{"id":2845,"date":"2014-10-24T23:44:09","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T23:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=2845"},"modified":"2014-10-24T23:44:09","modified_gmt":"2014-10-24T23:44:09","slug":"raising-effective-global-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/raising-effective-global-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Raising Effective Global Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is my first read of any of Manfred Kets De Vries 20 some books. I braced myself for another economic or psychological intense reading on the same level as Taylor or Polyani, but I was pleasantly surprised as I began The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise.<\/em> My interest was aroused at page xx in the preface as he stated, \u201cI\u2019m interested in the chemistry of one person with another, especially in the ways that leaders affect the lives of those working (and living) with them.\u201d I highlighted that statement and continued reading. The next statement I highlighted, only a few sentences later, made me a fan of this odd named Dutch, Manfred. He stated, \u201cAlthough the comments and conclusions contained herein are based on a large body of research on leadership, it\u2019s not my intention to write a highly theoretical book.\u201d[1]<\/a> Alrighty then! Let the theoretical learning and practical application commence.<\/p>\n

I knew the amount of time that I would be able to devote to my new found friend would be limited so as I perused the book I chose only a few chapters to fully digest. With my attention for my dissertation being dedicated to cultural intelligence I gravitated to Chapter 9 entitled \u201cLeadership in a global context.\u201d Though Manfred\u2019s wheel of culture differed slightly from other cultural values listed by the GLOBE study or that of Geert Hofstede or David Livermore, his understanding that a nation\u2019s character, including leadership issues, social and organizational practices, all have to deal with culture.[2]<\/a> Though this statement seems painfully obvious it is not to many. In my research of cultural intelligence thus far I have come across multiple examples of \u201cculture ignorance.\u201d The conclusion as to why companies or business people from another nation act a specific way is answered more with egocentric callousness, scoffing at the ignorance of the foreigner. Yes, ethnocentrism abounds, especially in America where our size and strength creates a privilege of \u201csplendid isolation.\u201d[3]<\/a> Our domestic myopic condition is exacerbated by the our ability to be self sustained.<\/p>\n

To overcome our myopic condition Manfred notes that global leadership is developed often through acquiring the five T\u2019s: tradition, travel, training, transfers, and team learning.[4]<\/a> But there are hurdles that need to be cleared to gain all the needed five \u201cT\u2019s.\u201d Hurdles such as family influences, education, work experience, and corporate culture, all must be cleared in order to develop into a successful global leader. Though Manfred does not use the defined term \u201ccultural intelligence,\u201d he certainly is referring to the development of one\u2019s cultural capability through the obtaining of the five T\u2019s. Through the overcoming of the hurdles throughout one\u2019s life and career one can become an effective global leader. I would say that an effective global leader has developed a high cultural intelligence quotient by the overcoming of the same hurdles that Manfred listed.<\/p>\n

One of the interesting connections that I made through Manfred was that one\u2019s cultural intelligence is greatly affected based upon the development that each individual had as a child. It is widely understood that a child’s development in the early stages is crucial to the success that they will have in their later life endeavors. Though I have studied much of cultural intelligence it never struck me to investigate and compare the cultural intelligence of one individual versus another individual solely on the basis of their childhood development. As Manfred states \u201cXenophobia and ethnocentricity are culturally contingent for the most part; they\u2019re spawned by the kind of socialization a child experiences.\u201d[5]<\/a> That particular childhood socialization can be overcome and leveraged as a leader grows.<\/p>\n

A question then comes to me personally. Thinking of my four kids, have I been providing those \u201cpositive internal images that act as stabilizers in an often bewildering world?\u201d[6]<\/a> We all want our kids to be healthy, well balanced, mature, Godly, caring, and now I must add, culturally intelligent, in order that they may become an effective global leader. I don\u2019t want their first hurdle to be their family influences that has created xenophobia or ethnocentricity in their outlook. So I pose the question to each of you \u2013 how has your family influenced your cultural intelligence? And if you have kids, how are you helping them through their development process to be that effective global leader?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Kets De Vries, The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enteprise<\/em>, 2d. ed. (Great Britain: Prentice Hall Financial times, 2006), xxi.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 175.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 174.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> I found it interesting that there is one of the five T\u2019s that stands out as the one most often given by effective global leaders when asked how their global leadership skills were developed, that \u201cT\u201d being travel. Manfred states, \u201cliving and working in a foreign country is typically the single most influential development experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Kets De Vries, The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise<\/em>, 189.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is my first read of any of Manfred Kets De Vries 20 some books. I braced myself for another economic or psychological intense reading on the same level as Taylor or Polyani, but I was pleasantly surprised as I began The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise. My interest was aroused at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[536],"class_list":["post-2845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-kets-de-vries","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2846,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845\/revisions\/2846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}