Fundamentals of Level Three Leadership

39. Cultural Tolerance

Concept

Former CEO of Honeywell Aerospace, Bob Johnson, named “cultural tolerance” in his book on Developing Global Leaders.⁵ In today’s interconnected world where raw materials, refining, molding, assembly, advertising, sales, and service might all be done in different countries, the need for an executive to have cultural tolerance seems obvious. The willingness to adjust one’s own Level Three assumptions about how one travels, meets others, exchanges business cards, sits, speaks, eats, and dresses is essential for the modern executive.

Despite this, many business people hold deep biases for or against various parts of other cultures. In my experience, they tend to be more culturally tolerant, however, than political or ...