Leadership Styles and Cultural Intelligence in Eastern Europe

• In Event: It's About (Leadership) Style

Short Description

This presentation is based on a study utilizing nation-wide cultural intelligence (CQ)data and qualitative focus groups to examine the relationship between leadership styles and CQ in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, former soviet republics. The presentation will explore the transformation of leadership styles in the region towards more culturally intelligent leadership.

Detailed Abstract

In this comparative case study of two former soviet republics: Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, the researchers explore the relationship between leadership styles and cultural intelligence in these Eastern European countries. Adapting to new regional and global contexts, post communist countries' leaders from various industries and sectors are confronted with the need to adapt leadership patterns to encompass the changes and emerging characteristics of local and global society.
In a transitioning society, all layers of leadership development are impacted. In order to succeed in the globally oriented economy and society, cultural intelligence becomes an essential skill. The integration of cultural intelligence in the development of new leadership styles in Eastern Europe represents a challenge for the local leaders if there is a lack of understanding of what types of leadership styles are emerging in the region. Moreover, the concept of cultural intelligence itself has to be operationalized and examined to ensure it is included in the new leadership styles. This research shows that the two societies in the study are not familiar with the concept, and use various definitions for the cultural intelligence affiliated skill sets.
Researching the understanding of cultural intelligence at the national level, as well as among leaders, was necessary in order to discover how cultural intelligence is understood and how it plays a significant role in the transformation of leadership styles. The goal of the research was also to explore how CQ contributes to successful leadership in these countries. The study included country wide samples, surveying 1800 individuals in Ukraine and 1250 in the Republic of Moldova, to measure cultural intelligence at the national level. In addition, researchers explored the understanding of cultural intelligence among leaders in each country, using focus groups in both countries. They have then applied transformative leadership and democratic leadership theories to the analysis of the relationship between leadership styles in post communist countries and cultural intelligence. The focus groups revealed important layers of cultural intelligence presence in the respective societies. The findings showed the participants' understanding of the cognitive dimensions and a struggle with the metacognitive ones. The behavioral dimension of CQ did not present as much difficulty to the participants, demonstrating that they had relevant knowledge and skills related to this component of CQ. The findings of the focus groups were supported by the quantitative national studies, which also revealed a difference between the CQ levels among the two Eastern European countries. The respondents from the Republic of Moldova scored higher on all four dimensions of cultural intelligence. The study examined the differences between the two states per each CQ dimension in a comparative analysis, which shed light on the various factors that impact leadership transformation and development in the two countries.
The research concluded that there is a need to develop culturally intelligent leadership in this region, which is highly influenced still by post communism transition. It also demonstrated the economic and geopolitical need of leaders to establish themselves both regionally and internationally. The study also provides recommendations for further research in the field, and suggests future sector-based research in order to explore in more detail the diverse application of cultural intelligence in the process of leadership styles transformation in the respective societies.

Key words: leadership styles, cultural intelligence, transformative leadership, post communism.

Participants

• Diana Mirza Grisco

• Svitlana Buko

• Boyd Johnson, Indiana Wesleyan University