Greener Grass or Outlandish Alien? Thoughts on 'Leading Across Cultures'
"We should be considerate and cautious, as if approaching the precipice of a deep cliff; as if stepping onto melting ice."
ONCE I HAD a conversation with the leader of an organisation consisting of more than 300 staff from more than 20 nations. He was English and fluent in French, his deputy director was German, his CTO Dutch, and his secretary Hungarian. I asked him what the key was to being a transpersonal leader to such a diverse group. He said, 'Less self'.
Discussions on 'how to achieve less self' then became our ongoing hot topic, as if it were a magnet connecting us to with one another. Interestingly, we all imagine that 'the grass is always greener on the other side'; but when we change the subject from geography to ethnography, 'we' wilfully perceive that we ourselves are correct, while 'they' are wrong; 'we' are from this planet whilst 'they' are alien. Read more here.