The best managers manage their people to success. As the world changes managers are having to extract exceptional performance from a varied pool of employees.
It's a valuable manager indeed who is able to work across the cultural divide. Having an ability to get the best performamce from employees, often spread across the globe, is a quality a new breed of intercultural managers have in abundance.
International; intercultural; multicultural and diverse are all terms that help us understand the new ways of a modern world and few large businesses are insulated from needing to embrace this new 'technology'.
Every well known worldwide business has a global reach today, both to create new markets, as well as sourcing opportunities.
In a nutshell all companies must understand intercultural communication requirements.
Intercultural Management - The Basic Issues
In today's world of cut-throat competition, companies are realizing that to attain an advantage and for overall growth and diversification, intercultural management skills have become crucial.
The term "intercultural management skills" is loosely defined as the ability of a manager to deal and communicate with people from different cultures.
Just imagine the incredible importance of communication across the void of different cultures and the value it can unlock.
Where you have a multinational organization, intercultural communication is necessary for business development in many ways.
Where a manager is able to inform, communicate (and this means 'two-way' of course!) and value the local population, business will grow and flourish.
That being said, one true talent is making the most of relevant skills and capabilites, which often, especially with specific activities, may only be available locally.
Externally a multicultural manager will have expertise in broad and varied cultural awareness for supervising the entrance into foreign markets. The selection and training of people who will work in foreign interests must be overseen.
Some managers have the knack of great relationship building sklills wherever they are in the world - a talent to be much admired!
It's a steep learning curve, to work in a new place. When it's in a different country too, it really means that a manager needs to be on top form to get the best from the situation, whatever training has been made available in a classroom somewhere.
Intercultural Management - Different Skills - Or Not?
The intercultural manager therefore must ensure that there are no misunderstandings due to cultural differences between colleagues, customers and clients.
Any intercultural manager has to use the experience he has and then supplement them with the following four skills:-
1. A focused awareness of the target location(s)
2. An ability to create value from new cultures
3. Considered approach to business
4. A great sense of patience!
Intercultural awareness is the basis of wide ranging management skills. Having a hands-on experience of working amongst varied cultures is critical.
That gives a big step-up to working there - or anywhere 'different', which makes integration easier and results much more likely to be positive.
Flexibility Is The Key For Cross-cultural Managers
Flexibility will often happen naturally once a manager becomes aware of cultural differences and can see beyond superficial level experiences. Flexibility means thinking out of the box, when considering solutions to intercultural challenges.
A flexible manager deals with such problems smoothly with positive solutions.
Yet 'diversity', which was once used to ensure equality for those with poor sight or hearing; from different ethnic backgrounds; with varied approaches to their personal lives, for example, is not yet the strongest lever to pull to any manager's benefit. The best intercultural managers recognize the possibilities and value the differences.
Then new possibilities come from new horizons, that any business can value and create new outcomes from.
The manager with the best capacity to see and seize opportunity will, of course, be the one who brings home the prize.
"A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains", is a saying well known in Holland.
Patience, perception, persistence and resourcefulness, all coupled with a vison for what might be possible, all are the trademarks of the truly valuable intercultural manager. - 16492
It's a valuable manager indeed who is able to work across the cultural divide. Having an ability to get the best performamce from employees, often spread across the globe, is a quality a new breed of intercultural managers have in abundance.
International; intercultural; multicultural and diverse are all terms that help us understand the new ways of a modern world and few large businesses are insulated from needing to embrace this new 'technology'.
Every well known worldwide business has a global reach today, both to create new markets, as well as sourcing opportunities.
In a nutshell all companies must understand intercultural communication requirements.
Intercultural Management - The Basic Issues
In today's world of cut-throat competition, companies are realizing that to attain an advantage and for overall growth and diversification, intercultural management skills have become crucial.
The term "intercultural management skills" is loosely defined as the ability of a manager to deal and communicate with people from different cultures.
Just imagine the incredible importance of communication across the void of different cultures and the value it can unlock.
Where you have a multinational organization, intercultural communication is necessary for business development in many ways.
Where a manager is able to inform, communicate (and this means 'two-way' of course!) and value the local population, business will grow and flourish.
That being said, one true talent is making the most of relevant skills and capabilites, which often, especially with specific activities, may only be available locally.
Externally a multicultural manager will have expertise in broad and varied cultural awareness for supervising the entrance into foreign markets. The selection and training of people who will work in foreign interests must be overseen.
Some managers have the knack of great relationship building sklills wherever they are in the world - a talent to be much admired!
It's a steep learning curve, to work in a new place. When it's in a different country too, it really means that a manager needs to be on top form to get the best from the situation, whatever training has been made available in a classroom somewhere.
Intercultural Management - Different Skills - Or Not?
The intercultural manager therefore must ensure that there are no misunderstandings due to cultural differences between colleagues, customers and clients.
Any intercultural manager has to use the experience he has and then supplement them with the following four skills:-
1. A focused awareness of the target location(s)
2. An ability to create value from new cultures
3. Considered approach to business
4. A great sense of patience!
Intercultural awareness is the basis of wide ranging management skills. Having a hands-on experience of working amongst varied cultures is critical.
That gives a big step-up to working there - or anywhere 'different', which makes integration easier and results much more likely to be positive.
Flexibility Is The Key For Cross-cultural Managers
Flexibility will often happen naturally once a manager becomes aware of cultural differences and can see beyond superficial level experiences. Flexibility means thinking out of the box, when considering solutions to intercultural challenges.
A flexible manager deals with such problems smoothly with positive solutions.
Yet 'diversity', which was once used to ensure equality for those with poor sight or hearing; from different ethnic backgrounds; with varied approaches to their personal lives, for example, is not yet the strongest lever to pull to any manager's benefit. The best intercultural managers recognize the possibilities and value the differences.
Then new possibilities come from new horizons, that any business can value and create new outcomes from.
The manager with the best capacity to see and seize opportunity will, of course, be the one who brings home the prize.
"A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains", is a saying well known in Holland.
Patience, perception, persistence and resourcefulness, all coupled with a vison for what might be possible, all are the trademarks of the truly valuable intercultural manager. - 16492
About the Author:
(c) 2008 Martin P Haworth is the author of Super Successful Manager!, a very simple, step-by-step weekly performance improvement program for managers of ANY capability. You can get a sample lesson for free at http://www.SuperSuccessfulManager.com.
