Career Development All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 4

Leading across Cultures

IN THIS CHAPTER

Promoting internal cultural diversity

Developing international, cross-cultural leadership

Leading in the virtual age

Inclusion is a big part of what leadership has become and is about. A smart leader wants to put together the best possible team, but the definition of best has changed over the years. Winning is still the ultimate goal. However, smarter people have begun to question what the idea of winning really means. In this chapter, you look at ways to become a leader of a wider, more inclusive group of people.

Leading in a Diverse World

Not by right, but by statistical preponderance, a leader is still more than likely a white male — and in many enterprises, a middle-aged white male who has spent a good portion of his career leading other white males. When women talk about “glass ceilings” and minorities talk about invisible barriers, at least part of what they’re talking about is the fact that the biggest determinant in being given a leadership position is often time in grade. People are promoted from below in most organizations, and women and minorities may not yet have large enough numbers in the white-collar work force to ...