‘Good leaders do the dirty work’: Implicit leadership theory at the multicultural workplace

Abstract

Today, workplaces are increasingly culturally diverse, and organisational members interact across various societal cultures. Managers and employees bring with them implicit ideas of good and bad leadership, which are influenced by their cultural backgrounds. Facilitating communication and cooperation among individuals to accomplish shared goals is central to leadership, and the multicultural workplace represents new challenges and opportunities in this regard. The chapter explains how contextual factors at the institutional field and organisational levels along with individual experiences of leadership from the country of origin and the current country of residence shape the implicit ideas of leadership. This approach to culture and leadership, considering the dynamic cultural configuration, represents an alternative to the paradigm of cultural universals in cross-cultural management research. Inquiring into the implicit ideas of leadership at the workplace with loosely held cultural categories serves as an example of values work.