Competencies for Multicultural Leadership Stanley Arumugam ______________________________________________________________ With the globalization of the workplace comes an increasing demand

on leaders of organisations to deal with a diverse context. Hoppe, a scholar in diversity management says that this dynamic will increasingly call us to face our own personal and cultural assumptions, values and beliefs in order to effectively take on the task of facilitating mutually rewarding intercultural interactions. In the South African situation, workplace diversity has been a particularly prominent issue given the institutionalized practices of racism over the past four decades. Recent legislature such as the Employment Equity Act, Skills Development Act and Labour Relations Act requires organisational transformation in an attempt to redress some of the unethical leadership practices governed by notions of racism and cultural superiority. This multicultural leadership challenge is but one of the many demands placed on organisational leadership in a workplace and society becoming increasingly democratic. In this context, South African leaders are called to address issues of generally low productivity, a disempowered workforce, poor people management skills, poor education and skills, and continuing discrimination in the workplace. The demographic reality typical of South African organisations makes the challenge even more significant given the racially skewed employment profile. Many organisations are slowly changing their minority white male leadership presence in executive and management ranks. The majority of the workforce in non-managerial positions is still black. This requires that a paradigm shift of head and heart amongst these white managers needs to be embraced to work out the challenges of leading in a multicultural workplace that values diversity. Ironically most white South African managers moving into the global marketplace assume that they are capable of the multicultural leadership demand given the fact that the South African labour market was always heterogeneous. However the increasing challenges of respecting other cultures equally rather than from a superior-subordinate cultural position is not the same as working with people of all races in this country. South African leaders are facing pressure from all quarters. The previously disenfranchised communities feel that despite affirmative action legislation, they are still disadvantaged in their organisations. On the other hand previously advantaged white communities are also feeling let down by the system. This situation hinders both individual and organisational effectiveness. The rights of women and the disabled are also becoming critical in the management of a diverse workforce as marginalisation of these groups still continue. In the past decade diversity management has become one of the most significant management focus areas. There has been a mass of programmes aimed at helping cultures to understand and appreciate differences. Unfortunately many of these programmes address the issue of workplace diversity in a superficial manner assuming that a working knowledge of cultural practices is sufficient to enable effective workplace relationships and business excellence. The issue is much deeper than one of apparent differences. Some of the added challenges are; the nature of cultures which are constantly evolving and not static

entities, ethnic groups cannot be clearly defined and the workplace dynamically creates its own culture. The globalization of the workplace requires a mature and quick response to both local and international issues of diversity. In this context the South African leader is called to at the same time to address the disadvantages of the past and position the organisation to be globally competitive. These goals are not mutually exclusive and ones that require more than a superficial treatment of diversity as another compliance issue. Examples of Multicultural Leadership Competencies Values and attitudes. Promoting mutual respect through the development of awareness of the diversity of people we work with. This is achieved through a sincere recognition of where we are coming from as individual groups and where we want to go to as a new community. Communications styles. Developing sensitivity, awareness and knowledge of our own and cross-cultural communication styles. Also learning how to effectively get our messages across without becoming patronizing or paranoid in how we communicate. Genuine respect forgives cultural imprecision. Participation and Collaboration. Developing structures and processes for the continuous, active involvement of all stakeholders in the workplace. Do we create a space for the voice of a multi-cultural workforce? Physical environment, materials, resources. Ensuring that our places of work and business are culturally and linguistically friendly. This often shows up in external cultural symbols such as our interior decor, pictures, posters, and artwork as well as magazines, brochures and videos. Policies and procedures. The extent to which organisations are deliberate about managing diversity shows in their formal organisational systems. Do our written policies, procedures, mission statements, goals and objectives promote multicultural practices and hold leaders accountable for values-centered behaviours in the workplace? Training and professional development. Are our managers adequately trained to lead in a multicultural environment? Does our internal and external corporate training support the development of multicultural competencies in the workplace or is the training and development only focused on a dominant value and cultural system?

Dr. Stanley Arumugam Group Leadership Development Manager Sasol Limited. Rosebank. South Africa 2 April 2006 Created: 2003 - RBCT