Culture and Leadership

For this week's lesson, the class was assigned to read Chapter 14 out of our leadership book. The topic: Culture and Leadership. Normally, I find the readings very monotonous. However, this week's reading was intriguing. As I read about how important it is to realize other's beliefs and values based on their cultures, it made me think an aweful lot about college. My hometown is not diverse at all. Just about everyone looks the same and thinks the same. Coming to Otterbein, a very small school, I thought that it would not be very different. However, I've met a lot of different people, some from England, some from Sri Lanka, some from China, and students from all over the United States. In reading this chapter, it made me think that I need to consider other student's values as I become involved in more activities at Otterbein. Even in my profession (Nursing) will I be faced with cultural differences. It is very important to know about other cultures and consider their point of views. Otterbein has already taken a great step to thinking outside of the box. Through taking Integrative Study classes, students are forced to examine other methods of solving a problem. In addition the research and findings of this chapter are evident in our everyday lives. In the Latin American sector (countries like Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, etc) studies found that they scored high on in-group collectivism and low on performance orientation, future orientation, institutional collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance. Throughout school, I've always learned that Latin Americans focus on family rather than being time oriented. They will get to the task whenever they can. This is just one example of how these studies are valid. I really enjoyed this reading and I believe it is something that I will think about and use throughout my leadership days.