Marcus Dickson of Wayne State University delivered a presentation, “Project GLOBE and What Came After, or How I Learned to Love Cross-cultural Leadership Research,” to the Elon community on Feb. 9.
A primary researcher in the historic GLOBE study, a 12-year project involving 65 cultures, 160 researchers and more than 10,000 leaders from around the world, Dickson discussed the origins of the project and some of its salient findings. While empirical evidence suggests that certain elements of leader effectiveness are culturally contingent, it also shows that there is a core set of characteristics that generalize across leaders around the world.
Dickson also shared anecdotal stories that highlighted the challenges and surprises he encountered during the research endeavor. Finally, he offered advice and suggestions to students around their own academic and professional journeys. Sharing his own story of how his career and passion for cross cultural research was initially spurred, Dickson called for students to make the most of any opportunity given to them as doing so may take them places they never would have dreamed.
During his visit to Elon, Dickson visited students and classrooms to share his work and insights. In these discussions he related Project GLOBE and cross cultural research to the particular content of each course. When visiting students in PSY 372: Leadership and Organizational Development, he discussed the role that cultural dimensions played in affecting organizational change efforts; when he visited MGT 421 Human Resources Management, Dickson led a case study that highlighted the challenges human resource managers often encounter when managing across cultural boundaries.
Dickson met with students interested in global careers. He also met with students in the transitions course COE 375: Preparing to Go Global to discuss the importance and application of cultural dimensions they will face in their international careers.
Dickson’s visit was coordinated by Associate Professor Chris Leupold in the Department of Psychology and Faculty Leadership Fellow, and was sponsored by Leadership Studies and the Center for Leadership.
Anyone with questions about Dickson or leadership is encouraged to contact Leupold at cleupold@elon.edu.