Culture and Leadership Styles

What

It is Sunday and it feels sad to admit that Spring Break is finally over. I spent most of my break at home preparing for African Night, an upcoming cultural event at MSU. Since I will be participating in this event, I spent my week attending dance practice sessions with the Nigerian and Ethiopian dance groups. The two dance sessions were usually held at different times of the day in one of the dance studios on campus. The dance sessions consisted of groups of students learning a dance routine and a leader who most likely choreographed most of the dance routine. During the dance sessions, I was able to observe some differences in the leadership styles of the dance leaders. In the Nigerian dance session, the leader was quite stern and "professional". The dancers were very focused and the general environment was somewhat serious. The Ethiopian dance session was quite different. First, it was initially difficult to identify the leader of group. The dance environment was also less tensed and calm. The difference between the two dance groups got me wandering if there was a relationship between the cultures of the two countries and the dance leadership styles/environment.

So What
Being a Nigerian myself the dance leadership style and the dance session environment exhibited during the Nigerian dance session wasn't new to me. In fact, it was what I had expected it to be. I had been involved in several dance activities in high school and the dance environment was exactly the same. To us, a strict and "professional" environment was necessary for learning. How about that of the Ethiopian dance session? To be honest, when I attended the first session of the session, I was quite angry with the entire group. I felt the dancers weren't ready to dance.  However, after attending three dance sessions, I was surprised that we had made great progress. I later realized that the dance environment and the leadership style exhibited by the Ethiopian dance group wasn't unusual to them. When I compared both dance leadership styles, I realized there were advantages and disadvantages to both styles. I hence tried to relate this experience to pluralism.  Now that I am aware of the different dance leadership styles and environment, I can work better with other dance teams. On the global citizenship rubric, this experience can be linked with level 4 of Self Awareness as I beginning to see some of my inner personal styles in contrast to other cultural styles around me. 

Now What
I plan to better understand culture by participating in more interactions/activities with other cultural groups on campus. I hope to use this knowledge currently to strengthen relationships between members of the African Students Association. In the future, I also hope to utilize my understanding on culture to work with increasing diverse communities in the United States and in Nigeria.