Global Leadership and Leadership Development

This book has been developed as part of a broader project: ERASMUS+ KA203 - Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education project No. 2017-1-HU01-KA203-035918, known as PROMINENCE (Promoting mindful encounters through intercultural competence and experience). Four partner universities were involved in the research and writing of this book: Debrecen University in Debrecen, Hungary, the coordinating partner; the University of Economics in Katowice, Poland; the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia; and the University of Economics in Varna, Bulgaria. The PROMINENCE project is based on the conviction that intercultural learning and training programmes through transnational cooperation between students, teachers, and SMEs are an accessible way to enhance transversal capabilities and intercultural competences. The activities of the project are divided into six work packages, which include the development of a versatile pool of resources to deliver considerable insights into culture-specific interactions in diverse situational contexts through a wide-scale of interactive tools. This book serves as one such resource tool, both for instructors/researchers and students, in order to assist the project’s target groups to reinforce the cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioural capabilities of intercultural competence. As concerns the book content itself, leadership and leadership development are subjects that encompass a range of theories and notions from across several disciplines: management science, (behavioural) psychology, sociology, intercultural communication, political science, game theory and adult education. The nuances behind what it is that makes one a leader may change from culture to culture, just as what is expected from leaders can differ from company to company. Businesses have their own cultures, too, and these often assert themselves vis-à-vis the local cultures where they operate. There are, however, several key commonalities that views of leaders, leadership and leadership development share, wherever one looks. These include the notion that whatever a leader says and does must have relevance towards driving the activities of those lower in the hierarchical order in a goal-oriented direction. Communication is the link between leader and follower, and it must be seen as being successful. Not only is what the leader communicates of importance, but also how decisions and instructions are communicated and received by one’s followers. The chapters take readers through a wide range of subjects and issues related to understandings of effective and proper leadership, including related (inter)cultural considerations, leadership development/training in higher education and at business organisations, as well as considerations of leadership in the political sphere.