discussion

How has aspects of communication theory affected your relationships in your personal life and/or with those at your workplace? Do you agree with examples below or what would you do different?

Leadership is a critical component in the global marketplace of many organizations. It is essential for the leaders within the global organization to be adept at managing and leading across borders. Though the two words are typically used interchangeably, managing and leading are two very different things and require very different skill sets to accomplish. In order to be successful an individual should utilize both in their daily interactions and work.  They become more integral when the leaders need to work across borders. Specifically, leaders need to be able to share a single and positive vision with their employees (Prabhu, 2009).  A single vision helps the leader communicate direction to the organization.  This is important when working across borders as it is easy to have the message become lost in translation. Communicating across borders requires the leader to know about a variety of differences and typically means suspending the leader’s own natural inclinations and tendencies, to forge positive respectful exchanges (Kahn, 2015). 

Communication theory begins to address the larger concerns and challenges of working cross-culturally.  Communication is the vehicle that individuals use to express themselves through behavior, ideas and emotions. Communication theory takes this one step further and pronounces that communication is the process through which individuals interact with their social environment, it helps to create the identity of the individual (Bush, 2016). Through their interactions and relationships, a person can define themselves.

These interactions are biased with cultural implications. There is a communal aspect to communication. Shared meanings and memories of the individual’s cultural group will directly impact their aspect of self (Bush, 2016). The expression ‘words matter’ was probably written or uttered because of a cultural faux pas. Language and the meaning behind spoken words can represent the speaker’s understanding or view of what is reality (Khan, 2015). That reality has the potential to not be shared or mutually understood among the organization. It is the leader’s responsibility to be aware of these cultural significances and nuances when communicating to their employees across borders.

A simple statement like ‘searching for a needle in a haystack’ which in the native American business culture means finding that one impossible solution or difficult challenge. To their native culture it would signify an opportunity to improve knowledge, build creativity and innovation.  Saying that same thing to someone of a different culture could quite literally cause mass confusion. As the employee might begin to question the message the leader is trying to invoke and whether they can lead the team to success. If the leader knows it is impossible then why are they continuing to look. To bring the same level of innovation to their cross-cultural or cross-border team a leader or manager will need to help inspire their employees, enact a long-range perspective and become more open-minded in their questioning tactics (Eve, 2014).