Language, Leading and Culture: What Do You Need to Know?

Language, Leading and Culture: What Do You Need to Know?

Language and Brain Function: If you’re leading diverse teams who speak different languages, you’ve experienced the challenges that arise from language confusion. What you may not realize is that new brain research reveals that the differences may arise in the very structure of the brain.

Brain Scans: In a classic chicken and egg conundrum, new brain scans on people raised with different native languages have found that the brain either reflects or drives those differences. Lera Boroditsky, a cognitive scientist from the University of California at San Diego, studies these issues. Watch Your Mouth | Hidden Brain : NPR

When she had the opportunity to observe the language of an aboriginal community in Northern Australia, the Pormpuraaw of Cape York, for example, she found that they had excellent ability to orient themselves in space: north, south, east, and west. The way you say “hi” for example, with this group is: “which way are you headed?” In order to answer, you have to be able to place yourself in space. As an English and Russian speaker, she didn’t have that kind of spatial intelligence and they seemed to think she was pretty stupid that she didn’t know. They have, for example, no words for right and left, using instead the directions. Hard, she laughs, to teach someone the “Hokey Pokey”, since you’d have to say: “put your northeast leg in”, and so on.

The Brain’s Ability to Learn: While Boroditsky started out with no particular spatial intelligence, she found that her brain did learn how to orient, the longer she worked with that community: what neuropsychologists call “neuro plasticity”. At first, however, these brain-based language differences can cause confusion, stereotypes, and challenging differences. Consider, for example, the idea that the word “chair” in English is neither masculine nor feminine but in Spanish it’s feminine because you use “la” ahead of “silla”. When students who spoke different languages were shown pictures of objects we English speakers consider neutral, they imagined stereotypical masculine or feminine descriptions.

What Should You Do? 

Learn a New Language!  Nothing will give you more empathy for the non-native English speakers on your team than trying to master their language. While you may never be fluent enough to lead in that language, you’ll understand some of the confusion and become a more useful leader.

Understand Language and the Brain: Realize that language influences the very structure of the brain and vice versa. This structure is not permanent but may explain seemingly bizarre differences between people and groups.

Be Aware of Culture Differences: While we never want to excuse unacceptable workplace behavior because of cultural differences, understanding such clashes can help us learn what the consequences should be and what education is needed. Go to workplacesthatwork.com for more articles on this subject.

What Do You Think?

Have you observed differences between behavior and those who speak different languages? Contact us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com