Cross-Cultural Leadership: What We Know, What We Need to Know, and Where We Need to Go

Abstract

While leadership is an important way to coordinate around the globe, societal culture may shape leadership processes and their effects. In this review, we discuss conceptualizations of culture and address what is known about the role culture plays in shaping leadership processes. For example, societal culture shapes people's implicit theories of leadership, and these affect how leaders and followers behave toward each other. Also, culture can moderate the relationship between leadership and important outcomes. We review research done in these areas as well as research on emerging topics in the field, such as followership across cultures and leading groups of employees who are from different areas of the world. As we review the findings of the literature to date, we also acknowledge some of the problems and methodological challenges faced in this field and discuss practical implications and areas for future research.