4 Multicultural Leadership Strategies that Drive Success
Book Giveaway!!
20 copies available!!
Leave a comment on this guest post by author Dr. Juana Bordas to become eligible to win a copy of The Power of Latino Leadership: Culture, Inclusion, and Contribution. (20 copies available.)
Deadline for eligibility is 04/01/2023. Winners outside the continental US will receive an electronic version.
Leading from a multicultural framework grows people’s choices, capacities, and adaptability.
4 multicultural leadership strategies:
#1. Cultivate Collaborative, People-Centered Environment
Authentic inclusion requires a shift from an “I” orientation to a “WE” people-centered one.
Mainstream culture emphasizes individualism. Most cultures in the world, including communities of color, are collective and reciprocal. Leaders work for group success before personal gain or credit. Working side-by-side, leaders increase people’s belief they too can lead.
Action step: Foster the WE identity. Solicit participation – ask people to craft a shared vision, outcomes, roles, contributions, and responsibilities. Celebrate results. Share rewards.
#2. Getting to Know You, Really
People and relationships are the heartbeat of WE cultures.
I begin leadership programs with people sharing family stories, values, and strengths. I have been told, “I worked with Jessica many years, but never knew her until now.” One generation ago, we would have known each other’s grandparents.
Today’s mobility requires leaders to build belonging in the workplace.
Action step: Invite people to share family background, values, lessons, and strengths. Weave a “community history” from their stories.
#3. Mi Casa es su Casa—
This saying frames the generosity of collective cultures.
Demonstrate generosity by:
- Sharing about yourself.
- Treating everyone fairly.
- Investing in development.
- Showing appreciation and respect to people regardless of organizational positions.
This levels the playing field and nurtures equitable environments.
Action step: Be accessible and authentic – practice transparency. Have an “open door policy” with specific times to get to know people.
#4. Embrace an Intergenerational Approach
Ten thousand baby boomers retire every day. 60% of the U.S. population are Millennials or younger. How do we foster intergenerational collaboration that values the wisdom of experience and the promise of youth?
Action step: Utilize intergenerational practices: serve as allies; cultivate circular not hierarchical relationships; provide meaningful participation; pass on knowledge and experience.
How might leaders develop multicultural strategies?
Dr. Juana Bordas is the author of the second edition of The Power of Latino Leadership: Culture, Inclusion, and Contribution, which was released today. It is the first book squarely focused on how Latinos lead. A Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame inductee, she was also the first Latina to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Leadership Association. Dr. Bordas’ book Salsa, Soul and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age is considered seminal work in the leadership field and received The International Latino Book Award in Leadership.
Leave your comment below to become eligible to win.
Great advice, especially for us in education!
Looking forward to read it !
Inclusion is very important to building strong teams. Looking forward to this read.
Understanding perspectives and cultural motivations is key to embracing and building a thriving diverse community. Although each person has their own unique story, cultural influences are certainly impactful.
Truly interesting material. I could not agree more with the topic, and the content! I sincerely hope I become eligible to win a copy of the book. Warm greetings from multicultural Mexico City!
Very valuable points here Dan. Thank you. As a person working in the middle east in Dubai I find the multi-cultural, Expatriate nature of work culture here can benefit very well if one follows your suggestions. We can still find a collective identity despite the transient nature of jobs as expatriates. Super.
Leading with multicultural strategies will be a conscious effort, but motivational and exciting. When I first became principal of a diverse school, many of our staff were Latino. The neighboring town celebrated each year with a Puerto Rican Day Parade. I remember how the staff brought me clothing and dressed me for the parade. I led our group through the streets, celebrating with a wonderful flair I had never experienced prior. They then shared food and music with me. I think this author has something magical to share with leaders.
Great post! I’m all in!
@RESETENERGY we have a great CEO named Chris Villegas and he has ushered in a culture of love and respect. We are a multicultural organization with several minority groups and female employees represented. We are expanding internationally and look to hire several new engineers from India and have agency agreements with business leaders in the Middle East, Italy and Australia. The attributes of inclusion and collaboration are front and center in our organization and the WE in our organization dominates as opposed to the I management style. This is evident and prevalent throughout our team.
Powerfully simple and transformative! Incorporating these ideas will affect positive change in any team or organization. Dr. Juana Bordas has certainly created a “drop the mic” book.
I am always on the lookout for resources that will help us bridge understanding and build relationships. This work looks promising for the future superintendents I teach.
I believe authenticity and transparency help drive so many other dimensions of leadership!
This advice is on point! Sharing values allows us to better understand each other and find similarities.
Thanks for this. The post speaks to inclusion and authenticity and putting people first. Great reminders for creating culture in any organization.
Number 4 is spot on as the need for embracing intergenerational approaches in the workplace is so important. As a 55 year old, I can see the importance of how people who are in their 20’s and 30’s see the workplace and do their work. Conversely, there is the need to still embrace a non-tech approach to the work where relationships still matter. Blending and collaboration between generations helps to benefit everyone in the workplace.
great post thank you
Taking a collective approach to how we do work in the US versus an individualistic approach may be the only thing that keeps us from falling apart as a society.
This is such a refreshing article to read. Great take-a-ways for organization’s leadership to take away.
Working in childcare we not only employ a diverse workforce but we also serve a diverse set of families. As a Director, I have been working on being more transparent with our teachers, making it known I am here for them and their needs, and that we will not tolerate treating members of our team any differently (not ruling by opinion.) I do find that I am struggling to not spread myself too thin and to empower the teachers here to lead more. I feel a read like this would be insightful for me as a still newly developing Director.
This is something I have practiced for years with my team. The more sharing moments I facilitated the more the team wanted. Ultimately, they started doing it on their own.
Looking forward to read more about cultural leadership.
These are powerful strategies!
Love the idea of: cultivate circular not hierarchical relationships
(This aligns with #1 in the post)
Prioritizing inclusivity in decision-making:
Leaders should prioritize inclusivity in decision-making by considering the perspectives and needs of everyone involved. This can help ensure that decisions are equitable and inclusive, and that everyone’s voice is heard.
Alan Brunacini – former Chief of the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department once asked the question “How’re you going to change?” when told young people of today do not share the values of current leadership within the fire service. Sounds like Dr. Bordas is expanding upon this theme. Excited to read her book!
Yes, agreed. Cultivate circular not hierarchical relationships. Circular, as in around cups of cafecito! 😉
Just had this conversation with a colleague and administrator this morning on the importance of embracing, being collective, and inclusiveness of cultures! We all agreed that more is needed! I look forward to reading this book! Thank you!
I love your blog and am so glad to see this topic. I am working on a degree in leadership and learning and this is so important in the workplace! Thank you for highlighting this. I agree thses action steps are important steps to take in any organizational setting: Utilize intergenerational practices: serve as allies; cultivate circular not hierarchical relationships; provide meaningful participation; pass on knowledge and experience. Please share more idea about how to accomplish this.
Jill
I hold membership in three international organizations; I am serving on the leadership Planning Team currently. The goals are to review of our past leadership, examine current leadership as we look to keep our leadership relevant in the future. I can’t wait to read your book. I believe it holds the key to my organizations being an example of inclusion while fostering the WE identity and training the next leaders. I Your book become the primary resource.
Thelma Johnson
Mi corazón sonrió y mi alma se llenó de orgullo cuando leí el nombre: Dra. Juana Bordas. As a Latina leader, my heart yearns to see Latin@s represented in scholarly work. Thank you for contribution to the leadership field and for being the role model that I seek out. ¡Mil de gracias!
I love the perspective of this author. Having lived and worked in several different countries and experienced community, “we” has become part of how I want to lead my team. I think reading this book would help me be more intentional in demonstrating and modeling a community attitude.
Great advice, looking forward to read the book
Having worked in places where the concepts discussed in this post were practiced, I can say it does create more productive teams and made me personally happy to show up to work every day.
Thankful that the value of intergenerational collaboration is recognized! We are better together 🙂
so looking forward to reading this intriguing book just by its title
“Be accessible and authentic – practice transparency. Have an “open door policy” with specific times to get to know people.” So important! Getting to know people as individuals is essential to working together.
This sounds like a very interesting read. Diversity and inclusion is such an important part of any company’s culture and I love the quote stating: “People and relationships are the heartbeat of WE cultures”.
Thank you for another great article!
Awesome information! Looking forward to checking out the book The Power of Latino leadership!
Wonderful post! I foster the WE concept all the time as it helps to unify a team environment
Well said!!! Leaders work for group success before personal gain or credit. Can’t wait to learn more from your book!
Congratulations on the new book!
#2- I start a training with a similar exercise called Getting to Know YOU…plan to incorporate some of your additional points for discussion and staff retention.
#3- I haven’t thought of generosity in this context and appreciate the new view.
Phenomenal. As a gringo who moved to Medellin with his tiny dog, we were greeted with a billboard advertising a local play, GringoLombia. We had to learn how to learn, accept culture. Made a genuine effort to culturally immerse. Most fulfilling experience in my life.
Soooo many truth nuggets to dig into with this article – VERY impactful. The one that stood out to me and will require more of a deep dive is “cultivate circular not hierarchical relationships.” I had not heard of the circular relationship concept before. Thank you for guest writing, Dr. Bordas!
simple but deep applicable truth for successful leadership
Amazing post. Always looking forward to reading your posts.