Kamis, 20 Desember 2012

Asian values in globalized leadership matter


Asian values in globalized leadership matter
A Agus Sriyono ;  The Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga
JAKARTA POST, 19 Desember 2012



Leadership is the ability to influence others. By words, actions and example, leaders seek to inspire and motivate their followers, using their influence to pursue their goals. If a leader expects their followers to try to adopt new behaviors or abandon old ones, they have to understand and then influence the values and assumptions making up their mental maps.

In order to influence their followers effectively, a question must be asked: what should leaders learn about them? Given the countless number of leadership courses, seminars, books, coaches and consultants, this is a question that demands an answer.

 According to textbooks on leadership, leaders should develop certain skills, such as communicating, negotiating and decision-making; they should acquire awareness — most obviously self-awareness and contextual awareness; have practice in mobilizing, managing and creating change; and they should learn the difference between good and bad. 

Those answers are not comprehensive. In a multicultural and globalized world, leaders should also learn the cultural values of their followers as there is a strong possibility of leaders having different values from their followers. As an example, in multinational companies many leaders who have a background of Western values lead followers with Asian values or vice versa.

Most seminars, coaches and books on leadership place more emphasis on how to develop leaders’ personal values, not how leaders should comprehend their followers’ values. There is a tendency that followers are required to adapt to the leader’s values rather than the other way around.

By definition, values are important and enduring beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good or desirable and what is not. Values exert major influence on the behavior of an individual and serve as broad guidelines in all situations. The behavior of followers in an organization will be guided by their own values.

Values are related to the norms of a culture, but they are more global and abstract than norms. Norms are rules for behavior in specific situations, while values identify what should be judged as good or evil. Different cultures reflect different values.

The core of Western values lies in individuality. As John Stuart Mill said in his book On Liberty, “over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign”. The central theme of Western values is a commitment to the individual and a desire to construct a society in which people can satisfy their interests and achieve fulfillment. They believe that human beings are, first and foremost, individuals, endowed with reason.

Other values such as egalitarianism, equality, rationality and freedom are known as characteristics of Western culture.

On the other side of the coin, most Asians believe that the individual exists in the context of his family. And the family is the building block of society. They believe that human beings should pursue balance between individual and communal interests. From the perspective of Asian values, extreme individualism could be regarded as anti-social. Asians regard organizations as a home for a “big family” where they can pursue their goals in the spirit of brotherhood.

Asian values are commonly constructed by a hierarchical society. Although Asian values are evolving, seniority in terms of age within an organization is still highly respected. Respect for seniors is one Asian value. 

In such traditional organizations in Asia, there are specific hierarchies and structures in which some people are leaders and other are followers in strict terms. In this situation, a leader and follower agree to a contract. The latter is responsible for following orders to do a job, and the former provides rewards for the proper execution of responsibilities. It is a kind of patron-client relationship.

Most Asians also believe that their lives are determined by fate or God’s will. Pursuing a career is a matter of luck, fate or God’s will. They think that working hard is not overly necessary since each person has already his own destiny. Although Asian values are shifting toward more rational values, in their subconscious most Asians still believe that their lives are determined by fate.

The need to balance between minds and hearts, this life and the afterlife, macro-cosmos and micro-cosmos, personal and communal interests are also considered Asian values. 

Therefore, a leader should be aware that finding the correct balance in life is a priority for Asians. Those communicating, motivating or negotiating with them should thus carefully consider these values. A leader should not only win their minds but also their hearts. Heart-to-heart communication is as important as rational communication.

A leader should also realize that for most Asians, attributes like title, rank, income and wealth are matters of fate, luck or God’s will. However in Asia, dignity is more important than rank or income. Therefore, communication with a “human face” is advisable.

With all their strengths and weaknesses, one thing is certain, Asian values are conducive to building teamwork in an organization or society. Loyalty is also a strength that forms a valuable asset to building solid teamwork. 

Over a century ago, long before anyone became aware of the term multicultural, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled The Ballad of East and West, the initial line of which reads, “Oh, East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.” Kipling seemed to be saying that all of us are, to some extent at least, unable to adapt to the ways of others. 

I disagree with Kipling. There are some positive elements both in Asian and Western values that we can selectively combine. I call this combination a “fusion of values”. Each culture has its own peculiarities. Any values have their strengths and weaknesses. Why don’t we combine them for the betterment of our organization?

Mutual understanding of cultural values from different countries must be nurtured. As students of leadership we have to be able to transform differences into strengths of an organization. ●  

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