Globalisation, rapidly advancing technology, changing demographics and shifting social structures have pushed people together in organisations, bringing into sharp focus identity boundaries which previously may not have been evident. Such identity boundaries are an unavoidable aspect of the modern workplace. They can take many different forms including gender, age, race, religion, nationality, job function, level, and region.
When they inevitably collide, they can either cause minor frictions which can be easily and quickly resolved or reveal deep fault lines which may significantly affect organisational functioning. In either case, when an identity divide opens up, people often look to leaders for direction and to bridge the identity gap.
Barriers to effectiveness
Leaders who try to effectively bridge identity divides face several obstacles. First, leaders are often pulled in multiple directions between conflicting group values, viewpoints, and beliefs. Second, they are commonly pushed to one side. A leader is a member of some identity groups and not a member of others. Despite a leader's best efforts to be impartial and fair, members of different groups will form perceptions based solely on the social grouping of the leader.
And third, leaders are all too frequently caught out of the loop. This is in part because of the natural tendency for information to be filtered as it moves up the organisational hierarchy, and in part because more often than not, leaders are themselves members of traditionally advantaged and dominant social groups. In these instances, leaders often lack critical awareness and knowledge of the fault lines that reside just below the surface.
Know thyself
Experience and research in the field of leadership development have established that self-awareness brought about by focusing inward is a key to generating effective leadership skills such as influencing others, resilience, adaptability, self-confidence and planning. Tools and processes to create self-awareness such as 360-degree feedback, personality assessment, mentoring, peer feedback and coaching have proven successful in facilitating self-awareness.
Nevertheless in today's complex business environment, it is no longer sufficient for leaders to be aware of their capabilities, motivations, styles and values. To lead effectively, today's leaders must also gain knowledge of their social identities - their membership in certain social groups and the implications of belonging to these groups.
The Center for Creative Leadership's latest study, Bridging Cultural Boundaries, has uncovered that this additional dimension of self-knowledge is key to effectiveness for leaders operating in Asia and in countries around the world.
Your identity defines perceptions
On one hand, gaining awareness of identity boundaries helps leaders understand how others perceive and respond to them. On the other hand, this awareness helps leaders better appreciate the alternate viewpoints and value systems of others with different life experiences. This appreciation is a vital first step in bridging differences.
Consider the different impressions formed in people's mind through a simple act of an executive, pounding his or her fist on a table to emphasise a point during a meeting. Each perception is influenced to a large extent on his or her membership in a social group. If the executive is male, others may perceive his actions as appropriately emphatic. If the executive is a female, others may perceive her as being emotional. And the fist-pounding may be interpreted in various other ways, depending on his or her nationality and race. Regardless of whether it is right or wrong, people interpret the actions of the protagonist differently, depending on his or her social identity.
Leaders today are increasingly challenged to bridge a new type of boundary rooted in human identity. Increasing awareness of identity differences in oneself and others will help leaders to connect with those with very different life perspectives. It is only then that leaders can begin to effectively facilitate cross-boundary interactions, creating the linkages necessary to move ideas, information, people and resources where they are most needed.
Chris Ernest
Director of APAC Research Center for Creative Leadership Singapore
www.ccl.org
