34 November 2016 November 2016 35 Expert guide: Psychology 2016 As our communities become increasingly global, and countries throughout the world become increasingly diverse, we must exam-ine leadership and psychology within a global and diverse perspective. A digital age of rapid change, instantaneous communication, and in-creased mobility characterises the 21st Century. Good and effective leadership is essential if we are to promote international business, global economic, social and psychological well-being, and intercultural peace and harmony. Are we ready to meet the challenge?Why isn’t there more diversity among our leaders in the world today? Barron’s 2016 list of the World’s Best CEOs consists of 30 men; 2 are Chinese, 2 are Indian, and 1 is Brazilian. Women make up 23% of chief executives in US organisations (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009) and only 2% of Fortune 500 companies (Infoplease, 2009). Numbers by race/ethnicity are harder to come by although Whites make up 84% of board seats on Fortune 100 compa-nies. Are white western men the ones most able to exercise good leadership and influence? Dis-parities in representation, earnings, discrimi-nation and access remain as bias continues to favor those already dominant in society and leadership. persuasion”. Graen & Uhl-Bien (1995) expands this to the exchange that occurs between lead-ers and members as opposed to leader traits while Rodrigues (2001) calls attention to the shift from individual leaders to teams, pro-cesses, and member diversity. Chin & Trimble (2014) integrates this to propose a diversity leadership model that emphasizes diversity, difference, inclusion and change. It emphasizes the values, world views, and diversity of leaders and followers which interact with one other. It emphasizes the centrality and intersectionality of multiple social identities, lived experiences, and social and organisational contexts. Prior to the 21st Century, political leadership was characterised by a conqueror-colonising Forbes 2015 of The World’s Most Powerful People lists nine women out of 73—a mere 12%; this contrasts with Fortune’s list of 2015 World’s Greatest Leaders, of which 26% are women. Why this difference? Fortune’s list show more women as leaders because their criteria was about transformational and significant change reflecting influence while Forbe’s list show fe-wer women as leaders because their criteria was about power to influence and control resources. Issues of power often result in different and double standards used to evaluate women and minorities less favourably that are rooted in stereotypes about social identities even when actual leadership behaviours are the same. Be-cause leadership models are strongly influen-ced by Western norms and reflect the leader-ship largely of white, heterosexual men (Den Hartog, 2004), female leaders are often viewed as weak and indecisive, Asian leaders as modest and passive, Latino leaders as emotional and unstable, and Black leaders as angry and con-frontational. Rost (1991, p. 102) redefines leadership with an emphasis on change and flexibility in think-ing as “an influence relationship among leaders and followers…not based on authority, but on mentality by Western countries based on mili-tary power. This placed leadership in a global context of power, exploitation, and privilege designed to exploit national resources (e.g., copper, fisheries, labor, lumber, or oil) of the countries being conquered. The Industrial Revolution of the 20th Century brought about the mass production of goods that changed our way of living. Leisure time became a com-modity and affluent material consumption a goal. The threat of nuclear destruction, how-ever, gave way to collaborative models of lead-ership as countries sought peace and nuclear disarmament while the Women’s Movement and Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s ush-ered in demands for empowerment and shared leadership. Jean Lau Chin, EdD, ABPP CEOServices@yahoo.com +1 516 206 4626 ceoservices.wix.com/ceoservices Redefining Leadership: Diverse and Global Perspectives By Jean Lau Chin, EdD, ABPP USA