Leadership Journeys: Dima Ghawi Offers Insights Into Leading Global Teams
About 10 years ago, Dima Ghawi was selected for an expatriate assignment to work in Japan. She says she immediately started researching the Japanese culture and asked her American manager what she needed to do to make this prestigious and exciting assignment a success. Her manager gave her what was in retrospect some of the worst possible advice: “Just be yourself.”“I moved to Japan, and was myself,” Ghawi says. “My leadership style in the U.S. brought me recognition and rewards. My directness had been positively perceived by my direct reports and senior executives; that was why they selected me for this assignment in the first place. I had the reputation of getting work done on time.”But by following that manager’s advice, she says, after a few months she realized that she was not getting a good response from her Japan team. “My team became unengaged. Members were missing due dates and targets; they seemed uninvested in the projects, and were resisting my efforts to follow up and stick to the schedule,” Ghawi says.She said she reached a breaking point and decided to ask her Japan colleagues, friends and anyone open to providing feedback what she was doing to disengage her team. The response that she received was eye-opening and consistent: “I was told that as I started my assignment I was focused on the business results instead of first spending the time on building relationships with the individual team members. They needed to trust me first in order to be engaged, and in this situation they could not.”This input changed the way Ghawi approached leadership. She says the experience has given her deep insights in how to be an effective leader in the global age, which she draws upon as she continues her work as an international speaker and business consultant. Here are her tips.
Start With Trust to Build Relationships
Trust is the basis for nearly all good relationships, and getting it starts with giving it. “By making an effort and focusing on opening up, and building trustful relationships first with each team member, I found that everything else fell into place and eventually business results were not just achieved, but even overachieved,” Ghawi says.Ghawi says she also invested the time to learn the complexities of Japanese etiquette and practiced them. The simplest actions made a significant difference, such as the appropriate way to bow, how to handle business cards respectfully and where to sit at a table or in a car to reflect hierarchy and status.
Highlight Similarities
It’s easy to focus on cultural differences, but leaders must pay attention to universal similarities, Ghawi says. We all have similar needs and aspirations — people regardless of their culture want to contribute and do a good job, want to follow and feel connected to their leader, and want to feel appreciated and recognized for their work. “When we focus on our similarities, our differences and borders dissolve,” she says.
Be Adaptable
Leaders must be able to adapt quickly to their team’s cultures and find what they value. The concepts of “one size fits all” and “one right way” must be set aside, because what works in the U.S. is not necessarily anywhere near effective in other countries, Ghawi says. “As leaders, it is our responsibility to keep the team engaged and motivated, regardless [of] where they are located around the world,” she says. This requires flexibility and transformation on the part of the leader, but it’s vital for success.
Apply It at Home, Too
These tips aren’t just for individuals who work outside the U.S., Ghawi says. “Most people, when they think about leading a global team, they relate that to teams located internationally. But we’re all part of a melting pot, and we are working with various cultures even when we are located here within the U.S. borders. Being culturally aware is very important, and learning to build trustful relationships and be adaptable is critical for business here in the U.S. as well,” she says.Ghawi says that after her experience in Japan, she has a modified version of that initial advice that she received from her manager: “Be your culturally aware, sensitive and respectful self.”Looking for ways to develop leaders at your organization? Contact us to learn about our leadership development and coaching offerings.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.