In Brief
The Problem
Differences in leadership culture can create unexpected paradoxes. American bosses, for example, think of themselves as egalitarian, yet to the famously hierarchical Japanese, they can come across as dictatorial. Such contrary perceptions often undermine managers operating outside their home countries.
Why It Happens
Managers often fail to distinguish between two important dimensions of leadership culture: attitudes toward authority and attitudes toward decision rights. On the first dimension, Americans are certainly more egalitarian than the Japanese. But Americans typically practice top-down decision making, whereas the Japanese have a strong tradition of building consensus.
The Solution
Leadership cultures fall into one of four categories depending on how they score along the two dimensions. Managers going into a new cultural environment must figure out which category they are moving to and adjust accordingly.
Cultural differences in leadership styles often create unexpected misunderstandings. Americans, for example, are used to thinking of the Japanese as hierarchical while considering themselves egalitarian. Yet the Japanese find Americans confusing to deal with. Although American bosses are outwardly egalitarian—encouraging subordinates to use first names and to speak up in meetings—they seem to the Japanese to be extremely autocratic in the way they make decisions. As a Japanese manager living in the United States and working for Mitsubishi put it: “I couldn’t figure out how to adapt my approach from one day to the next, because the culture was so contradictory and puzzling.”