A Brief Note on the Importance of Cross-Cultural Competence to Leadership

Patrice A. Reid






















DEFENSE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH



Directed by Dr. Daniel P. McDonald, Director of Research
Spring 2011

Technical Report No. 0911


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In most COIN operations in which U.S. Forces participate, insurgents hold a
distinct advantage in their level of local knowledge. They speak the language,
move easily within the society, and are more likely to understand the
populations interests. Thus, effective COIN operations require a greater
emphasis on certain skills, such as language and cultural understanding, than
does conventional warfare. (U.S. Army/Marine Corps, 2007, 1125)
Crosscultural competence (3C) is important to war fighters as it equips them with the
requisite knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personal characteristics that enable them to
function properly in culturally diverse situations. Crosscultural competence generally refers to
the ability to operate effectively in crosscultural or diverse contexts. It prepares the individual
with the requisite skills needed for conflict resolution, communication, stress coping, language
acquisition, tolerance for ambiguity, and the experience of living in other cultures (McDonald,
McGuire, Johnston, Semelski, & Abbe, 2008). Crosscultural competence is useful in day-to-
day operations and plays a critical role in leadership functions as it promotes effective cross
cultural interactions and lends to effective behavioral skills for communicating in other cultures.
Nowadays, most teams operate in multinational and/or multicultural contexts and rely on the
requisite crosscultural knowledge, skills, and abilities that are needed to thrive in culturally
diverse environments. Leaders are often tasked with leading these teams to achieve varied
missions. Thus, in order to meet operational needs and to effectively perform in crosscultural
environments, leaders must employ vital functions such as joint/coalition operations, systems
thinking, strategic agility, forecasting trends, and building strategic networks (Johnston, Paris,
McCoy, Severe, & Hughes, 2010), as well as planning, preparing, executing, and assessing
command operations. These crosscultural functions govern the use of our Forces at the
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leadership level and ensure military personnel meet the demands of the strategic environment
while addressing potential crosscultural complexities. As seen in Table 1, core crosscultural
competencies can help to facilitate and expedite these leader functions.
Cross-Cultural Leader Functions (Johnson et al. 2010)
Joint/Coalition Operations.
Working with joint or coalition Forces often present new and complex challenges given
the inherent culturally diverse composition of such teams. According to McDonald (2008),
accepted practices, behaviors, tactics, and mission goals may differ across international Forces,
and effective coordination and integration of these commands depends upon understanding and
addressing differences effectively to create a truly integrated team (p. 2). Employing cross
cultural skills, such as effective communication strategies and perspectivetaking skills can help
to enhance and facilitate the improvement of such team dynamics. Understanding the display
rules for communicating thoughts and ideas can help to improve discussions and foster greater
cultural understanding among team members. Furthermore, perspectivetaking skills are
believed to be important as they can serve to inhibit stereotypes, prejudice, and ethnocentric
interpretations of events and behavioral cues (Abbe, Gulick, & Herman, 2007). Such skills can
also be used to as a means of recognizing similarity and differences in various groups of people
for tactical, operational, and strategic planning.
Systems Thinking involves developing an understanding of the relationships within the
operating environment/cultural context. This element is based on seeking to understand the
interconnectedness, complexity, and wholeness of the elements of systems in relation to one
another. It is important to leaders as it builds upon a units organizational awareness processes
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which, in turn, can help to improve the understanding of the mission and function of the unit
command.
Strategic Agility refers to the timely concentration, employment, and sustainment of
U.S. military power anywhere, at our own initiative, and at a speed and tempo that our
adversaries cannot match (Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1997, p. 48). It is the ability to perceive and
take advantage of opportunities through planning and execution. Being able to consciously
adjust and adapt strategic direction will allow a leader to respond to changing circumstances by
implementing culturally innovative and adaptive ways to keep his or her unit on target.
Moreover, employing cultural awareness and attention can ensure strategic sensitivity to the host
culture. In addition, the ability to rapidly redeploy resources guarantees resource fluidity to
support mission needs. Finally, being able to make decisive and definitive judgments can
generate collective commitment and buy-in.
Forecasting Strengths is essential for defense planning and policy development in order
to project the changes in policy and other cultural conditions. In a crosscultural context,
organizational awareness also helps to facilitate strength forecasting by helping a leader to assess
organizational requirements (based on cultural and operational demands) and to determine the
gains that will maintain operating strength abroad and as closely as possible to the levels
required to man a commands structure. This will ensure that a unit command is able to meet
their strategic needs and provide sustainability over a period of time.
Building Strategic Networks relies on the use and development of interpersonal skills, as
well as a leaders ability to build trust with host nationals or allies. Interpersonal skills refer to
the ability to negotiate and communicate with others from different cultures and are deemed
critical to the success of crosscultural interactions. Such skills speak to ones ability to initiate
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and maintain conversations and convey culturally-appropriate attitudes through behavior (Abbe
et al., 2007). Interpersonal skills facilitate the understanding of ideas that lend to the
interpretation of concepts, as well as nonverbal and verbal communication with people from
other cultures (McDonald et al., 2008). They include ones ability to modify typical behaviors
based on cultural differences by using a flexible range of verbal and nonverbal behaviors (Van
Dyne, 2005). It serves to provide a cultural map of the social situation to function effectively
in a new context.
Furthermore, the interpersonal skills component considers relationalbuilding and
maintenance, information transfer, and compliancegaining (Ruben, 1989) as being crucial to
building strategic networks. Relationalbuilding is concerned with the development and
maintenance of positive relationships (Ruben, 1989). Thus, these skills require that leaders
possess non-ethnocentric attitudes and demonstrate such beliefs by displaying respect and
maintaining a nonjudgmental stance when interacting with host nationals (Abbe et al., 2007;
Ruben & Kealey, 1979). Relational building may also involve rapport building and nonverbal
communication. Informationtransfer refers to the leaders ability to understand and
communicate information in culturally appropriate terms (Ruben, 1989). Using such skills, a
leader can demonstrate active listening thereby displaying respect and sensitivity to host country
issues (Abbe et al., 2007). Finally, compliancegaining competence is defined as the leaders
ability to persuade and secure cooperation in a culturally appropriate manner (Ruben, 1989).
Doing so may require the use of culturally appropriate negotiation techniques. Thus, relational
building and maintenance, information transfer, and compliancegaining all represent important
interpersonal skills which produce successful intercultural outcomes for building strategic and
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trusted networks. According to the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual
(2007):
Over time, successful trusted networks grow like roots into the populace.
They displace enemy networks, which forces enemies into the open, letting
military forces seize the initiative and destroy the insurgents. Trusted
networks are diverse. They include local allies, community leaders, and
local security forces. Networks should also include nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), other friendly or neutral nonstate actors in the area
of operations, and the media. (p. 294)
Planning, Preparing, Executing, and Assessing Operations.
Successful counterinsurgency strategies depend on thoroughly understanding the culture
of which it is being operated. Hence, crosscultural competence aids in the understanding of
cultural concepts, social rules and norms, as well as the social, political, and military structure
required in being able to plan, prepare, and execute operations effectively. It equips leaders with
the insight needed to encourage and assign personnel to critical roles in the execution process.
Furthermore, effective assessment is necessary for commanders to recognize changing
conditions and determine their meaning. It is crucial to successful adaptation and innovation by
commanders within their respective area of operations (U.S. Army/Marine Corps, 2007, p. 4
25). Crossculturally competent leaders can therefore provide strategic approaches to the
systematic incorporation of culturally competent values, structures, and practices within unit
commands in order to lead and motivate a diverse Force.

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References
Abbe, A., Gulick, L.M.V., & Herman, J. (2007). Crosscultural competence in army leaders:
A conceptual and empirical foundation. Report prepared by the United States Army
Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arlington, VA
Johnston, J., Paris, C., McCoy, C., Severe, G., & Hughes, G. (2010). A framework for Cross
cultural competence and learning recommendations. Paper submitted to Defense
Language Office. Rosslyn, VA
Joint Chiefs of Staff (Winter 1997/1998). National military strategy: Shape, respond, prepare
nowA military strategy for a new era. The DISAM Journal, 4749.
McDonald, D. (2008). A brief note on the multi-layered nature of cross-cultural competence.
(DEOMI Technical report No. 2208). Patrick A.F.B., FL: DEOMI.
McDonald, D.P., McGuire, G., Johnston, J., Selmeski, B., & Abbe, A. (2008). Developing
and managing crosscultural competence within the Department of Defense:
Recommendations for learning and assessment. Paper submitted to Deputy Under
Secretary of Defense (Plans). Washington, DC: OSD.
Ruben, B. D. (1989). The study of crosscultural competence: Traditions and contemporary
Issues. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 13, 229240.
Ruben, B. D., & Kealey, D. J. (1979). Behavioral assessment of communication competency
and the prediction of crosscultural adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations, 3, 1547.
U.S. Army/Marine Corps (2007). U.S. Army Counterinsurgency Field Manual. University of
Chicago Press: Chicago, IL.
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Van Dyne, L. (2005). The Cultural Intelligence Center. Retrieved from
http://culturalq.com/index.html.

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Table 1

CrossCultural Competence Framework
Core Competencies Definitions
1
Cultural
Knowledge
Acquires and applies knowledge of factual information about a country/regions past and
current (a) social, political, and military structure, (b) economy, (c) belief system, and (d)
national security situation
Applies knowledge in planning and other activities
Makes sense of inconsistent information about social rules and norms
2
Organizational
Awareness
Understands the mission and functions of ones own organization
Comprehends how the social, political, and technological systems work in ones own
organization
Operates effectively within the organization by applying knowledge of organizations
missions and functions, including the programs, policies, procedures, rules, and regulations
3
Cultural
Perspective-
Taking
Demonstrates an awareness of ones own cultural assumptions, values, and biases, and
understands how the U.S. is viewed by members of another region/culture
Applies perspective-taking skills to detect, analyze, and consider the point of view of others
and recognizes how the other will interpret his/her actions
Takes the cultural context into consideration when interpreting environmental cues
4
Communication

Interprets and uses a range of acceptable behaviors and display rules, and understands how
different methods of nonverbal communication (e.g., facial expressions and gestures,
personal distance, sense of time) are relevant in different contexts
Follows norms about and is sensitive to assertiveness in communicating
Listens carefully to others, paying close attention to the speakers point of view
Communicates thoughts and ideas in a way that is relevant to the listener
Adjusts communication style to meet expectations of audience
Seeks additional clarifying information when necessary
5
Interpersonal
Skills
Develops and maintains positive rapport by showing respect, courtesy, and tact with others
Understands and interacts effectively with a variety of people, including those who are
difficult, hostile, or distressed
Relates and adjusts well to people from varied backgrounds in different situations
6
Cultural
Adaptability
Gathers and interprets information about people and surroundings to increase awareness
about how to interact with others
Integrates well into situations in which people have different values, customs, and cultures
Adjusts behavior or appearance as necessary to comply with or show respect for others
values and customs
Understands the implications of ones actions and adjusts approach to maintain positive
relationships with other groups, or cultures

Note. The CrossCultural Competence Framework is from Johnson et al. (2010)