When Teams Collide: Managing the International Team Successfully

Description

International teams are rapidly becoming the central operating mode for global enterprises. They are often agile and perceptive, know local markets better than HQ does, lead innovation and exploratory ventures, and are more culturally aware than their parent company. But how much autonomy should they be allowed? How can we get things done with colleagues who have different worldviews? How can we strike a balance between core values and the necessary diversity - and is diversity within the team a strength or a hindrance? What is the role of the team leader in all of this? How do you establish team trust? How important is team humor? Who decides the team's ethics? What misunderstandings can arise in a virtual team, lacking face-to-face contact? In answering these and other questions, Richard D. Lewis draws on 30 years experience mediating with hundreds of international teams in two dozen countries. Generously illustrated with explanatory diagrams, When Teams Collide analyses profiles of 24 different nationalities and suggests how they should be led for best results. Commenting on vital considerations of leadership, team trust, ethics and humor, the author also evaluates the relationship between teams and HQ. Applying the cultural concepts in the bestselling When Cultures Collide specifically to team leadership, this is a wide-ranging and compelling account of how to handle what is a difficult and sensitive task.

Richard Lewis is the Chairman of Richard Lewis Communications, an international institute of cross-cultural and language training with offices in over 30 countries. He founded the quarterly magazine 'Cross Culture' in 1989 and is heavily involved in the intercultural field, lecturing in countries from Finland to Hong Kong and working with companies as diverse as Fiat, IBM, Nokia, Andersen Consulting and Nestle. He lives near Winchester, and is one of Britain's foremost linguists, speaking 12 languages including Japanese from when he tutored the Imperial Family. His booksinclude Finland, Cultural Lone Wolf and he was knighted by President Ahtisaari of Finland in 1997.

Richard Lewis has outdone himself, no small feat. When Teams Collide synthesizes much of his earlier, excellent, work while also furthering those efforts by grounding his LMR framework firmly within real life, real people, and real situations. The case-based approach which Lewis uses in When Teams Collide allows those who are coming to the Lewis model for the first time to see his ideas in action and to understand those ideas with great ease and high impact. And the expansive breadth and scope of When Teams Collide gives even those of us firmly familiar with the Lewis Model novel insight and rich new approaches to our work developing effective and appropriate cross-cultural acumen and efficacy. No one involved in 21st century business would argue with Lewis' assertion that "There is no simple way of training someone to manage an international team", but When Teams Collide provides invaluable foundations, examples and inroads for that training. From highlighting tactical considerations of language use and leadership hierarchies, to finessing essential abstractions like humor, ethics and trust-formation, Lewis shines renewed and energetic light on strategies and practices for global, cross-cultural, team-oriented success. And all of these immediately applicable scenarios and strategies rest snuggly and well within the Lewis Model's LMR framework, a framework which everyone involved in cross-cultural training, global business, or nearly any work which involves multi-faceted individuals working together should not only know but embrace. As ever, Lewis makes this model easily accessible and infinitely valuable. Don't kid yourself: you may not yet have heard of Lewis' work, or you might think you know that work very well. In either case, When Teams Collide belongs on your desk, bookshelf or ebook reader - but don't put it there until you've taken the time to appreciate the new and exciting information within the text. The insights are almost innumerable. Tim Flood, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Management and Corporate Communication, The University of North Carolina, U.S.A. Building a well functioning management team is the single most important task for a newly appointed Manager / Leader. In particular, this is true for an international operation with team members from different nationalities and cultures. Still it is not uncommon to see that this task is not prioritized in the extremely busy days of a newly appointed manager. Once the task is taken on, the core skills that are required to build such a team may come as a surprise to the manager, namely the ability to shift perspectives and to look at a situation through the eyes of others. For managers who encounter these challenges, Richard Lewis has written an extraordinarily useful book. A main quality of the book is the many business cases and individual stories and examples illustrating how our cultural lenses impact our understanding of social processes. These cases are conveyed with great insight, warmth and humor. Through the Lewis Model of Culture, the reader is able to make sense of the variation and the many specific recommendations and guidelines for coping gives the reader tools and inspiration to take on the challenge. Atle Jordahl, International Director, The Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) This book is a MUST for every business team leader who plans to start doing business in a new cross cultural environment. The LMR categorization of cultural characteristics and behavior takes you fluently down the path of sometimes very strange national and/or cultural diversities which internationalization has brought up. The old saying "Do in Rome as the Romans do" is still very valid when added to Richard Lewis's own cross cultural experiences over 50 years and in 150 countries. This book will help you to avoid major and costly mistakes as team leader. Markku Vartiainen O.B.E., President, Finnish-British Chamber of Commerce, London, U.K. Richard Lewis demonstrates again his pre-eminence in understanding and sharing his knowledge of how different cultures interact in the workplace. Turning his focus to teams, this latest work, building on his seminal "When Cultures Collide" is peppered with entertaining anecdotes and illuminating case studies, with an underlying - and reassuring - intellectual rigour. "When Teams Collide" should become required reading for anybody managing people in the globalized workplace. Richard Lewis's lessons for leaders in this new book draws on a lifetime of advising companies all over the world. His "insider's perspective" is reflected in well-researched comparative case studies and a remarkable set of 24 profiles of hypothetical individuals from as many countries. Rarely does one come across a business textbook that can just as easily serve as entertaining and rewarding bedtime reading, with its blend of entertaining stories and profound lessons. One of the world's leading linguists, Richard Lewis takes the reader from the idiosyncrasies and pitfalls of language through communication style, humour, decision-making and ethics, all seen through the different cultural lenses of many national groups and what he describes as "cultural anchorages". The lessons for leaders and members of teams are profound. Tim Cullen, Programme Director, The Oxford Programme on Negotiation, Said Business School, Oxford, U.K. Because we serve many of the world's largest multinational companies, we know that the ability to build effective global teams is an important skill set of an executive. At Deloitte, we ascribe much value to this skill set, and have made it an important component of Deloitte's Next Generation CFO Academy curriculum, the foundation of which is built upon the three pillars of success - Leadership, Influence, and Competence. Knowing how to team and make decisions in an international environment is critical to the development of "next generation" CFOs. Richard Lewis' book, When Teams Collide, explores these concepts in a very effective and engaging manner, providing meaningful, real-life examples to illustrate the international dimensions of building effective teams. This book is an educational resource for both aspiring the current CFOs. William J. Ribaudo Managing Partner and Dean The Next Generation CFO Academy Deloitte & Touche LLP