Jan 21 2025 30 mins
Guest: Bjørn Ekelund
Leading across cultures isn’t easy. Success means very different things depending on where you live. Our guest, Bjørn Ekelund, looks at cross-cultural leadership, including the differences in trust and followership between the U.S. and his native Norway.
In the end, understanding these cultural contexts can lead to true flourishing at work!
Here's what Bjørn and Maureen cover:
- Why people are more important than productivity outside the U.S.;
- How leaders in Norway don’t need to delegate: it’s built into the system; and
- Why Norway has employee-ship instead of followership.
Produced in association with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/.
Other episodes you'll enjoy:
- The episode Bjørn referenced is Law & Order…and Leadership with Rob Elkington & Les Sylvan
- Leading with Purpose & Compassion in the 4th Industrial Revolution with Eliane Ubalijoro
- When Your Path Is Unclear: Embodied Leadership & Way-Showing with Donna Marie Laskin & Chellie Spiller
For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re on TikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!
RESOURCES:
Bjørn’s website has more information on his work and the Diversity Icebreaker tool and assessment at https://diversityicebreaker.com/. His company’s website is https://human-factors.no/; it has more team development tools you can review.
Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.
Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.
Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.
Books we’re reading for fun or personal development right now include:
- Everyday Ubuntu: Living Better Together, the African Way by Mungi Ngomane. Hardback (https://amzn.to/48Doh6j) and audiobook (https://amzn.to/48YCRF4)
- To Stop a Tyrant by Ira Chaleff, on how leaders become tyrants and their types of followers, is in hardback on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3W5XDys and on Kindle at https://amzn.to/420Zvwc. An audiobook edition is coming soon.
- Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work by Ancestry CEO Deb Liu, on how to overcome the obstacles women still face in the workplace – especially in tech. It’s in hardback at https://amzn.to/47OUO9E, and audio at https://amzn.to/3Y6EmOQ.
- Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A by Steve Robinson; it’s available in hardback at https://amzn.to/460LnmQ, on Kindle at https://amzn.to/3RVXhZs, and as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/3xPjBgn.
NOTE: As an Amazon partner, we may make a small commission from books you buy through these links.
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OUR PODCAST TEAM:
Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf
Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko
Video & Graphics Editor: Devon Mushalko
Booking Producer: Jenna Reik
CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership
Threads: @innovativeleaders
X/Twitter/Whatever New Name It Has This Week: @IL_Institute
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2
TikTok: @innovativeleadership
Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com
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About Our Guest:
Bjørn Zakarias Ekelund: Norwegian business consultant. Psychologist (1983), Univ. of Oslo, Norway, MBA (1997), Henley Management College, London, UK. Studies in International Management (2006/7), University of Agder, Norway. He has been leading consultant organisations since 1987, at the same time doing extensive consultative work focused on interpersonal interaction, team analysis, innovation and cross-cultural challenges. Since 1993 he has been the principal owner and managing director of Human Factors AS in Norway. He is most known for creating the Diversity Icebreaker – a concept that combines the assessment of cognitive styles with an experiential learning seminar.