by Ariane Baer-Harper
My passion for speaking about cultural competence in school leadership started subtly over the years of working in international schools across several continents. It grew during moments with a colleague when I didn’t realize I had upset them, or in conversations where I felt I was missing nuances I thought I should catch, and even when I caught them, I might drop them without taking their importance into account. I always felt a little “off” talking with my colleagues who were not American, and more often than not, I decided to keep to myself.
It was easier to stay aloof than feel I was doing something wrong. When I discovered Hofestede Insights and its country comparison tool, I remember spending countless hours down the rabbit hole of comparing the countries I had worked with to my native culture, the United States. After several “a-ha!” moments, I realized how ingrained our values are in how we approach international educational leadership. Often, leaders are not aware that cultural values serve as directional signs on roadmaps for achieving the school’s mission. School leaders have the responsibility to recognize that while we are all on a path to the same destination (our mission), that much like a GPS, there is more than one way to get to where we need to collectively go.
Multiple Paths, One Mission
Although we are working towards the same mission in our schools, the way we get there may be different. The first step in acknowledging that our paths may differ is to encourage everyone on our teams to start the journey and become aware of the various directions everyone may wish to go. In which direction are their values sending them? Will they go the collective route, the fast route, the route with the most signs that confirm they are on the right track, or the route that has the best views and pauses? This is precisely what great leadership requires.
Antoine St. Exupéry, the famed author of Le Petit Prince, described values-driven leadership in the following way when comparing the destination to building a ship.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
How, as leaders, do we get our staff to yearn for the endless immensity of the sea so that, while we may start at different times and go down different paths, we trust that we will reconnect along the way toward our common destination of building that ship? In all my years in leadership professional development, and thinking of all the management tools I have learned, it starts with understanding the cultural values each member on the journey espouses. If leaders understand how a person’s values allow them to yearn, then they will speak the right GPS language for them, which will get them to the destination. The answer lies in understanding cultural values.
The Myth of Assumed Buy-in
Creating a culture of buy-in is imperative for schools as people work cohesively to move in their own way, at their own pace, and on the path that responds best to their values. Yet, as school leaders, we often make a critical mistake: we think that buy-in happens organically. If an idea sounds good to us, then it should sound good to everyone, right? If we tell everyone, “let’s go!”, we think they will follow. We think we have identified the why, and if we share it, then everyone is on board. Oftentimes, this is not such an illogical way of thinking and does work. The problem lies in our assumptions that it does work. Even if the mission and vision are strong and you are an excellent leader who has no problem conveying the why to your staff, leaders need to take the time to get individual buy-in because sustainability around performance and engagement is directly linked with a sense of belonging. When you take the time to get everyone’s buy-in, it communicates a very important message to your team. It tells them: you matter to me and you belong. Essentially, I see you, and it’s okay what path you want to take; the importance is that we all meet up at the end.
It is very hard to lead in International settings with inclusion, even if you have the best intentions, if you don’t, as a leader, understand a person’s cultural values. This is why I became so interested in delving into Hofestede’s work. I’ll take, as an example, Senegal, where I led for almost ten years. It is a culture that values community over individualism (the opposite of the United States, which is my native culture). If you look at Hofstede’s country comparison chart below, the USA, in purple, ranks 91 in individualism compared to 25 in blue for Senegal.
If your employees come from a society that values community over individualism, they will not automatically feel comfortable taking initiative when asked for it. They may even fear that it will be frowned upon by others from the same culture who have greater tenureship or status. If we don’t understand this, then as leaders, we might get frustrated by the lack of progress we see around us, assume the other has no motivation, or, in a worst case scenario – start the journey to the destination and leave that person behind – never fully understanding that this has more to do with misunderstood cultural value around community than a lack of desire to work towards the shared goal.
Leading with Cultural Intelligence
Given these realities, we have a responsibility as international leaders to understand the role values play for each culture represented in our schools, and once we understand their importance, we can create an environment that inspires everyone to bring their best skills to the group, their unique perspectives, and personal buy-in to reach the destination.
In my current school, Austin International School, we have over 65 nationalities and cultures represented in our school. That is a lot of country comparisons! So, when I think back to St. Exupéry’s wisdom, there is not one right way to build a boat, and so as a leader, I should not be giving out instructions on how to build a boat. Rather, I should be reminding everyone of our purpose and where we are heading, allowing them to take the path that feels safest for them based on what they learned was important about things like success, collaboration, community, and long-term goal setting. When international school leaders understand that Cultural Quotient is the most important Q in achieving strong teams, you end up with many yearners, and the school’s purpose is more easily fulfilled.
Summary:
As leaders, our greatest challenge is not to manage difference, but to understand it, honor it, and leverage it for a collective purpose. We must reflect on our own cultural values and how they shape our leadership style. A great starting place is by exploring Hofstede’s cultural dimensions with your team to spark dialogue about how values show up in daily decisions. And regularly ask yourself: Am I giving directions, or am I inspiring yearning? When we lead with cultural intelligence, we don’t just build better schools – we build belonging.
Ariane Baer-Harper, Head of School, Austin International School, Texas
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