Greener Grass or Outlandish Alien? Thoughts on 'Leading Across Cultures'

"We should be considerate and cautious, as if approaching the precipice of a deep cliff; as if stepping onto melting ice."

ONCE I HAD a conversation with the leader of an organisation consisting of more than 300 staff from more than 20 nations. He was English and fluent in French, his deputy director was German, his CTO Dutch, and his secretary Hungarian. I asked him what the key was to being a transpersonal leader to such a diverse group. He said, 'Less self'.

Discussions on 'how to achieve less self' then became our ongoing hot topic, as if it were a magnet connecting us to with one another. Interestingly, we all imagine that 'the grass is always greener on the other side'; but when we change the subject from geography to ethnography, 'we' wilfully perceive that we ourselves are correct, while 'they' are wrong; 'we' are from this planet whilst 'they' are alien.

Maiqi has extensive experience working in a wide range of sectors including well known businesses, government departments, industry associations and social media.  Her focus has been on business development and management at all stages of the project life cycle. She is now dedicated to sharing knowledge in:

Our 4th white paper in the series on Transpersonal Leadership,  Leading Across Cultures; Developing Leaders for Global Organisations,   explores how different cultures value different leadership approaches and also attach different importance to business goals.