Cross-Cultural Leadership: Managing Diversity

Introduction

Globalization and developing technology have enabled the expansion of people's communication and movement areas. As a result of this expansion, the number of employees from different cultures within the organizations has increased and many more organizations have started to operate in different cultures. Thus, diversity has emerged. Diversity refers to the combination of many elements with different characteristics. In this context, cultural diversity is the coexistence of people from different cultures. Successful management of an organization with cultural diversity is only possible by taking the differences into account. The important thing is not to highlight the differences, but to create an organizational culture in which these differences will disappear. This can only be possible with successful leadership. Leadership is the process of directing individuals with different goals in line with organizational goals, motivating them by creating an environment where individuals can realize their abilities. But the necessary factors for successful leadership are not clear. Some variables such as the knowledge and skill level of the followers/employees, the power type of the leader and the conditions affect the success of the leader. There is no single type of leadership that can be successful in every situation. However, one of the most important variables affecting the success of 21st century leaders is diversity. Managing diversity is not easy, but leaders who can achieve it will increase the creativity and success of their organizations. Increasing diversity within the organization requires leaders to differentiate the processes they follow and the methods they apply. In fact, diversity within the organization may result from differences in language, religion, race, gender and culture. However, in this study, cultural diversity has been discussed.

Culture is the set of norms, values, customs and traditions shared by a group of people and reflected in human behavior. Behaviors of employees in an organization are also affected by national and organizational culture.

National culture is the culture into which an individual is born. It is learned from the family, friends and social institutions that the individual interacts with (Nahavandi, 2008, p. 34). Organizational culture, on the other hand, is the culture that the individual joins later and is influenced by the national culture. Individuals who grow up in a national culture reflect their cultural characteristics to their organization when they get into the business. Cross-cultural leadership is a type of leadership that can keep individuals from different cultures together, direct them to a common goal, and also enable them to reveal their individual talents. While national cultural values ​​and practices affect both organizational culture and practices and what leaders do; the leader also affects the organizational structure, culture and practices. Same way, organizational culture and practices also affect what leaders do (House et. al., 2020). Therefore, there is a close and cyclical relationship between national culture, leadership and organizational culture.