For many leaders who work in foreign countries, navigating direct communication styles feels like stepping into a minefield without a roadmap.
Becoming a leader and continuing to build an effective leadership style isn’t about avoiding elephants in the room – every challenge that shows up provides an opportunity to lean back and view it with different lenses.
Cultural diversity can be leveraged as a competitive edge when differences are turned into opportunities for growth and creativity.
Imagine accepting blunt feedback as a tool for clarity rather than confrontation?
What if you leaned into direct conversations, not just to foster better understanding and alignment, but to get curious, ask questions, motivate people, and strengthen inclusivity?
In this two-part guide, I will break down the mindset shifts and strategies that transform uncomfortable communication into actionable leadership tools.
Leverage Cultural Diversity as a Powerful Asset
Leadership in multicultural teams inherently demands an open and inclusive mindset. Success is achieved when you check your habitual ways of thinking and working, and continuously check-in with your inherent biases.
Stop leaning in – lean back instead to be intentional
Recognize cultural differences as valuable diversity in perspectives, skills, and tools that you, as a manager and leader, can skillfully leverage as key resources.
For example, in many European and Middle Eastern meetings, direct communication is valued as an efficient way to lead a discussion. It is not intended to be confrontational or combative. When you start to feel an emotional response rising inside you, try instead to look at the communicator as an ally. Consider their directness an effective approach to saving time and resolving the issues from their ways of thinking and experience. Remain transparent and avoid the urge to decipher underlying meanings. Lean back, listen, and ask open-ended questions.
When someone says, “I don’t agree with the direction we are taking”, recognize the opportunity: a chance to innovate, refine the approach, and deliver stronger, more impactful ideas and results. By opening your perspective, you become a curious leader who is adaptable, insightful, and ready to harness the talent around you.
Adopt a Direct yet Diplomatic Style
In environments where clarity is king, leaders who master direct communication gain respect, influence and loyalty from their direct reports.
Practical strategies include:
- Aim for Clarity: Communicate in a way that is concise and straightforward, with actionable next steps and expectations.
- Be Adaptable: Engage with feedback from others by asking, “What specifically do you have in mind? How do you see that working? Does it align to the outcome you are expected to deliver?”
- Start Listening: Stop talking and encourage a culture of initiative, empowerment and accountability from the people around you.
Directness does not mean abandoning tact. It means speaking with purpose, delegating and setting expectations without confusion. It shapes your thinking to be more intentional.
Lead with Purpose & Impact
Ready to explore how you can turn diversity into a strategic advantage?
Karen Flynn is a Leadership Performance Coach who has worked across four continents and champions the transformation of multi-culturalism in the workplace into discovery, collaboration, and trust.
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