A recent study by the Analytical Center for Leadership Research and Development concluded that one of the prominent features of good leadership is responsibility. Our white paper that soon will be published at www.aclrd.com will explore the findings of the research more comprehensively. In this blog post, I would like briefly to address one simple idea from cross-cultural studies known as power distance. Power distance points to followers’ inability to approach their leaders as equals. This inability stems from the existential reality where less powerful members of society expect and accept inequality among individuals. Such an outlook prompts hierarchical relationships and moves the locus of control from followers to leaders. In other words, leaders as powerful and respected members of society carry all responsibility. However, is this a healthy and benign practice? Let’s consider a few examples.
One example is the Brumadinho Dam disaster in Brazil, which killed 275 people in January of 2019. While there is something to be said about bad practices in the mining industry in Brazil, this particular disaster may have been avoided if more employees had felt comfortable raising red flags and confronting leadership (McGuinness, 2020).
Another example is the
crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on approach to SFO. It was, as experts say,
a controlled flight into terrain. This means that pilots had full control over
the aircraft and there were no technical problems. And yet, they crashed. This
happened because the philosophy behind the modern cockpit is that there are two
equals piloting the aircraft. South Korea has a hierarchical cultural, meaning
that one must be deferential towards his or her superiors and elders,
which became precisely the reason why the airplane crashed. The pilot flying
was the captain, and even though he made a number of mistakes in managing the
approach, the monitoring pilot did not challenge him on the mismanagement of the
airplane’s controls. The junior pilot did not call for a go-around…until it was
too late. The role of culture in this incident was implied by a number of
commentators on the disastrous outcome.
These are rather sobering experiences. While in business settings most likely we do not deal with life or death situations, the ramifications of high power distance may be quite devastating, depending on the situation. Interestingly, innovation has been linked to low power distance cultures. In other words, in cultures where leaders empower their employees and allow them to experiment and make mistakes, innovation tends to be more likely to emerge.
However, power distance is part of one’s cultural mentality, and culture, as Hofstede (2001) puts it, is the collective programming of the mind. In other words, it is engrained in us. Changing a cultural norm requires considerable effort and a good deal of learning on the part of both leaders and followers.
As leaders, we must consider shifting toward more of a focus on creating low power distance organizational cultures. Granted, this will not be an easy process, as it requires followers who will accept and respect a new way of thinking, ad who will become comfortable in low power distance contexts. As leaders, we are in position to initiate and establish a new culture within our organizations. According to Schein (2010), we promote new culture by role modeling, teaching, and coaching, to what we pay attention, what we measure and what we control, and by how we allocate resources and status. Consistency in these areas demonstrates to followers what is important and what is valued within the organization. One final point: at times, it is entirely possible that we might have to fire an employee who is not willing to adapt. The lesson here is that when we recruit new employees, we must recruit them based largely on the extent to which they align with the cultures of our organizations rather than just the technical skill sets they possess.
At The Analytical Center for Leadership Research and Development, we help local businesses and organizations of all kinds to achieve their potentials in a global context by providing leadership training, organizational consulting and strategic planning. How can we help your organization? If you would like to learn more, please comment below or contact us at info@aclrd.com
Hofstede, G. H. (2001). Culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
McGuinness, J. (2020, January 29). Fear is a bad leadership team principle. Retrieved from https://chiefexecutive.net/fear-is-a-bad-leadership-team-principle/
Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.