Define and Describe the Competency
Social and cross-cultural skills are the skills leaders need to effectively operate in the modern organizational world where the employee force consists of diverse ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. It provides leaders and employees with the necessary skills to communicate, build relationships, and bring about an understanding between diverse cultures. In a similar note, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) refers to the practice of creating an organizational environment of fairness, especially towards those who have been historically discriminated against or have been underrepresented (Hays-Thomas, 2022).
Contribution to Leadership Ability
Understanding and embracing social and cross-cultural skills along with practicing diversity and inclusion has enabled me to effectively lead diverse teams in my professional career. Diversity affects every function within an organization including hiring, training, evaluation, and job execution. When a leader embraces these skills, their respective organizations often attract more talented applicants, exhibit greater innovation and creativity, experience better problem-solving, and are more institutional flexibility.
Importance Towards Organizational Leadership
Social & Cross-Cultural Skills are becoming more and more important in the modern world and workforce. Remote work brings more freedom to employees but also brings a larger employee pool for employers. Many US companies have increased the rate in which they hire foreign workers for remote positions by up to 300% (Smith, 2023). Even when excluding remote positions, foreign born workers in the United States make up over 19% of the total workforce (USA Facts Team, 2023). It is imperative that future leaders are equipped with the knowledge and skills to not only effectively manage diverse and multicultural teams but also provide a fair and inclusive environment for all employees.
Demonstrating My Growth and Development
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are often perceived as buzzwords or only viewed as corporate training topics. Other times these skills are touched upon in training literature but not fully embraced by managers and leaders. I have personally been through these trainings in the military and private sectors. The surface level training was typically less than engaging and did not properly represent the full extent of the topic or its importance. However, after learning more through courses available at ASU, I understand how beneficial these skills can be for leaders and organizations.
Social and Cross-Cultural Skills Artifact
Working on multinational teams, especially when overseas, can be difficult for a multitude of reasons. Differences in religion, cultural customs, schedules, and language barriers offer challenges. When I was a lead maintenance instructor, I trained dozens of Saudi technicians and pilots in aircraft maintenance and piloting skills. After my team and I arrived to the site, we worked hard to build our relationships and earn their trust. After about four months, the Royal Saudi Land Forces awarded us different tokens of their appreciation.
References
Hays-Thomas, R. (2022). Managing Workplace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis.
Smith, M. (2023, June 9). Remote jobs are moving overseas and to smaller U.S. cities: “The same skills for 60% of the cost.” CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/09/remote-jobs-are-moving-overseas-and-to-smaller-us-cities.html
USA Facts Team. (2023, November 14). How Many Immigrants Are in the American workforce? USAFacts. https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-immigrants-are-in-the-american-workforce/