I’ve been lucky enough to witness and participate in leadership initiatives in two countries very different from my own. Cross-cultural leadership involves skills that we don’t always think about, but like anything, they can be learned and practiced. With the increasing interconnectedness of today’s world, they’re useful skills to hone.

Differences in Communication and Scheduling

I took a course on Cross-Cultural Leadership in university. One lesson I still remember was on frameworks of cultural difference. We learned that some cultures are low context: they communicate explicitly, in detail. Others are high context, expecting unsaid information to be inferred.

One of the writing retreat attendees illustrated this in a story about visiting Japan. Her husband was a professor invited to speak at a conference, and he’d been scheduled to speak first. The organizer mentioned that another speaker was very, very important, expecting the other professor to offer his spot in the schedule to that speaker, but not saying so.

Another area that differs is perception of time. Some cultures are very punctual, adhering to schedules; others view time more flexibly, and punctuality may even be a faux pas. In Kenya, time is perceived more fluidly than it is here in the U.K., a norm rooted in the changeable weather and some cultures’ nomadic, season-based traditions.

When would we meet to do the day’s activities? 10 a.m., more or less. When rain pushed back our safari for two days in a row, no big problem; we did something else and waited. When your actions depend on the presence or absence of rain, you have to be flexible.

Sharing Expertise While Listening

Some leaders and experts find themselves in a position of sharing their expertise abroad. This can be insightful for everyone: locals learn something new, and the visiting expert experiences a new place and culture. If you find yourself traveling and sharing in this way, embrace the opportunity! It can be rewarding, even if challenging in some respects.

It also requires social sensitivity. As you navigate a culture different from your own, be mindful of different perspectives, norms and needs. And if you’re leading people from a different culture, listen first. You may be there to help and teach, to share what you know, but you aren’t there to impose.

Local context matters, and no matter how much research you may have done, you don’t have the same nuanced understanding of this as people who have lived and experienced it every day. Be attentive, open, and let yourself be led.

The same goes if you’re working with an international team: be attentive and listen. Educate yourself about the cultures of the individuals you work with, and show respect and understanding.

Local Leadership and Cultural Change

That’s what my fellow students and I did when we drafted a framework for Sherubtse College’s leadership course. We brought our experience of studying in a leadership program, so we had a sense of what this kind of program could involve and the outcomes it might deliver. But first, we listened to the local leaders to learn what they had in mind, what they wanted, and the challenges they faced.

This was 2008 and the fourth king of Bhutan had done something unique: he’d voluntarily abdicated in favor of putting a democratic government in place. His son became the king in title but did not wield the same political power.

This went against the wishes of most citizens, who loved their king and would have appreciated having the system continue. There was good reason for this: the king had created the popular policy of Gross National Happiness, measuring wellbeing rather than finances to assess the health of the nation. Bhutan’s citizens hadn’t experienced a federal election and had to be taught how it worked. It was a new skill to learn, with inevitable growing pains and bumps along the road.

Our project leader had this context in mind when creating a leadership course for her students. She wanted to educate students, especially women, in thinking critically and taking initiative. We Canadians crafted a course framework in response, but it involved local input, and the final say rested with the project leader.

She wanted to use her leadership position to create healthy, respectful cultural change. So does the Maasai leader I met in Kenya this spring, 16 years later, far across the world. He teaches visitors about his culture and shares traditional knowledge and skills with his community. At the same time, he creates infrastructure that moves it forward. His wife is a leader, too: she teaches local women sewing and beadwork and runs businesses selling their creations. Both of these individuals’ efforts are changing their community for the better.

What's Next

Across Kenya and Bhutan, the leaders I met reached out to knowledgeable individuals from other parts of the world to bring in expertise and ideas, while ensuring that their initiatives were locally rooted and supported.

Leadership involves envisioning and moving into the future. Working cross-culturally involves sensitivity and respect. Cross-cultural leadership lies at the intersection of both.

To develop your own cross-cultural leadership skills, take a look at our articles Avoiding Cross-Cultural Faux Pas and Managing a Geographically Dispersed Team. If you’re managing a team that’s about to work across cultures or countries, try leading the team in our activity International Teams: A Case Study.

Tip of the Week

Finding Flow

By Matthew Hughes, Mind Tools Senior Editor

You know flow?

That feeling when you’re so absorbed in doing something that you lose track of time. It feels good, right?

Unfortunately, it often seems out of our control, and when you really want to be in flow, it's frustratingly elusive.

So is there a way to replicate it?

In the 90s, psychologist Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi came up with his influential flow model. It describes the relationship between the challenge of a task and the perceived level of skill we’re facing it with.

For example, if something is not very challenging and easily within our skill level, according to the model this leads to boredom. If something is very challenging and outside our skill level, this leads to worry or anxiety.

But, if challenge and perceived skill level are both high, then we get into flow. Getting the balance right is the trick.

Csíkszentmihályi also stresses the need for good goals (giving you purpose and direction) and feedback (so you know you’re doing the right thing).

Flow is not easy to replicate. But the flow model gives us a better chance of finding that state where we’re doing our best work.

Pain Points Podcast

This week’s podcast is all about something many of us dread... writing reports.

Planning, researching, editing, publishing – there's a lot to get your head around when it comes to creating a good report. Fortunately, Mind Tools' very own team of researchers are on hand to share their tips and tricks in this week’s Pain Points, available exclusively to Mind Tools members.

And when you’ve listened to the podcast, why not explore some of the linked resources in your Mind Tools toolkit? Thanks to some big improvements to our playlists feature, it's easier than ever to see your progress, and to choose where to go next with your learning.

Check out the new-look playlist functions today!

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News Roundup

This Week's Global Workplace Insights

Are Meetings About to Change Forever?

What if you could let artificial intelligence go to a meeting for you? A new piece on the BBC talks up the promise of AI improving our online meetings.

Talking to the BBC, Husayn Kassai, head of a London-based AI start-up, paints a picture of a future where AI shapes and (depending on your point of view) improves our meetings: it can sum up key information, suggest talking points, and report on the meeting for you so you don’t even have to go.

He also suggests AI could monitor participant input. Says Kassai, “The AI could say things like ‘speaker three, you only spoke 2 percent of the time and next time you need to speak 20 percent of the time’.”

However you feel about this, it looks like online meetings are about to change forever.

Which Country Has the Best Work-Life Balance?

Employment platform Remote has conducted its second annual work-life balance index – and the results are in.

Here are the top three positions for work-life balance:

1. New Zealand.
2. Ireland.
3. Denmark and Belgium (joint).

The index measures several factors including annual leave allowance, sick pay, maternity arrangements, and average hours worked.

Ireland shot up the rankings due to its recent introduction of statutory sick pay, but New Zealand, with its 32 days leave and high minimum wage, sealed the top spot. Meanwhile the US came in 55th place, ahead of Turkey and just behind Bangladesh.

If you don’t happen to live in one of those countries and want to improve your work-life balance, don’t worry! See our article How to Find the Right Work-Life Balance for tips and advice.

See you next week for more member-exclusive content and insight from the Mind Tools team!