Leader Development Across Cultures

Abstract

Imagine you are in a training room and the distinguished professor standing in the front, flown in especially from the United States, tells you unequivocally that schools can only improve when leaders distribute power more equitably among teachers, encourage open debate, and reward individual risk-taking. Now imagine you are leading a school in a place where teachers expect the principal to make the decisions, where it is unacceptable to openly disagree with others, especially the ‘boss’, and where the success of the organization easily trumps that of the individual.