這個(gè)世界正在不斷地縮小成一個(gè)地球村,。那些仍然期待不被卷入全球化浪潮的人們啊,很遺憾你們的努力只是徒勞,。民眾,、經(jīng)濟(jì),,還有意識(shí)形態(tài)都在無(wú)時(shí)無(wú)刻地變化和發(fā)展,然而這并不是一件壞事,。 雖然我相信能在全球自由選擇辦公和住所會(huì)讓一切更美好,,但實(shí)現(xiàn)起來(lái)卻需要面對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)。不過(guò)只要攻克這些挑戰(zhàn),,那我們將會(huì)解鎖全新的機(jī)遇與潛能,。我這里所說(shuō)的挑戰(zhàn)就是跨文化的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力。更準(zhǔn)確地說(shuō),,要學(xué)會(huì)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)來(lái)自于不同國(guó)家的多元化團(tuán)隊(duì),,而不僅僅是本土團(tuán)隊(duì)。 在管理跨國(guó)企業(yè)與項(xiàng)目的同時(shí),,我們也在了解和學(xué)習(xí)世界各地的政治,、經(jīng)濟(jì),甚至于人們?nèi)绾嗡伎寂c做出決定,。這無(wú)論是從個(gè)人還是從專業(yè)的角度來(lái)說(shuō)都是非常重要的。當(dāng)然,,你也可以說(shuō)在領(lǐng)導(dǎo)跨國(guó)團(tuán)隊(duì)時(shí),,所面臨的挑戰(zhàn)大部分是相同的。那么,,就讓我先來(lái)說(shuō)說(shuō)我自己在帶領(lǐng)跨國(guó)團(tuán)隊(duì)時(shí)的一些思考,。 1. 接受并學(xué)會(huì)欣賞多元化——不要總是試圖以你舒適的方式去同化你的團(tuán)隊(duì); 2. 保持開放態(tài)度——盡可能不帶批判思維地去學(xué)習(xí)了解不同國(guó)家的語(yǔ)言,、哲學(xué)和歷史背景,,從而更好地理解他人的價(jià)值觀和想法; 3. 信任你的本土團(tuán)隊(duì)——如果不能讓本土團(tuán)隊(duì)按照他們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)和做法去獲得成功,,那招募本土團(tuán)隊(duì)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)又有什么意義呢,? 接納多元化的團(tuán)隊(duì)已經(jīng)是老生常談的話題了,而且一定有海量的文章談過(guò)擁有多元化團(tuán)隊(duì)的好處(歡迎留言你最喜歡的那一篇文章),,而這篇文章將會(huì)告訴你一些有關(guān)帶領(lǐng)跨文化團(tuán)隊(duì)的實(shí)用建議,。談到接納多元化,我指的是打造一個(gè)也許沒有人會(huì)感到百分之百舒適,,但每個(gè)人都會(huì)被公平對(duì)待和獲得發(fā)展的工作環(huán)境,。別試圖將西班牙人變成印度尼西亞人,抑或是將俄羅斯人培養(yǎng)成一名美國(guó)人,。作為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者們,,我們應(yīng)該了解自己的角色,我們個(gè)人及專業(yè)上的價(jià)值是什么,,以及我們的底線和道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn),。作為一座為所有人引路的“燈塔”,,無(wú)論你的團(tuán)隊(duì)差異有多大,一定要清楚地知道涉及財(cái)務(wù)指標(biāo)時(shí)你的立場(chǎng),、你為人處事的方式以及你衡量對(duì)錯(cuò)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn),,這些是建立團(tuán)隊(duì)文化的基礎(chǔ)。為了讓團(tuán)隊(duì)更好的運(yùn)作,,要找到你在社交和精神層面上能夠使團(tuán)隊(duì)凝聚在一起的東西,,讓所有人樂于在一起工作,也一起歡樂,。除此之外,,還應(yīng)該讓他們盡情做自己。舉一個(gè)非常簡(jiǎn)單的例子,,在我們上次年會(huì)的時(shí)候,,我的團(tuán)隊(duì)成員們都穿著自己國(guó)家或工作地的特色服飾分享了他們的故事,度過(guò)了一個(gè)自豪,、歡樂并且欣賞彼此差異的夜晚,。 事實(shí)上,作為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者,,有時(shí)我們非常確定一些商業(yè)決策是放之四海而皆準(zhǔn)的(盡管與本土團(tuán)隊(duì)的意見向左),,有時(shí)并不確定。如果你對(duì)于一個(gè)國(guó)家的文化與價(jià)值觀不夠了解,,你永遠(yuǎn)都無(wú)法真正地了解你處在怎樣的一個(gè)環(huán)境里,,更遑論做出正確的決策。不要讓自己只停留在一件事情的表面,。比如,,不要在星期一來(lái)到雅加達(dá)后,在星期三僅帶著對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)貦C(jī)場(chǎng),、高速公路,、辦公室和酒店的認(rèn)知就離開了。趁你還在當(dāng)?shù)氐臅r(shí)候,,讀一份當(dāng)?shù)氐膱?bào)紙或一本關(guān)于當(dāng)?shù)厝嗣窈蛧?guó)家概況的書,。 趁著當(dāng)?shù)氐墓?jié)假日,帶著你的家人一起去旅行,,在旅程中多提問,,去了解更多你不知道的事情。我發(fā)現(xiàn)沒有什么比跟團(tuán)隊(duì)成員談?wù)摴ぷ饕酝獾囊恍┦虑椴⒎窒黻P(guān)于你和你家鄉(xiāng)的故事,,更能夠促進(jìn)你們之間的感情的了,。去年,我?guī)е魂?duì)中國(guó)的銷售員工來(lái)到波士頓參觀,我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在講解時(shí)無(wú)意中給他們上了一堂關(guān)于美國(guó)內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的歷史課,,在那一刻他們對(duì)從未深入了解過(guò)的我的祖國(guó)有了更多的認(rèn)識(shí),。人類的好奇心讓我們更容易拉近彼此的關(guān)系。 全球商務(wù)及其運(yùn)作的方式已經(jīng)經(jīng)過(guò)了幾個(gè)世紀(jì)的變遷,,然而在今天,,我相信雇傭單一性別、國(guó)籍,、年齡,,或者宗教信仰的人已經(jīng)無(wú)法來(lái)管理這個(gè)瞬息萬(wàn)變的市場(chǎng)。即使你需要花一定時(shí)間才能夠在本土市場(chǎng)找到合適的人選也沒有關(guān)系,, 但是請(qǐng)致力于尋找并聯(lián)結(jié)當(dāng)?shù)夭煌I(lǐng)域的人才,,他們的共同努力能夠?yàn)槟愕臉I(yè)務(wù)帶來(lái)你從任何一位外來(lái)者那里都得不到的方案和策略。舉個(gè)例子,,俄羅斯,、印度尼西亞、西班牙,、中國(guó)和美國(guó)對(duì)于“優(yōu)質(zhì)服務(wù)”的定義肯定是不一樣的,,但我的任務(wù)就是讓企業(yè)提供符合當(dāng)?shù)貥?biāo)準(zhǔn)的優(yōu)質(zhì)服務(wù)。我發(fā)現(xiàn)只有放下自己已有的認(rèn)知并走出自己的舒適區(qū),,你才會(huì)獲得本土團(tuán)隊(duì)的認(rèn)同感,。我花了一段時(shí)間才弄清楚何時(shí)應(yīng)該自己做決定,何時(shí)應(yīng)該將決定權(quán)交給別人,,但在實(shí)踐過(guò)程中同樣需要一些時(shí)間,這有點(diǎn)像一場(chǎng)小型的心理拔河賽,。 帶領(lǐng)一個(gè)來(lái)自于不同年齡層,、有著不同文化背景的男女混合團(tuán)隊(duì)絕對(duì)可以算是我的職業(yè)生涯中最艱巨的挑戰(zhàn)之一。但如果你希望在當(dāng)下的這個(gè)時(shí)代中獲得成功,,你就必須要走出自己的舒適圈,。試著成為沖在最前線、保持開放思維并影響團(tuán)隊(duì)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者吧,,說(shuō)不定那也將會(huì)成為你職業(yè)生涯中濃墨重彩的一筆,。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) 作者簡(jiǎn)介:Annabelle Vultee是英孚教育成人英語(yǔ)培訓(xùn)中心首席運(yùn)營(yíng)官。 ? |
The world is small and shrinking. I am sorry to those of you who want to see globalization held at bay, but your efforts are futile. People, commerce, and ideology are fluid and evolving/melding/developing by the second. And that is a good thing. Though I believe we are all better for having the ability to work and live more freely across the world, there are of course challenges. Challenges, which if overcome truly unlock new levels of potential for success. The challenge in focus here is cross cultural leadership. Specifically leading teams of people from and based in multiple countries other than one’s home country. In managing business or projects in more than one country in and of itself, we absorb insights on geopolitics, global and local economies, how people think and how values drive decisions. That is powerful on both a personal and professional level. However, you could argue that the same things comprise some of our biggest challenges as leaders of multinational teams. So, here is how I have come to think about leading my cross-cultural team… 1. Embrace the diversity – Don’t try to homogenize the group for your own comfort; 2. Remain open – With as little judgment as you can manage, learn about the linguistic, philosophical and historical reasons for the values and perspectives of the people from each country; 3. Trust your local team – What is the point of having local leadership if they aren’t empowered to use what they inherently know to be successful? Embracing diversity sounds obvious and there must be hundreds of thousands of great articles on the benefits of a diverse team (feel free to leave your favorite ones in the comments), but this article is about practical tips for cross-cultural leaders. So when I say embrace diversity, I mean get to that super uncomfortable, slightly itchy place where nobody is 100% comfortable but everyone is equally invested and open. Don’t try to turn your Spaniard into an Indonesian or your Russian into an American. We, as leaders need to know who we are as people and what roots our personal and professional values; where our lines are that can’t be crossed. Our moral compass. You are the guide at the end of the day so regardless of the differences on your team, you need to know where you firmly stand when it comes to fiscal responsibility, how you treat people and what you consider high integrity. That is where you set the culture without diminishing others’. In order to function well, I also believe it is helpful to find what bonds you on a social or intellectual level to provide that universal team comfort; that thing that makes everyone want to work together, travel together and spend copious amounts of time together. Beyond that, let them be the best of where they are from. One very simple example is that at our recent fiscal year kickoff every one of my direct reports dressed from the country they are from or operate in. It was a night filled with pride, sharing, fun and making the most of our differences. The reality is, sometimes we as leaders are right that some business decisions are universal despite arguments from local teams, and sometimes we are not. If you don’t know enough about the culture and values of a nation, you won’t have a good enough sense of which scenario you are in. Don’t convince yourself to stay on the surface. Don’t fly into Jakarta on Monday and out on Wednesday and only see the airport, the highway, the office and the hotel. Read a book about the people or country. Read the local newspaper while you are in town. Connect a trip to a local festival or holiday. Bring your family. Ask questions. Go deep. I have found that nothing brings you closer to your teams in other countries than asking them genuine questions about things outside of work and equally sharing about yourself and your home country. I led a trip of Chinese salespeople to Boston last year and found myself giving a history lesson about the Civil War. I could see in that moment how people started to understand more about my home country than they ever had before. People are curious creatures, so this is an easy win. Global businesses and how we lead them have gone through many transformations over the past couple of centuries, but where we stand today, I believe that hiring people of only one gender, nationality, age group, or religion to manage diverse markets won’t be a recipe for success. If it takes you some time to find the right people in the local market, that’s ok. But aim to find and connect with diverse local talent so that they can bring ideas and approaches to your business that wouldn’t occur to someone outside of that country. For example, “good service” in Russia, Indonesia, Spain, China and the US have vastly different definitions, but I am responsible for running a business that delivers on the local definition of good service. I have seen a clear correlation between (painfully) letting go of what I know and am comfortable with and what my senior local team believes is right. It took me a while to know when to make the decisions and when to let others, but in reality that is the process as it should be. It should be a little bit of tug-o-war. Leading a team of men and women of different ages, backgrounds and cultures is one of the great challenges of my career and without a doubt one of the highlights. If you want to be truly successful in the modern world, you can’t avoid the shrinking of and ever more artificial barriers that once closed us off from one another. Choose to be on the forefront and open your mind and that of those you lead. It may prove to be one of the highlights of your career as well. |