How can we prepare our students and the future workforce to operate and lead confidently in a multicultural world? Dr. Stephanie Jones*, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Maastricht School of Management, suggests five ways…

People learn for themselves more than being taught. We get the message through eureka moments when everything falls into place. It starts with being challenged to think, argue, unlearn as well as learn, gain first-hand evidence of cultural differences, and to realise for ourselves that the way we operate is no longer working, or at least not where we are now.

1. THINKING FOR YOURSELF. Education systems in many parts of the world do not encourage this. And Googling everything can make things worse, by doing your thinking for you.

I was teaching an MBA leadership module in Cairo during the Egyptian revolution. What a fantastic opportunity to discuss leadership! I asked the students (bright, young, wealthy, ambitious professionals) what kind of leader we need for the new, post-revolution Egypt; which leadership competencies, skills, and characteristics are now relevant given hugely changing times. They looked at me. They got out their phones, tablets, and laptops. They Googled for “What kind of leader do we need for the new, post-revolution Egypt?” Switch them off! Put them away! What do you THINK? You know better than anyone!

2. DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ. Many young people are brought up to assume that anything printed in a book (or even posted on the internet) must be true.

I certainly totally believed all the books I read, and the first task I was given as an 18-year-old undergraduate student at the London School of Economics was to read a history book – about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Great stuff and very exciting! But it is a myth. And written by an archaeologist trying to get funding for an excavation. My bubble burst…

3. UNLEARNING. Where are people coming from? What do they know and believe already?

In teaching multicultural leadership skills we discuss stereotyping. Many are widely assumed to be “correct”. Ethnocentricity is “OK”. How dangerous is this? A stereotypes exercise in class – for some it is funny; for others it is shocking; for many confusing. Is this a test in class? Am I supposed to get at least 7/10 or I fail? I got 10/10 so I’m really smart! In the reflective journal students write afterwards, most get the point and feel slightly ashamed that they are so easily led, and resolve to see people on their own individual merits and not make assumptions.

4. SEE IT FOR YOURSELF. How do different people react to the way they feel inside? Do they show it? How do you know? How can you lead people if you have no idea how they think and feel?

One of the most important aspects of understanding cultural differences is the way we show (or hide) our emotions. Certain nationalities have a tendency to be quite explicit about displaying how they feel, and it is okay to show this, at home and in the workplace. For other cultures, this is a no-no. Keep it to yourself. British stiff upper lip. Asian inscrutability. We have an exercise acting out the six universal emotions in class – happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, fear, surprise. The audience has to guess which emotions are being demonstrated. Some cultures just cannot do it. They cannot act it out. They even cover their faces with their hands. The more expressive participants realise that managing these people is going to be a whole new ball game. How can I work with them if I have no idea what is going on inside?

5. EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELF. We all operate in different ways, often out of habit and because it worked before. But it might not continue to work in a different context.

For some of us, it is okay to be vague about appointments and to make up your mind at the last moment about whether or not you want to do something. But that is not for everyone. The first week of the new MBA class includes outings to central Maastricht and local companies, and the European Commission in nearby Brussels. You need to be at the bus by 09:00 sharp. Really? Maybe it will still be there after ten minutes. But it isn’t. Oh. They really mean it…

The experience of studying for an MBA should change the lives of the participants and prepare them for more practical experiences. Many MBA graduates are looking for status, to build a network and make more money. How is the MBA experience going to achieve this? Recent research by the Financial Times** suggests that prestigious, professional multinational companies being targeted by job-seeking MBAs are looking for people with “the top five skills”.

They need to be able to work in a team, work with a variety of people, solve complex problems, build and sustain a professional network, and manage their priorities. There is one common theme in all of these skills – and that is the need to develop cultural awareness and competencies as an essential part of leadership effectiveness. Every team that people work in nowadays is going to be culturally diverse. The different ways of thinking of such a team’s members helps significantly in solving complex (as opposed to routine) problems. Every professional network is, nowadays, inevitably multicultural. And different cultures give different priorities to different values – an issue every manager and leader needs to understand to get things done.

We have found at Maastricht School of Management that cultural awareness is learned in three ways: in the classroom; from living in another country; and from working in a multicultural environment. These develop the process of thinking, arguing, unlearning, gaining first-hand evidence of cultural differences, and realising the need for different ways of operating – requisites for future multicultural workplace leadership.

*See Gosling, J., Jones, S., Sutherland, I. (2012) Key Concepts in Leadership. London: Sage

**Nilsson, P. (2018) What Top Employers Want from MBA Graduates. London: Financial Times, 3 September