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New Challenges to Leaders

Leaders today face a world impacted by globalization and rapid technological change. Globalization has changed the demographics of society and made the world seem smaller than ever before. People half a world apart who in decades past would have had no impact on each other can now have a significant effect on each others lives. Rug sellers in the United States may have to compete with third world rug dealers in Turkey equipped with laptops, and business practices in one country can now have a substantial effect on the people and businesses of another. Off shoring, outsourcing, and other practices that expand the walls of a company also expand its culture to include people of different backgrounds, nationalities, races, and creeds. The challenges facing leaders in this environment are ones that result from managing cultural differences, handling businesses that span continents, and managing a multi-generational workforce.

According to DuBrin, "A multicultural leader is a leader with the skills and attitudes to relate effectively to and motivate people across race, gender, age, social attitudes, and lifestyles" (426). In order to achieve this, DuBrin notes, "the leader must be aware of overt and subtle cultural differences" 426). A manager from a culture where arriving on time to meetings is vital may have to exhibit sensitivity when managing workers from a different culture where meeting times are considered flexible, for example. Values such as individualism and collectivism can be seen as existing on a continuum, and while one culture may put a premium on one end of the continuum, another may value the quality at the other end (DuBrin 427). Thus, a multicultural manager may have to effectively manage a group in which some people are from cultures that value individuality while others are from cultures where collectivism is esteemed.

Today's leader must be far more culturally aware than leaders of ...

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New Challenges to Leaders. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 15:12, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2000300.html