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The New Golden
Rule in Global Management
Most people in the West, and in fact in many parts of the world, are raised with the ethic of
reciprocity, "do unto others" and
treat your neighbor as you want to be treated. However, we see this needs to be significantly redefined for a global context. This rule, like so many
from our past, can be rendered both outdated and inaccurate when we enter the new multicultural workplace. We have to learn how others want to be
treated and find ways to treat them that way. So, maybe the new Golden Rule is, love your neighbors as they wish to be loved."
This requires an awareness and sensitivity to how people--who are personally and culturally
different from you--expect to be treated. Consider, for
example, the American "sin" of micromanaging. As an American manager, this is considered an ineffective, if not completely counterproductive, way to
lead an effective team. However, in some hierarchical cultures, this is the only way to get things done because individuals perform better
when
management checks in frequently.
Developing the kind of sensitivity we need to treat people the way they want and need to be
treated is not automatic, but you'll be happy to know
that it is a learnable skill.
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