their cultural understanding and professional formation through their actions in the school.”

The main idea behind ‘expression’ is that different cultures have different ways of communicating that are appropriate to them.

With that said, I do agree with the concept of ‘expression’ and the role it plays in whether communication is seen as appropriate or inappropriate between cultures. As Walker & Riordan (2010, p.58) as cited in Brislin (1993, p.221) states that “expressiveness can include the amount of emotion that people communicate in their choice of words, the voice tones, the amount of body movement, the intensity with which they communicate disagreements with others, the amount of boasting or bragging they use when describing themselves to others.

This poses potential challenges in the workplace as misunderstandings could occur and therefore could make effective collective work challenging and unlikely to take place.

Profiling:

According to Walker & Riordan (2010, p.54), ‘profiling’ is “how leaders need to be aware of the dangers of stereotyping and essentializing culture to the exclusion of other important factors that shape collective work.”

The main idea behind ‘profiling’ is that an over reliance on explaining or justifying behaviour which could result in a gross misunderstanding between two colleagues.

With that in mind, it is therefore important for culturally diverse staff to try and understand, and respect all cultural differences. As Walker and Chen (2007, p. 60) states that diverse team members need to be “valued for more than just their cultural knowledge and connection and this must be made explicit. The challenge is that with things like ‘Tokenism’, it could cause more harm than good. This is what Walker & Riordan (2010, p. 60) as cited in Maboleka & Maddison (2003) discovered when “the token representation of minorities in schools can highlight their visibility and lead to their marginalisation.”

In conclusion, a leader’s duty should be to create a proficient relationship between workers from diverse cultural backgrounds with the intention to improve the collective capacity of the team and therefore improve the larger work environment.

References

Brislin, R. (1993). Understanding culture’s influence on behaviour. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace College

Lustig, M., & Koester, J. (2006). Inter-cultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures. Boston: Pearson Education.

Mabokela, R., & Madsen, J. (2003). Crossing Boundaries: African American Teachers in Suburban Schools. Comparative Education Review, 47(1), 90–111. https://doi.org/10.1086/345838

The Earth. (2021). [Photograph]. Twproject. https://images.app.goo.gl/JHAAVFHgpcb96sEd9

Walker, A., & Chen, S. (2007). Leader Authenticity in Intercultural School Contexts. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 35(2), 185–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143207075388

Walker, A., Chen, S., & Qian, H. (2008). “Leader development across three Chinese societies.” In International handbook of the preparation and development of school leaders, edited by. J. Lumby, G. Crow, and P. Pashiardis, 41034. New York: Routledge.

Walker, A. & Riordan, G. (2010) Leading collective capacity in culturally diverse schools.

School Leadership and Management, 30(1), 51-63.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13632430903509766