Identifying essential characteristics and competencies of good multicultural team leaders: A pilot study

Abstract

In an increasingly globalised world, where multicultural teams are becoming normative, organizational trainers are having to train people to lead multicultural teams. However, in doing so, they find themselves limited to training tools and theoretical constructs which are based on monocultural models of teamwork or cross-cultural theories of leadership. In practice, multicultural teams are far more complex than either of these and there is a need for conceptual frameworks and tools for training which are specifically designed according to the demands placed on leaders of multicultural teams. Despite an increasing literature on multiculturalism and global teams, there is a marked lack of either a well-developed theory of multicultural teams or a research-derived profile of a good multicultural team leader. This research sought to fill this gap through creating a profile of the characteristics and competencies of a good multicultural team leader. The research comprised gathering the opinions of people who have worked in multicultural teams concerning what a good multicultural team leader needs to know, be or do. Focus groups, questionnaires and interviews were employed and the data were analysed and collated into the form of a profile which defines the characteristics and competencies of a good multicultural team leader. This profile can be used as a specific tool for designing training for multicultural team leaders.