Cultural expectations and leadership

Question 1 of 6

1

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Cultural expectations and leadership
Gabriela for a multinational company as a successful project manager in Brazil and transferred to manage a team in Sweden. She was excited about her new role but soon realised that managing her new team would be a .

Explanation

Question 2 of 6

1

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Despite their friendliness, Gabriela didn’t ( feel, felt ) respected as a leader. Her new ( staff, meeting ) would question her proposals openly in meetings, and when she ( gave, give ) them instructions on how to carry out a task, they would often go about it in their own way without checking with her. When she announced her ( opinions, decisions ) on the project, they would continue giving their opinions as if it was still up for discussion.

Explanation

Question 3 of 6

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After weeks of frustration, Gabriela emailed her Swedish ❌ about the issues she was facing with her team. Her manager simply ❌ her if she felt her team was still performing, and what she ❌ would help her better collaborate with her team members. Gabriela ❌ her manager vague and didn’t feel as if he ❌ managing the situation satisfactorily.

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manager

asked

thought

found

was

Explanation

Question 4 of 6

1

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What Gabriela was ( experiencing, experienced ) was a cultural clash in expectations. She was used to a more hierarchical framework where the team leader and manager ( take, took ) control and gave specific instructions on how things were to be done. This more directive ( management, manager ) style worked well for her and her team in Brazil but did not transfer well to her new team in Sweden, who were more used to a flatter ( hierarchical, hierarchy ) where decision making was more democratic. When Gabriela took the issue to her Swedish manager, rather than stepping in with ( directions, decisions ) about what to do, her manager took on the role of coach and focused on getting her to come ( up, on ) with her own solutions instead.

Explanation

Question 5 of 6

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Dutch social ❌ Geert Hofstede uses the concept of ‘power distance’ to describe how power is distributed and how hierarchy is perceived in different ❌. In her previous work environment, Gabriela was used to a high power distance culture where power and authority are respected and everyone has their rightful place. In such a culture, ❌ make the big decisions and are not often challenged. Her Swedish team, ❌, were used to working in a low power distance culture where subordinates often work together with their bosses to find ❌ and make decisions. Here, leaders act as coaches or mentors who encourage ❌ thought and expect to be challenged.

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psychologist

cultures

leaders

however

solutions

independent

Explanation

Question 6 of 6

1

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When Gabriela ( became, become, becomes ) aware of the cultural differences between her and her team, she took the ( initiative, initiatiion, initial ) to have an open conversation with them about their feelings about her leadership. Pleased to be asked for their thoughts, Gabriela’s team ( open, openly, opening ) expressed that they were not used to being told what to do. They enjoyed having more room for initiative and creative freedom. When she ( telling, tell, told ) her team exactly what she needed them to do, they felt that she didn’t ( trust, trusted, trusting ) them to do their job well. They realised that Gabriela was taking it personally when they tried to challenge or make changes to her decisions, and ( was, were, been ) able to explain that it was how they’d always worked.

	Created by Michael Pérez over 1 year ago

Adapted from the British Council - Reading B2

Cultural expectations and leadership

Question 1 of 6

Fill the blank spaces to complete the text.

Cultural expectations and leadership Gabriela for a multinational company as a successful project manager in Brazil and transferred to manage a team in Sweden. She was excited about her new role but soon realised that managing her new team would be a .

Explanation

Question 2 of 6

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Question 3 of 6

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Question 4 of 6

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Question 5 of 6

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Question 6 of 6

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Cultural expectations and leadership
Gabriela for a multinational company as a successful project manager in Brazil and transferred to manage a team in Sweden. She was excited about her new role but soon realised that managing her new team would be a .