Leadership Behaviors to Motivate Asian Teams
By Michael J Griffin – Ang Mo and Bule!
4 minute read
I have been leading and motivating young leaders in Asia for over 25 years. Being an expatriate working in many Asian countries has opened my mind, eyes and behaviors to reconcile my leadership style with that of the Asians I have and still collaborate with.
Firstly, I get a bit of a laugh at the huge push and hype American companies are giving to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training. It certainly is needed across many organizations, having been raised in one of the most segregated metros in USA – Detroit, Michigan.
By living in Asia, I have had to live DEI every day managing the diverse nature of my workforce and serving our customer base. What a blessing my life has been to learn from my Asian colleagues and customers to live, accept and learn life from the great diversity of Asia. Let’s look at what I have learned.
Some leadership principles apply across cultures. I call them the ELAvate Ethics. Regardless of the race, position, sex, religion or differences you may find with your colleagues and customers these 7 ELAvate Ethics will always support your respectful collaborative leadership and teamwork in all Asian cultures.
Be proactive to improve people, process, and results
Focus on circumstances, problems or behaviours, not on the person
Protect the dignity and self-confidence of others
Sustain trusting, win-win relationships
Walk the talk and lead by example
Be a visionary and think beyond the present
Be inclusive and open to differences or ways of doing things
The 7 ELAvate Ethics are the foundation of all relationships and interactions I have with my diverse Asian colleagues and customers. These ethics won’t let you down! Practice them daily and see your leadership influence grow.
I have found that I needed to supplement the ELAvate Ethics with some “work habits” to sustain productivity and maintain high trust in the harmonious societies of Asia. I call them the ELAvate Work Habits. In many Asian work cultures, harmony and respect for authority, status and age sometimes may inhibit open trusting communication and creative problem solving. The Work Habits evolved over 25 years as I made mistakes leading Asians or making assumptions that led to not so good decisions or solutions to problems. Here are those habits from my successes and failure managing Asian teams.
Being better predictors of performance leads to our team success and lower stress. (Be transparent and realistic with the future, predictions to keep the boss happy ultimately cause more stress.)
We do not look for blame, but at the causes of problems. We then look at alternatives to fix it, and then make a decision to improve our work and happiness. Then move on. (Fear of being blamed is taken very personally in the diffuse cultures of Asia. Focus on the problem, causes and solution, not the person. Allow for members to fail forward.)
If I concentrate and improve the process, results will easily follow. (Many bosses just want the results! Better to be more patient and allow your staff to contribute to better processes that lead to better results.)
Because my business is built on relationships, I believe it’s very important that I’m a role model. (Guanxi, hubungan….being a role model of a person who can develop and maintain healthy relationships is a big accelerator of success in Asia.)
Learn and do it right the first time. Re-work drains everybody. (Create an environment where staff feel safe asking questions on how to do their work saves a lot of rework. Don’t make them feel “stupid” for trying to do a better job for you.)
We set people for success – not failure. (Create a work culture where employees serve others for mutual success. It’s not competition or comparison, but a celebration when others succeed.)
A little disharmony now leads to a greater harmony in future. (Train your team members to embrace disharmony and discomfort as it can lead to positive change and greater harmony.)
How can you make the ELAvate Ethics and Work Habits part of your organizational culture? At least once a month, our team members share stories of how they have used these ethics and work habits to carry out and be successful in their work. I suggest, you print out these ethics and work habits and facilitate a discussion with your team on what they think and feel how these might support more healthy relationships and success. Then have that monthly sharing of stories of the ethics and work habits. I guarantee new levels of team success!
Have a great week being an ethical leader!
Michael J Griffin
ELAVate Founder
Maxwell Leadership Founding Member
ELAvate Mentor and Coach