Why Global Dexterity is important for good leadership

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Just like when playing a video game, dexterity is a measure of how agile one is when facing new moves. Dexterity controls attack and movement, speed, and accuracy. Now translating that for the Global Leaders, Global Dexterity refers to the ability to effectively navigate and understand cultural differences and similarities, both within one’s own culture and across cultures. It involves having a strong sense of cultural self-awareness and the ability to adapt one’s communication and behavior to different cultural contexts.

As I had mentioned before, understanding, and appreciating the differences and similarities between your own culture and those of others is a must. This means going through the process of being Interculturally Savvy, breaking up from those Stereotypes, and being Culturally Aware. To effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, taking into account cultural differences in communication styles, values, and beliefs is excellent, but we must consider how we quickly we approach this.

Above all we must have…

Quick and Agile Global Dexterity

Being able to adjust one’s behavior and communication style to different cultural contexts, will allow us to build rapport and establish effective relationships with people from diverse backgrounds. But adaptability needs to be quick. In today’s world, the need to be flexible appears in so many circumstances everyday: the new job, the new boss, the new client, the new supplier, the reorganization, the new country, and the company acquisition, just to name a few. The Global Leader must be quick to establish the best possible approach.

The Global Leader should not ignore their own culture or put their own preferences to one side. They need to be equipped with these different cultural approaches and quickly decide what they want to add to their cultural set of tools… and what they don’t want to add. In other words, one should not try to adapt and acquired the new culture from one day to another. You need to ease into the new culture naturally..

For example, when asked to attend a business-social activity in Mexico or in most Latin-American countries, a more U.S. Global Leader could mix his American Orientation to Tasks and the Mexican Orientation to Relationships by accepting the invitation and saying ‘Thank you. I’d love to participate, but if there is no problem, I would retire a bit early.’ As Andy Molinsky puts it well, “It’s important to be able to shift your cultural behavior in a way that’s effective and appropriate in a new setting, while simultaneously preserving your sense of authenticity. I sometimes call it “fitting in without giving in.” (1)

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Photo by Alex Radelich on Unsplash

Always be open to Global Dexterity

Global Dexterity is important in today’s globalized world, as individuals and organizations increasingly interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. By developing global dexterity, individuals can build stronger, more inclusive relationships and effectively navigate cross-cultural interactions.

Again expressed by Molinsky, “The well-known cultural researcher Geert Hofstede once wrote that culture is like “software of the mind,” and that depending on where we grow up, we each have a different form of mental software for making sense of the world and for guiding our actions. You’d think that once this software is ingrained in us we can’t deviate from it. However, that’s not at all what I have found in my work. I’ve been continually amazed at how flexible people can be with their cultural behavior and how, with the right strategies in place, they can adapt cultural behavior without feeling like they are losing themselves in the process.” (2)

How to increase your Global Dexterity

To summarize:

1.- Navigate naturally and easily adapt some of the cultural differences, without losing your own self. Don’t adopt those behaviors which make you feel awkward and unauthentic. But do experience the differences.

2.- Enjoy the change, you will make mistakes. Acknowledge them and, be open and candid about them; people are understanding. Share your feelings with them and laugh about them. Of course, be equally reciprocal.

3.- Approach an Intercultural Coach. We are familiar with the Intercultural Coaching process and will accompany you as a Global Leader to discover both your culture and the new cultures you are encountering in your career paths, helping you effectively cross the bridges into the new world that is presenting itself to you.

Further Reading

  1. Morris, B. (2013). Andy Molinsky: An interview by Bob Morris. Sourced from: https://bobmorris.biz/andy-molinsky-an-interview-by-bob-morris
  2. Molinsky, A. (2013). Global Dexterity: How to Adapt Your Behavior across Cultures without Losing Yourself in the Process. Harvard Business Review Press.