Culture


I used to think……

Culture was:
Ethnicity
Race
Language
Differences
Travel
Individualism

I am learning….

Culture is a complex. Erin Meyer (2014) in her book The Culture Map examines culture using 8 areas (communicating, evaluating, persuading, leading, deciding, trusting, disagreeing and scheduling) on a scale from Low to High Context. By examining a culture using this scale an individual gains insight and information to guide their behaviour, challenge assumptions, compare beliefs and values in order to better understand. This exercise allows leaders to identify blindspots, challenges and strengths. Having a deeper understanding of culture allows us to develop stronger relationships with staff, students, parents and our community.

“Leaders have always needed to understand human nature and personality differences to be successful in business-that’s nothing new. What’s new is the requirement for twenty-first century leaders to be prepared to understand a wider, richer array of work styles than ever before and to be able to determine what aspects of an interaction are simply the result of personality and which are a result of differences in cultural perspective” (Meyer, 2014, p.252).

What are you learning?

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