When Leaders Cross Cultures: A Story About Which Values Bend—and Which Refuse
Leaders rarely realize how many of their values are cultural until they leave home. They step into a new environment believing they are bringing “universal” principles, only to discover that universality is a myth. What happens next—what bends (transforming values, in Alanazi & Leaver's terminology), what holds (conforming [to the first culture] values in Alanazi & Leaver's terminology—reveals more about the leader’s inner architecture than any résumé ever could. Here are three short narratives that show how this plays out. 1. The American in Dubai: Learning to Slow Down Without Losing Purpose When Mark arrived in Dubai to lead a regional project team, he carried the classic American toolkit: direct communication, quick decisions, and a belief that transparency was always the highest virtue. He assumed these were leadership values. In reality, they were cultural habits. He learned this the hard way. In his first month, he pushed for rapid timelines and blunt feedback....