But many times, I still felt like an outsider. All too often, I faced situations that reminded me of how different my background was from those around me. For years, I tried to straddle the multicultural divide, wondering how long it would take until I finally felt like I “fit in.”
Being Different
Several years passed before I realized that having a slightly different background was, in fact, a good thing and something I could use to advance my personal growth and competence as a leader.
I’ve grown to understand that people think and respond in different ways, and much of that is influenced by the way they were brought up — and oftentimes, where they were brought up. So, in a multicultural team, it’s inevitable that sometimes sensibilities will be misaligned or even clash. But that’s not always a bad thing.
Let me share a recent personal example of how this can play out.
I move between my company’s offices in the U.S. and Hungary. Hungary is a fantastic place to find talented developers. However, much of our operations, including sales, marketing and accounting, happens in the U.S., which is also where most of our target customers are based.
Some time ago, I asked my U.S. marketing manager to draft some web copy for a new product set. He advocated for a cheerful, playful and even humorous style and tone of voice. He believes that digital copy should be fun to read and even more so when you’re in the business of job search — an endeavor that all too often involves disappointment, rejection and frustration.
When it came time for our developers in Hungary to start building out our pages, they were taken aback. That’s because, in the local market, there’s a belief that websites should be serious. A few of them approached me for a quiet word with one even asking, “This guy in marketing — are you sure he has all his marbles?”
Cultural Connections
Instead of brushing them off, I saw this as a great opportunity for some impromptu, mutually constructive learning within the team.
Our company is intentional about trying to “brighten” the job search space, not only through our model but also in the way we engage and communicate with job seekers. I wanted to help my developers understand the recommended writing style wasn’t undermining the integrity of our brand but rather reflecting and augmenting it. So, I asked the marketing manager to sit down with them and talk through his approach and thinking. He explained the concept of brand voice, why this type of copy would better resonate with our target market and why this was precisely the positioning that we needed to succeed.
After that, everyone on the development team was on board, and they went on to build a truly great product.
Strength in Diversity
What I took away from this experience is that there is indeed strength in diversity. “Diversity” is a term that’s often overused. Too often, it’s perceived as nothing more than a “box-ticking” exercise, or it has connotations of political correctness.
But I believe embracing diversity simply for the sake of diversity makes no sense. Diversity delivers the best results when its motivation is to enrich a business, team or product. The value of a fresh or even skeptical eye will often surprise you.
That’s why one of the cornerstones of my personal leadership approach is consciously surrounding myself with colleagues from different backgrounds. As a leader, to get the best out of people, you have to understand what makes them tick. But equally, you have to understand what doesn’t.
It’s entirely possible for two people working in similar roles to have completely different incentives. For instance, in Hungary, if someone’s unhappy in their job and their employer simply bumps up their salary a little in the hope that the problem will just go away, that might be taken as an insult.
Compare that to the U.S., where it’s usually quite normal and acceptable for people to spontaneously respond to the lure of a higher salary at another company.
There’s nothing wrong with either mindset or protocol — it’s just a different cultural context, and it’s one that leaders would do well to understand.
Meet People Where They Are
I believe the most effective leadership and teamwork happen in business when everyone is welcomed and respected because of — not in spite of — their different cultural backgrounds, life experiences and working styles and preferences.
I don’t try to shoe-horn myself or others into thinking, acting or working in a certain way. If you try to push people in a direction they don’t want to go or behave in a way that’s fundamentally at odds with their deep-seated values, no good will come of it.
But, as my website experience taught me, respectfully bringing a different voice and perspective into the room will often deliver constructive — even unexpected — outcomes that can lead to greater success for your team and your business.
