Leadership Behaviors and Culture

Available under Creative Commons-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The findings of the GLOBE study served to help organizations and societies understand what made an effective or ineffective leader. Many leadership behaviors are similar across societies, pointing out that no matter the cultural difference or society in which a leader is from, there are specific leadership behaviors that are viewed as effective. The GLOBE project was significant in indicating how cultures perceive effective and ineffective leadership, which is helpful to leaders in facilitating intercultural interactions.

The study revealed six global leadership behaviors, which were used in the study to understand how the clusters perceived leadership. These six are charismatic/value-based, team-oriented, participative, humane-oriented, autonomous, and self-protective. Using their understanding of leadership behaviors and perceptions of leadership from each cluster group, the researchers were able to identify a leadership profile for each cluster. Table 3.7 and Table 3.8 list the six leadership behaviors and their characteristics as well as the leadership profile for each cluster.

Table 3.4 Cultural Dimensions as Researched in the GLOBE Study
Globe Dimension	One Extreme	Other Extreme
Uncertainty avoidance	Need for established social norms, rituals, and practices	Comfortable with ambiguity and predictability
Power distance	Egalitarian and nonhierarchal	Hierarchy, authority, disparity in status and wealth
Institutional collectivism	Collective actions and sharing of resources encouraged	Individual actions and goals are encouraged
In-group collectivism	Expressions of pride, loyalty, and cohesion	Noncohesiveness, loyal to oneself and one’s needs
Gender egalitarianism	Nurture, care, relationships, sharing	Ambition, assertiveness, control
Assertiveness	Assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in social relationships	Timid, submissive, and tender in social relationships
Future orientation	Planning, investing, and delays of individual or collective gratification	Spontaneity, enjoying the present
Performance orientation	Encourages and rewards group performance and excellence	No rewards and encouragement for goals; more relaxed in terms of achievement

Adapted from House et al. (2002) The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

The study also highlighted the perceptions of cultures related to universally desirable and undesirable attributes in leaders. The desirable attributes were viewed as characteristics that were valued and that facilitated the leadership processes. Undesirable attributes were viewed as obstacles and challenges to effective leadership. Table 3.9 illustrates the positive and negative attributes of effective leadership.

Table 3.5 GLOBE Clusters of Societies
Cluster	Countries
Anglo	Canada, United States, Australia, Ireland, England, South Africa (White sample), New Zealand
Confucian Asia	Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan
Eastern Europe	Greece, Hungary, Albania, Slovenia, Poland, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan
Germanic Europe	Austria, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany-East, Germany-West
Latin America	Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Mexico
Latin Europe	Israel, Italy, Switzerland (French-speaking), Spain, Portugal, France
Middle East	Turkey, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Qatar
Nordic Europe	Denmark, Finland, Sweden
Southern Asia	Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Iran
Sub-Saharan Africa	Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Nigeria, South Africa (Black sample)