Leadership, Boundaries and Cultural Difference

I was at our all staff day in Birmingham this week and was truly inspired by the work of our international colleagues. We heard about how we run our programmes in different international settings, which while were definitely 'Common Purpose', were very much based in their local contexts.

In India we finished our Bangalore senior leaders programme, and one of the speakers was telling us how it was distinctly (and rightly) Indian in style, design, delivery and focus. This has sat with me and left me pensive for the past few days. It really had to be based in the local and national cultural context, it had to be Indian in all ways possible.

So why so much pondering about this? It led me to reflect on Core Day 2 on the theme of courage and leading across boundaries, in that when leading across boundaries, be they geographical or cultural, you need to place yourself in their context, and understand and navigate cultural difference.

While studying social anthropology at university we were challenged from the outset to leave our cultural preconceptions and worldview at the door, which isn't something that historically the discipline was particulary good at (or even considered it could be argued). We reflected, discussed and did our best to not view other people, spaces and cultures through our cultual lens, but to what extent did we ever really do that? Is it enough to be aware that you are doing this, and to bear it in mind?

As leaders how often do we reflect on our abilities to understand contexts and leave our cultural baggage behind? If we don't, can we ever be truly effective leaders across geographical and cultural boundaries?

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