THE world is getting smaller. As new technologies in social media, transportation and telecommunications bring us closer together, it’s more critical than ever for organizations to develop multicultural leaders who can skillfully navigate the challenges of a connected world.
Multicultural leadership involves a deep immersion in a variety of cultures, which can unlock insights into how best to reach customers, inspire employees and drive organizational performance in geographies outside one’s “shome base.’’
When these immersions are executed well, the results can be astonishing. For example, Yum! Brands Inc., the parent company of KFC, built a leading 40 percent share of the Chinese fast-food market last year by tailoring its product offerings to local tastes and building a strong team of local managers.
Though multicultural leadership is often associated with multinational corporations, these principles also have a lot to offer firms with limited presence outside a particular region. Given the enormous cultural diversity within many countries’ own borders, taking a more deliberate approach to sourcing and developing talent across class, religious and ethnic lines can be highly productive in driving innovation.
In order to build this multicultural talent base, managers need to structure programs within their companies that expose promising employees to new geographies and cultures. Given the challenges associated with picking up and moving halfway around the world, such programs may need to draw on new technologies and models that allow more flexibility in cross-cultural collaboration.
So how can managers contribute?
1 Focus recruiting efforts on bringing diverse candidates into the company. This might include adjusting employer branding messages, diversifying recruitment sources or even adjusting selection criteria to reward multicultural experience and leadership capabilities.
2 Make multicultural experiences an explicit part of career path conversations and performance reviews so that young managers treat multicultural skill development more seriously.
3 Build multicultural elements into management training programs, either by adjusting existing curricula or developing new materials.
4 Launch programs that send rising managers to different cultures and geographies to complete both short- and medium-term projects.
5 Integrate multicultural insights into business decisions and strategy. The above interventions will mean little if managers don’t harness the insights that only multicultural leaders can bring to the table.
In an increasingly global age, the capacity of organizations to build multicultural and transnational leaders will be a critical competitive advantage. Is your organization prepared?
Jevan Soo is a management and human capital consultant in Boston. He formerly managed McKinsey & Co.’s Asia-Pacific recruitment efforts across 12 countries.
