Module 7 Paper

I am currently preparing for a leadership position in corporate management. My ideal

role would be a team or division leader at a fitness-related company. While all companies have a

goal of being profitable for their shareholders, the mission of this company would be to empower

people and improve their lives through fitness. This means the company would be national or

even global, and the service or product would have the ability to relate to and inspire people

across cultures and locations. Though I personally do not bring high levels of what may be

traditionally thought of as diversity to the equation, I do have a unique perspective.

As a woman who comes from a lower-class background than many in such glamorous

industries as fitness, and as a first-generation college student, I would be able to offer insights on

how to better reach women, employ more feminist and female-empowering business models, and

make the service or product affordable to college students or lower-income individuals. Because

I am able to emphasize these “secondary” diversity characteristics, I will be able to acknowledge

and highlight those differences in a positive way. I also recognize my inherent privilege as a

Caucasian woman not belonging to an “other” category in terms of diversity and would amplify

the needs of those “others” through this leadership role.

Most fitness companies tend to fit within a specific “box” in terms of target audience and

the diversity of that audience. Fitness services and products are also often seen as a luxury item

and associated with upper-class economic status. I believe that every individual starts off at a

different place in life, based on where they were born, their economic status, their membership of

a dominant or subordinate group, and their culture. I also believe that every individual should
build their confidence and improve their quality of life by embracing their unique identity and

becoming the best version of themselves. My approach to leadership will be forming a

multicultural team who can offer unique perspectives, solutions, and ideas both to improve the

diversity of the company and to make the services offered accessible to all who would benefit

from them (Matveev, 2017, p. 80).

In the forming stage of team development, there will likely be a high degree of

communication and task-oriented conflict, because of the higher propensity for “coordination

and control difficulties because of cultural, communication, and linguistic differences,” among

multicultural teams (Matveev, 2017, p. 86). As a leader, I will keep this conflict task-focused,

using negotiation to settle differences, and encourage a high level of empathy between the

groups or individuals involved in the conflict. Understanding differences in cultural context and

negotiation strategy is key to successfully mitigating conflict within multicultural teams

(Matveev, 2017, p. 95).

As part of my communal enterprise, I would also provide opportunities for the team to

increase their rapport with one another and form relationships, fostering a shared vision

(Williams, 2008, p. 146). My goal will be to work toward a vision that is inclusive of the needs

of all team members. According to Williams, “It is important that this vision be communicated in

a manner to show that it grew out of the needs of the entire group”(Williams, 2008, p. 146). In

order to develop this, we will have roundtable meetings and work together to write a mission

statement that expresses this vision, which will be signed by all team members.
 Lastly, because of my status as a member of a privileged group, I would ensure that my

team members were able to drive the discussion and mission of diversity and would be there as a

supporter and to assist the team in executing this mission. This class has demonstrated the

importance of recognizing our own inherent privilege when managing diversity. Leaders should

“be aware of their own identity as well as those around them to continually reshape and redefine

the group prototype,” (Chrobot-Mason, 2013, p. 322). I would make decisions with the intent of

becoming an “entrepreneur of identity”, by finding connections across group and cultural

boundaries and helping my team use those connections to further the message of diversity and

inclusivity in the workplace.

At the end of this course, I scored a 114 on the cultural intelligence post-test. At the

beginning, I scored only an 83 on the pre-test. Over the course of this class, we have explored

many nuances of other cultures that I previously had not considered, or simply lacked knowledge

in. I am now far more aware of the parameters of my own cultural understanding and knowledge

base, and can also use that information when interacting with members of other cultures. I feel

more comfortable in cross-cultural interactions, because I am more familiar with non-verbal

behavior, tone, cultural and religious customs, and am confident enough to alter my behavior to

meet the norms of others. I plan to use this learned ability and continue to develop it in my

career as I work with multicultural teams and promote diversity.