When Outsourcing, Multi-cultural Training Means the Difference between Success and Failure

In a May 2004 study entitled “Leading Causes of Outsourcing Failures,” the Outsourcing Center[1] surveyed 305 buyers and providers in North America, Europe, Asia and India to assess their experiences and opinions about outsourcing failures. One-third of respondents were buyers, two-thirds were providers. They concluded that 25% of the reasons for outsourced project failures are due to poor communication (16%) and cultural fit (9%). If you believed 25% of your outsourcing projects would fail because either you or your provider didn’t understand each other, even though you both speak the same language, or innocently offended each other because you didn’t understand each other’s cultural mores, you would do something about it wouldn’t you?

Multi-cultural or cross-cultural training is a key success factor when considering outsourcing. Gerard (Geert) Hendrik Hofstede is an influential Dutch sociologist whose life’s work includes the study of the interactions between national cultures and organizational cultures. Hofstede defines five dimensions of culture in his study of national work related values which are:

• Individualism vs. Collectivism: measure of how greatly members of the culture define themselves apart from their group memberships
• Long vs. Short Term Orientation: A society's “time horizon” or the importance attached to the future vs. the past and present
• Masculinity vs. Femininity: the value placed on traditionally male or female values
• Small vs. Large Power Distance (PDI Scale): A measure of how widely the less powerful members of society expect and accept that power is distributed unequally
• Weak vs. Strong Uncertainty Avoidance: A metric of how extensively members of a society are anxious about the unknown and try to cope with anxiety by minimizing uncertainty

Having an understanding of the Hofstede PDI scale provides insight into one of the foremost causes of cross-cultural communication failures—the difference between high context and low context communication. The low context communicator expects straightforward conversation. If there is a problem, s/he expects a straightforward answer with specifics. In high context countries, subordinates acknowledge the power of others based on their formal hierarchical positions. The subordinates offer their superiors great respect. Out of respect, the high context communicator doesn’t directly inform their superior of project issues due to the concern that the superior may suffer an offense. Neither person is doing anything wrong. They are merely observing the cultural norms of their respective countries.

Effective cross-cultural training solves the issues that resulted in the 2004 survey’s 25% of project failures. Preparing employees to work outside of their native country or to work with offshore outsourcers is extremely important for outsourced project success. Basic multi-cultural training includes:

• Action plan for living abroad
• Communication characteristics and role
• Doing business in the country
• Eating and drinking
• Education, studies and professional training
• Introduction to culture and history
• Laws, norms, taboos and values of the society
• Leisure activities and customs
• Social contacts, friends and acquaintances
• Relations at work and management
• Women’s life and role in society

Without understanding those cultural norms, communication breakdowns lead to project failures. One of the greatest mistakes any IT organization can make is to enter into an outsourcing agreement without first subjecting its key players to basic multi-cultural training.

 

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[1] The Outsourcing Center is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Everest Partners, L.P.; Two Galleria Tower, 13455 Noel Road, Suite 2100; Dallas, TX 75240; PH: 214-451-3000 FAX: 214-451-3001; http://www.outsourcing-center.com/

Closing Thoughts on Servant Leadership

As I close this series on Servant Leadership I am compelled to say that Servant Leadership is definitely not for everyone. First and foremost, it requires a personal relationship with God and an extraordinary love for others that extends beyond ourselves. Without the love of God and the Holy Spirit guiding us, anyone attempting to commit to Servant Leadership in their own strength and on their own terms is doomed to fail and cause frustration in their life and the lives over whom they influence. Committing to Servant Leadership requires doing things God’s way, in God’s timing, as taught in the Bible, if there is to be any hope of true success.

I believe with every fiber of my being there is a God and my life is in His hands. I encourage readers to do what I did at the age of twenty-one, invite Him into your heart to take control…then see what He does to get you through life’s challenges. I’m thankful to Him for the blessings He has bestowed upon us and the gifts and talents He has given us in order to be munificent to others. Leadership is one of these gifts and I pray this series of blog posts is profitable to you and to your career.

As a registered facilitator of the Lead Like Jesus Encounter Workshops, I am available to lead groups from your church, business or non-profit in a one-day discovery journey where you will learn from the Bible what it truly means to be a Servant Leader. If this sounds like something that is of interest to you or your organization, please feel free to contact me so we can discuss.

The 5th Habit of Servant Leaders: Maintaining Accountability Relationships

Do you remember the saying, “It’s lonely at the top?” Leadership is a lonely business. We often rely on our own perspectives of how we are doing; and when we do, it’s easy to develop blind spots and rationalize our behaviors in ways that can quickly undermine our credibility, integrity and trust with those who look to us for leadership.

I’ve written before about how surprised I was the first time I received a 360-review when I worked at Warner-Lambert. The review was a surprise because the anonymous feedback was brutally honest and pointed out that I had blind spots to certain behaviors that failed to reflect the intentions of my heart. As a result, my credibility with those I led suffered.

When faced with the honest assessment, I had a choice of either one of two paths to take: allow myself to become a victim and martyr or accept the feedback as a gift and work to improve myself. If I chose the former, I could have permitted my feelings to blossom into resentment or self-justification. This would have been my downfall and I would have failed as a manager.

Instead, I chose the latter and committed to a detailed diagnostic and developed an action plan to overcome the negative perceptions with my leadership. I asked everyone I influenced to hold me accountable and within one year my 360-feedback was a complete reversal from the year before. The negative feedback was gone. People were now saying I was the best manager they ever worked with. If it wasn’t for my truth tellers, I might never have been able to climb the corporate ladder. My career would have come to a standstill.

We all need trusted truth tellers who can help keep us on course. Having people we trust who will tell us the truth we might not always want to hear is one of the greatest resources for growth that we have. If you bring truth tellers into your inner circle and let them know you are willing to listen, they will speak honestly to you. It doesn’t mean you have to do everything they tell you, but hear them anyway. They want to be heard and know you care about what they have to say. And don’t be afraid to share your vulnerabilities with them. Being open to feedback is only one way to grow. Willingness to disclose our vulnerabilities with other people is another way to grow. We are all human. We are all vulnerable. We all fall short.

The Servant Leader challenge for today is to identify at least one person you trust and ask them to join you as a truth teller about your effectiveness and style of leadership. Truth tellers protect us from ourselves by being always ready to listen, giving advice when asked and being trusted to love us anyway, warts and all. Eventually, invite three others and form a supportive group of accountability relationships.

The funny thing is, I’m married to one of the best truth tellers anyone could hope for. I could have saved Warner-Lambert thousands of dollars in leadership training if I had only listened to my wife in the first place! Don’t overlook your spouse as one of your most trusted inner circle.

The 4th Habit of Servant Leaders: Accepting God’s Unconditional Love

For Servant Leaders, the question becomes, “Where do we place our trust and hope?” There are going to be many times during our season of leadership where our decisions will reveal the answer to this all important question. Have no doubt about it. There will be many times when we take a stand and face the fear of negative consequences or we’ll be tempted to rely on our own self-accumulated resources and efforts as our source of self-worth and security.

The world we live in fuels the fires of pride and fear. As much as we might want to believe that we can find security, safety and meaning in acquiring more and better goods and services, the absolute truth is, we can only find security, safety and meaning in a relationship with God. If we place our trust in the unconditional love and promises of God, we’ll find a never-ending supply of what we need to live and lead as Servant Leaders.

We live in a performance based society. Our performance is constantly being evaluated by those with whom we interact. At least once a year we go through a performance evaluation process. Our salary increases are called merit increases. Do we merit a raise based on our performance? Exemplary performance can lead to more money, promotions and more responsible titles.

Accepting the reality of God’s unconditional love and promises is a struggle for us. With a performance–oriented mindset, it’s hard to grasp that God’s unconditional love for us is not premised on our performance. It’s promised for our acceptance and response to it. His unconditional love and promises are very specific, meant for us personally. Surrendering our reservations to His love can be one of the hardest things we’ll ever do. Look at these following promises:

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 8:38–39 (KJV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” –John 3:16 (KJV)

To lead as Servant Leaders we need to learn to love as Servant Leaders. As Servant Leaders, if we do not love God, we cannot love the people we lead. Nothing but the love of God will compel us to cheerfully go through the difficulties and discouragements we experience as leaders.

All individuals need to be heard; they need to be praised; they need to be encouraged; they need to be accepted. As Servant Leaders, we need to practice these expressions of love. Why? Because we express our love for God by loving those He puts in our path. Think about all of your interactions with people within the past 24 hours. If how you treated them is a reflection of your love for God, how much do you really love God?

The 3rd Habit of Servant Leaders: Study and Application of Scripture

Mark Twain once said, “Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture that they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed that the passages in Scripture that trouble me the most are those that I do understand.”

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (KJV) says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Skeptics of God’s Word argue that it was written by men and is therefore fallible. It is true that God’s Word was recorded by men, but it originated with God. In fact, it is God’s personal letter to those He loves and it provides tremendous benefit for His people. It teaches us, corrects us, trains us and transforms our thinking so we can be more like Him in our leadership roles.

Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship with God and six of them deal with how we interact with each other. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He responded with “to love God with all of our being.” The fact is that God’s Word is built upon a simple foundation: love God and love other people. If you only use the Bible to study and apply the practical wisdom it contains about dealing with people and overcoming our internal challenges, it absolutely stands on its own as the greatest book ever written. The Scriptures are God’s Holy Word, delivered by holy men, to teach holy truths and to make people holy.

There are five steps required for the Servant Leader to cultivate the third habit of Knowing and Applying Scripture: Hear, Read, Study, Meditate and Memorize. As Servant Leaders, you probably know these steps already, but are you practicing them? If not, it takes time to develop them as habits. If you haven’t stored away God’s Word beforehand, it is impossible to bring its power into play when you are faced with the hard choices of the day. You can’t give what you haven’t received.

Perhaps you can remember a time when you were about to make a big mistake by giving into some temptation and God’s Word pulled you back from the precipice. Perhaps you remember a time when a burden was almost too hard to bear and you found comfort in God’s Word. Or perhaps you remember a time when you weren’t too sure of the path your life was supposed to take and things appeared to be very scary, yet you found courage and confidence in the promises of God.

The Servant Leader’s challenge of the day is to go and make new memories with God’s Word. As you prepare for the challenges ahead by studying scripture, ask yourself the following three questions to help guide your progress:

• In what area of use and application of God’s Word do I feel most confident?
• In which area do I feel the weakest?
• What will it take to increase my level of effectiveness in my weaker areas?

And Servant Leaders, keep the following in mind as you take up this new challenge: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” - 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

The 2nd Habit of Servant Leaders: Prayer

If solitude is the most difficult servant leader habit to acquire, habitual prayer falls right behind as number two. Prayer is an essential act of the will that demonstrates whether we are really serious about living and leading as servant leaders. The servant leader’s prayer life is the most instructive indicator about how and where they might take their followers. Without prayer, we’ll never be able to connect our plans and efforts with God’s plan for our lives. Seeking God’s will through prayer, waiting in faith for an answer, acting in accordance with that answer and being at peace with the outcome, all call for spiritual maturity in your leadership.

Philippians 4:6–7 (KJV) says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

The term “be careful for nothing” means not to worry about anything. The cure for worry is prayer. All too often prayer becomes an act of desperation, the option of last resort, the foxhole promise to God, when it should really be the first step for anything we do. What is it that causes you to worry? Do you ever pray about it? How often is prayer your first response to temptation or a challenge rather than your last resort? What is it that leads you to prayer? What do you most often pray for? Which of these phrases accurately reflects your attitude toward prayer: “Well, all we can do now is pray” or “The first thing we should do is pray?”

James 5:16 (KJV) says, “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” and James 4:2 (KJV) says, “…ye have not, because ye ask not.”

Prayer should be our natural first response instead of our last resort. In prayer, God has given us the most powerful, most immediately available resource for responding to the moment-by-moment challenges of both good and bad events. Finally, prayer honors God. Servant Leaders are called to honor God in all that they do.

The challenge for Servant Leaders is to begin keeping a prayer journal so you can be reminded of the daily prayers God is answering in your life. Pray for everyone you know, your work, your passions and God’s guidance for your life and leadership.

The 1st Habit of Servant Leaders: Solitude

We live in a frenetic, fast-paced world. From the time we get up in the morning until the time we rest our heads upon our pillows for a well deserved sleep, we are tugged in dozens of directions, many of which threaten to drive us off course from our mission and vision. It’s often been said we live in a rat race. Comedienne Lily Tomlin once said, “The problem with a rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” The first habit of highly effective servant leaders is making time for daily solitude. This is the time we spend alone with God, feeding upon our source of spiritual nourishment and refreshment, helping us to focus on the tasks ahead and to discover His plan for our life by listening for His “still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:12)

Solitude is countercultural. Almost every waking moment is bombarded by the media, social networking, text messaging, email, cell phones, putting out the fires that arise in our lives and the interruptions from those competing for our time. This is not a new problem. Jesus suffered from the same time demands we face in life. The methods by which those demands were delivered are different, but the demands themselves are the same. He ensured solitude was a key habit in His life for a variety of reasons. As the role model for serious servant leaders, we need to take our cues from Him.

• When preparing for the tests of leadership and public ministry, Jesus spent 40 days alone in the desert (Matt. 4:1-11)
• Before choosing His twelve apostles, Jesus spent the entire night alone in the desert hills (Luke 6:12-13)
• When He received the news of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew in a boat to a lonely place (Matt. 14:13)
• After the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, Jesus went up into the hills by Himself (Matt. 14:23)

Whether He was preparing Himself for leadership, making important decisions, mourning the passing of a dearly beloved friend or dealing with the tasks of His daily walk, He found time for solitude. It kept Him in tune with His mission and vision for His life here on Earth.

What is it that keeps us from spending time alone with God? What are we afraid of? Why is it so difficult to make Him a priority in our lives? What changes do we have to make in our daily routines to make time for solitude? What activities stand between us and our alone time with God?

Here’s a challenge for you. Spend 30 minutes alone with God today. Turn off all the distractions, no electronics, cell phones, PDAs, radios, televisions, etc. Don’t even talk to anyone during the 30 minutes. Close your eyes and think about the things that excite you and concern you. Place them ceremonially at the feet of Jesus, then turn your attention to Him. Think of the attributes of God such as His Holiness, His love, His mercy, His kindness, and His great gift of salvation. Listen in your heart for His still small voice directing and guiding you. It could be the most difficult 30 minutes you’ll ever spend in your life, but it could also be the most rewarding. To develop a habit, it has to first become a discipline. To become a discipline, it has to first be accomplished as a task. Are you will to take the challenge?