Intercultural Leadership: An Indigenous Perspective in a Multicultural World

To understand the role of culture in leadership, and to develop methods for research and practical applications, two terms have been used in trying to understand and to improve international interactions: cross-culture and intercultural. Cross-culture leadership is the dominant paradigm, and a large number of papers have been published on this concept. A more recent term in the literature is intercultural leadership. The literature reviewed on cross-cultural leadership research gives the impression that cultural differences exist only between countries or people from different nationalities, not within countries. Thus, the concept of cross-cultural leadership provides insights in multicultural settings, meaning international, but in populations trying to build a social fabric under the concept of intercultural societies, including indigenous and non-indigenous people, the concept of intercultural leadership offers a better framework to develop methods, training, and the like, needed for good governance. However, the conceptual framework of intercultural leadership is not well defined in the literature; sometimes, it overlaps with cross-cultural meaning. On the other hand, the indigenous approach to intercultural leadership is also missing in the literature. This article builds on concepts of culture, leadership, cross-culture, and intercultural views to examine the indigenous factor in the concept of intercultural leadership.