This document discusses challenges that leaders may face when managing culturally diverse teams and provides strategies for effective leadership. It summarizes research comparing leadership approaches and values in Anglo, Chinese, and Arab cultures. Key differences are noted, such as a preference for debate in Anglo cultures versus emphasis on relationships and cohesion in China. When leading multicultural teams, the document recommends establishing a shared identity, allowing more time for trust-building, developing cultural intelligence, and expecting coordination failures given differences in perspectives. The overall message is that diverse teams require flexible, self-aware leadership that is open to feedback.

2. What if leaders fail to navigate
cultural complexities?
Managing a diverse team
effectively
Randall S. Peterson
Professor of Organisational
Behaviour

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Work done in collaboration with:
Dr. Kristin M. Behfar, Darden School of Business,
University of Virginia
Karim Ginena, Ph.D. Student, Darden
School of Business, University of Virginia

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We want to better understand certain cultural
differences in order to give better advice to
managers in how to lead teams:
1) Work groups are assembled to share individual
expertise and opinion, but this creates task conflict
(i.e., task debate, different views about how to
achieve the work, etc.). How to deal with this
problem is likely to depend on national and regional
culture.
2) How should groups deal with diversity of culture?
What makes sense in one culture is not interpreted
the same across national cultures.

5. To an Anglo manager, this is a leader who is ahead of the crowd;
To a Japanese manager, this is a cohesive team working together who happen
to be behind a single individual;
To a Singaporean manager, this is not about leadership. This is kiasu and the
one in front wants to make certain that the others don’t get ahead of him; he
is being selfish and possibly holding the team back;
To an Indian manager we can think about shipping a box of crabs without a
cover…
(i.e., the team may be preparing to pull the colourful one back).
5

6. General Principles of Effective Team Leadership
(and the cultural principles that threaten them)
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1) Trust between team leader and members is critically important (However, the
core of trust is different by culture and individual [e.g., masculine versus
feminine]; trust can be alternatively about benevolence, behavioural integrity,
and/or competence).
2) Information exchange is central to the success of teams (However,
information exchange typically happens when people disagree about the
content of a decision [i.e., task conflict], which is seen as threatening to the
longer-term relationship building process in collectivist cultures).
3) Successful teams take on board information that those from outside of the
team are telling them about their work (However, critical feedback is
perceived as insulting in some cultures where face or honour are strong
cultural values).
4) Successful teams establish clear goals and group process before decisions
about content are made (However, in some cultures [i.e., high power
distance] leaders are expected to provide direction, while in others all team
members expect to participate in this process).

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FIGURE 1: Double-Edged Sword Model of Diversity
Group
Diversity
Social Categorization:
Ineffective Group
Processes
Informational Benefits:
Access to Diverse
Information
Group
Performance
-
+
Surface Level
Diversity
Deep Level
Diversity+
+
+
+

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As a team leader:
1) How do different cultures deal with these
challenges? For example, how to collectivist
cultures deal with the need to debate issues
when this process is seen as disruptive and
dangerous?
2) As the leader of a multi-national team, how do I
achieve these imperatives…and at the same time
respect team members and bring out their best
performance?

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In depth interviews with 25+ people in four
regions/countries:
1) Who are managing teams
2) Who have not worked outside of the country
3) In their native language (Mandarin, Arabic,
English)

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Anglo English-speaking Countries:
Hofstede (1984): High individualism, low power
distance, low uncertainty avoidance, relatively short
term perspective.

11. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
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1) Power Distance: Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions
(like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.
2) Individualism vs. Collectivism: The degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. In individualistic
societies, the stress is put on personal achievements and individual rights. In collectivist societies individuals act
predominantly as members of a lifelong and cohesive group or organization.
3) Uncertainty Avoidance: A society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. It reflects the extent to which members
of a society attempt to cope with anxiety by minimizing uncertainty. People in cultures with high uncertainty
avoidance tend to be more emotional.
4) Masculinity vs. Femininity: The distribution of emotional roles between the genders. Masculine cultures' values are
competitiveness, assertiveness, materialism, ambition and power, whereas feminine cultures place more value on
relationships and quality of life.
5) Long-term Orientation vs. Short-term Orientation: First called "Confucian dynamism", it describes societies‘ time
horizon. Long-term oriented societies attach more importance to the future. In short term oriented societies,
values promoted are related to the past and the present.

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Anglo English-speaking Countries:
Hofstede (1984): High individualism, low power
distance, low uncertainty avoidance, relatively short
term perspective.
Personal values most highly cherished: Family,
achievement orientation, honesty, responsibility.
Group Leadership Metaphor:
Mechanical.

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China:
Hofstede (1984): Low individualism, high power
distance, low uncertainty avoidance, long term
perspective.
Personal values most highly cherished: Family,
success, Guanxi (personal connections), personal
sacrifice for greater good.
Group Leadership Metaphor:
Flock/herd of animals.

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Arab Countries:
Hofstede (1984): Low individualism, high power
distance, high uncertainty avoidance, high
masculinity.
Personal values most highly cherished: Extended
family, community charity, honour, religion in
everyday life (i.e., impact of Islam), fatalism.
Group Leadership Metaphor:
Human body.

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A Few Examples of Implications:
1) When leading a team in China, a team leader
needs to emphasise the potential benefits of
idea exchange/task conflict versus in an
Anglophone team where the leader should
emphasise the benefits of relationships over time
(i.e., cohesion).

16. Implic
ations
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A Few Examples of Implications:
2) When leading a team in an Arab country,
motivation and context is always central because
team member replacement is not generally an
option and the honour culture means direct
confrontation is difficult as well.

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A Few Examples of Implications:
3) When leading a multi-cultural team of people
from all three of these regions and beyond,
these teams have the potential to bring the best
of all worlds…..but also the potential to spiral
downwards in a cycle of cultural
misunderstanding and poor performance.

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Leading the Multi-Cultural Team:
1) Shared team values/identity is critical for success. To build trust you need to share
something (i.e., teams from one nation share national values and identity).
2) Start further back to get further ahead (i.e., diverse teams take more time, but have the
potential to bring greater returns in the longer run; success needs to be very carefully
defined, including both affective and economic outcomes).
3) Cultural Intelligence (CQ) among teammates is essential (thankfully much of it can be
learned). The one thing that is hard to learn is CQ-Drive: a person's interest, motivation,
and confidence in functioning effectively in culturally diverse settings.

19. Cultural Intelligence: Three Parts
The Head, the Heart, and the Body
Thinking/Cognitive
“Do I understand what is happening and can I figure
out how to learn about new cultures?”
Energizing/Motivational
“Am I motivated to act?”
Acting/Behaving
“Can I respond appropriately and effectively?”
19

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Leading the Multi-Cultural Team:
1) Shared team values/identity is critical for success. To build trust you need to share
something (i.e., teams from one nation share national values and identity).
2) Start further back to get further ahead (i.e., diverse teams take more time, but have the
potential to bring greater returns in the longer run; success needs to be very carefully
defined, including both affective and economic outcomes).
3) Cultural Intelligence (CQ) among teammates is essential (thankfully much of it can be
learned). The one thing that is hard to learn is CQ-Drive: a person's interest, motivation,
and confidence in functioning effectively in culturally diverse settings.
4) Coordination failure (i.e., problems integrating a team’s informational resources that arise
from unanticipated differences in perspective) is normal in diverse, multi-national teams.
All team members, but especially leaders, need to expect this and avoid attributions of
blame for failure.
5) Team leaders need to be very self-aware and open to feedback.
The one sure thing about diverse multi-national teams is
that they ALWAYS surprise you – just when you think you
have hang of it, something happens.

21. THANK YOU
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Questions?