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Cultural Expectations and Leadership Reading

Gabriela, a Brazilian project manager, struggled with her new team in Sweden as her directive management style clashed with their preference for more democratic decision making and independent work. When she complained to her Swedish manager, he focused on having her find solutions rather than directly addressing the issues. Gabriela later learned that her previous high power distance culture differed from Sweden's low power distance culture, where subordinates expect to challenge leaders and participate in decisions. An open discussion with her team helped Gabriela understand their perspective, and she adapted her style to better match their expectations.

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59 views3 pages

Cultural Expectations and Leadership Reading

Gabriela, a Brazilian project manager, struggled with her new team in Sweden as her directive management style clashed with their preference for more democratic decision making and independent work. When she complained to her Swedish manager, he focused on having her find solutions rather than directly addressing the issues. Gabriela later learned that her previous high power distance culture differed from Sweden's low power distance culture, where subordinates expect to challenge leaders and participate in decisions. An open discussion with her team helped Gabriela understand their perspective, and she adapted her style to better match their expectations.

Uploaded by

nxsmxndxz17
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Cultural expectations and leadership

Reading text

Gabriela worked for a multinational company as a successful project


manager in Brazil and was transferred to manage a team in Sweden. She
was excited about her new role but soon realized that managing her new
team would be a challenge.
Despite their friendliness, Gabriela didn't feel respected as a leader. Her
new staff would question her proposals openly in meetings, and when she
gave them instructions on how to carry out a task, they would often go
about it in their own way without checking with her. When she announced
her decisions on the project, they would continue giving their opinions as
if it was still up for discussion.
After weeks of frustration, Gabriela emailed her Swedish manager about
the issues she was facing with her team. Her manager simply asked her if
she felt her team was still performing, and what she thought would help
her better collaborate with her team members. Gabriela found her
manager vague and didn't feel as if he was managing the situation
satisfactorily.
What Gabriela was experiencing was a cultural clash in expectations. She
was used to a more hierarchical framework where the team leader and
manager took control and gave specific instructions on how things were
to be done. This more directive management style worked well for her
and her team in Brazil but did not transfer well to her new team in
Sweden, who were more used to a flatter hierarchy where decision
making was more democratic. When Gabriela took the issue to her
Swedish manager, rather than stepping in with directions about what to
do, her manager took on the role of coach and focused on getting her to
come up with her own solutions instead.
Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede uses the concept of 'power
distance' to describe how power is distributed and how hierarchy is
perceived in different cultures. In her previous work environment,
Gabriela was used to a high power distance culture where power and
authority are respected and everyone has their rightful place. In such a
culture, leaders make the big decisions and are not often challenged. Her
Swedish team, however, were used to working in a low power distance
culture where subordinates often work together with their bosses to find
solutions and make decisions. Here, leaders act as coaches or mentors
who encourage independent thought and expect to be challenged.
When Gabriela became aware of the cultural differences between her and
her team, she took the initiative to have an open conversation with them
about their feelings about her leadership. Pleased to be asked for their
thoughts, Gabriela's team openly expressed that they were not used to
being told what to do. They enjoyed having more room for initiative and
creative freedom. When she told her team exactly what she needed them
to do, they felt that she didn't trust them to do their job well. They realised
that Gabriela was taking it personally when they tried to challenge or
make changes to her decisions, and were able to explain that it was how
they'd always worked.
With a better understanding of the underlying reasons behind each
other's behaviour, Gabriela and her team were able to adapt their way of
working. Gabriela was then able to make adjustments to her management
style so as to better fit the expectations of her team and more effectively
motivate her team to achieve their goals.

1. Gabriela's management style worked well with her team in Brazil but not with her team in

Sweden.

True False

2. Gabriela's team questioned her proposals and her decisions because they didn't trust or

respect her.

True False

3. Gabriela was satisfied with her Swedish manager's way of dealing with her problem.

True False

4. Gabriela found it helpful to talk openly with her team about the differences in their

expectations.
True False

5. Gabriela faced a problem with her Swedish team because her management style was old-

fashioned and wrong for the modern world.

True False

6. The author believes that people from high power distance cultures and low power distance

cultures should never work together.

True False

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