Skip to main content

Why Global leaders need to be able to nimbly adapt to different situations?

Although a consensus definition of authentic leadership is hard to pin down, the underpinning of the concept can be summarized as a leadership approach that focuses on consistent alignment between what leaders think/believe, what they say and what they do. Bishop (2013) rightly adds an ethical dimension to this construct, pointing to the need for this alignment to be on the side of moral standards. In other words, authentic leadership, particularly in the context of cultural intelligence, must necessarily be an exercise of leadership where the leader maintain congruence between her thoughts/beliefs, words and actions, and which results in a greater good for everyone involved. Without this ethical dimension, authentic leadership, or, for that matter, any other kind of leadership, is pointless.
Metacognitive CQ is how much we know about our own approach to thinking and learning and the structures that exist in our mind that guide and support our learning process. In other words, metacognitive CQ is how we understand the broader context, including cultural elements, and the impact that it will have on the way that our cognitive CQ can or will develop.
Cognitive CQ is the knowledge a person possesses about the relevant cultural elements that surround her. Cognitive CQ is about the explicit information that a person can collect and process to understand the applicable cultural principles and values.
Whereas cognitive CQ is about what we learn, metacognitive CQ is about how we learn it.
According to Volgesang et al. (2009), motivational CQ refers to the objectives and rewards stemming from gathering information about different cultures and environments and thereby develop the knowledge and skills to adjust to cultural differences and harness their full potential.
Behavioral CQ refers to the ability of a leader to translate the cognitive, metacognitive and motivational information identified at other CQ levels to concrete actions that will use culturally appropriate conventions to deliver organizational or individual results.   
Simply put, the way the four features of cultural intelligence work together in conjunction with Authentic Leadership is that metacognitive CQ and cognitive CQ refer to the processes related to how a leader collects information and what information she collects to shape thoughts and beliefs; the motivational CQ refers to how a leader establishes goals and incentives around said thoughts and beliefs; and the behavioral CQ refers to what a leader specifically does to make sure that incentives and goals are culturally relevant, aligned and that they serve to further organizational success.
In sum, cultural intelligence is the framework that an authentic leader uses to assess and ensure alignment between what she thinks/believes, says and does.  
CQ is an approach to identifying and assessing relevant cultural information that helps to educate leaders on the nature of the differences between different situations and the best way to address them. Without CQ, leaders will simply not know what they don’t know. With CQ leaders can see cultural layers in their interactions and identify areas that can be leveraged to achieve full potential and challenges that need to be addressed from a cultural perspective.
It is CQ that prompts questions about “the need to be able to nimbly adapt to different situations, adjusting quickly.” CQ also determines the extent of the need, the nature of the nimbleness, the extent of the differences and the required adjustments.
References
Bishop, William H. (2013) "Defining the Authenticity in Authentic Leadership," The Journal of Values-Based Leadership: 6(10). Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=jvbl
Vogelgesang, G., Clapp-Smith, R. Palmer, N. (2009). The Role of Authentic Leadership and Cultural Intelligence in Cross-Cultural Contexts: An Objectivist Perspective. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(2), 102-117. Retrieved from: http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol5iss2/IJLS_vol5_iss2_vogelgesang_authentic_leadership.pdf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Example of a Self-Concept Case Study

Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012) defined self-concept as “the totality of complex, organized, and dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes and opinions that each person holds to be true about his/her personal existence” & the self-concept we hold to be true helps us form a “perception of who we are based on expectations from, and responses to, our social environment; stimulated by internal and external factors that can create intense emotional responses, impacting on our willingness to learn and our choice of action - guiding our behaviors” (p. 127). In the case (WA, 2018) Jack is a 36-year-old leader within a major hospital who prides himself as a professional. In his work, he supports and helps each of his team members. In his personal life, he used to focus on eating healthy and exercising regularly. In the past year, his focus on healthy living declined because of professional responsibilities. As a consequence, his state of health deteriorated to a point that hi
Post a Comment
Read more

DeBeers - the diamond trading company

PESTEL analysis Political aspect: In 1994 the DeBeers operation was prohibited in the United States territory because of antitrust legislation. These facts complicate the DeBeers operation and shake the whole company. Economic aspect: Although in 1990s DeBeers ruled the whole industry, after several events such as Soviet Union collapse and Alrosa’s appearing, DeBeers lost its control over the market. In addition, Canada’s appearing in the diamond market forced DeBeers to hold back a large portion of its diamonds from the market and purchase much of the excess supply from these producing countries often at inflated prices (McAdams, Reavis, 2008, p.7). Social aspect: In the mid-1990, Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Democratic Republic Congo were outflanked by rebel forces opposed to the government. DeBeers sponsored this military conflict by “blood diamonds” purchasing. Technological aspect: The main threat is the synthetic diamonds grown is the lab-conditions. This tec
Post a Comment
Read more

Case Study 2: Young, Confident, and Moving too Fast

Introduction             The increasing complexities of organizations as it grows and as some take the path of globalization resulted in diversity and attracted many forms of cultural differences. Hence, the need to manage these cultural differences existing within organizations has been increasingly becoming necessary. This is particularly true for managers who may be caught in between various individual culture that each of its subordinates is accustomed to. Managing cultural differences requires what they called cultural intelligence (CQ). Broadly speaking, CQ is the ability to cut across various cultural contexts such as ethnic, generational, or organizational cultures (Livermore, 2011, p. 5). In this paper, the generational cultural differences between Joanne, the manager, and Julia, the newly hired subordinate will be discussed. To give a brief background, Julia is a confident, fast learner, and passionate young woman who wants to do more in her job without being micromanaged
Post a Comment
Read more