Essay on Diverse Workplace and Leadership

This was mainly because their majority view was significantly different from our minority view. For instance, they were not interested in disrupting the status quo and wanted things done as they have always been done regardless of whether a change would be more efficient due to the technological advancements. That was always very difficult on us since we were accustomed to diversity, were tech savvy and we valued flexibility in our working conditions. Despite this diversity differences, the leadership in the workplace always developed effective ways of ensuring that the gap between the generations was bridged through adoption of effective communication techniques, recognizing the various reactions to conflicts and being aware of the preferred work styles of the different generations. Description of differences in culture and diversity by using Cultural Dimensions Through the cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede, differences in culture and diversity can be described in six main dimensions.

For the baby boomers tend to be rigid and consistent while the generation Y are well exposed to diversity, desire flexibility and hence not confined by a structure. Therefore the power distance index of baby boomers is high and they accept a hierarchical distribution of power and the Generation Y believes in a wide dispersion of power equally. On the dimension of uncertainty avoidance, baby boomers tend to make life as more controllable and predictable while generation Y is open and risk takers. On the dimension of indulgence and resistance, baby boomers are resistant since they emphasis on regulation of people's behavior and conduct while the generation Y indulge by having little control over their impulses and desires and hence like enjoying life and having fun.

Explanation of how the leader handled the cultural or diversity differences The issue generational gap at my workplace was handled effectively in a manner that helped to bridge the gap between the different generations of workers. The second step that the leadership of the company would have taken is to embrace leverage diversity. The management would have been trained to always be aware of generational diversity and utilize the different experiences, skills, and perspectives of the different generations to benefit everyone and enhance harmony rather than division (Gravett & Throckmorton, 2007). Finally, the leadership would have structured the organization as flexible as possible as well as fair to all. This would have developed the spirit of cooperation among the different generations. The leadership style used by the leader to manage the differences The type of leadership that was used by the leader of the workplace to manage the difference of generational gap was transformative because his greatest desire was to serve, inspire, motivate and develop others.