Servant-leadership across cultures
Fons Trompenaars and Ed Voerman
Manage cross-cultural workforces using the secrets of two international leadership gurus! As our economy globalizes at ever faster rates, managing employees from diverse cultures is becoming the norm -- and it can be an extraordinarily complex task. As a leader, how do you make sure everyone's values are recognized? How do you resolve grievances arising from value differences in the most pragmatic ways? The answer is servant-leadership. Grounded in the idea that business leaders exist to serve others while remaining focused on the bottom line, servant-leadership works for Starbucks and Southwest Airlines, and they're not alone. In fact, servant-leadership is practiced at a third of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work for. Servant-Leadership Across Cultures explains how to: Identify and fulfill the needs of employees from any cultural background; Reconcile apparent contradictions, even deep-seated or culturally based ones; Tend to both long- and short-term organizational needs; Build community, social capital, and loyalty through stewardship; Manage the difference between a fatal error and a chance for improvement. You'll also benefit from the lessons of key executives from Dell, Bang & Olufsen, Motorola, Shell, and others -- all of whom have used servant-leadership to raise not just their organizations' social stature, but also the bottom line. - Back cover. We are all under new pressure toproduce more for less money—andin less time. Ultimately, this cannot bedone unless bosses are able to—in serviceof their organization—bring out the bestin their people.That is the essence of servant-leadership,the management philosophy originallyoutlined by organizational expert RobertGreenleaf in the 1970s. It's a philosophywhose time has truly come.The mission statement of TDIndustries,a regular on Fortune's list of 100 BestCompanies to Work for in America,prioritizes "intense 'people development'efforts, includingsubstantial training budgets."When an error at Motorola caused$100,000 in damages to equipment, noheads rolled; instead, the responsibleemployee was encouraged to developa system based on what he'd learned;all told, Motorola saved more than amillion dollars.When Sematech, the InternationalInstitute for Semiconductors, joinedwith competitors like Intel, AMD,Siemens, and Sony, the result wassmarter and better business for all, viashared innovation and communication.For such progressive companies, mereinstitutional power is no longer enough.Their secret is the empowerment thatservant-leadership provides, and it canmake the difference between the successof your organization and its downfall.With Servant-Leadership Across Cultures,you'll come to understand how andwhy doing the right thing pays off foreveryone—not just for your business partners,but for the world.
