Modern Business Magazine April 2016 | Page 23

MODERN LEADERSHIP with the celebration of different cultural festivals at different times of the year. This might include events such as: Christmas, Diwali, Ramadan, the Winter Solstice, White Sunday, the Blossom Festival, the Lantern Festival or Matariki to name a few. There are other opportunities to do this such as with acknowledging National days, and the friendly rivalry of world sporting events such as the Olympics, the football World Cup and other international tournaments. The list is endless, but it needs to be done well, with goodwill and through-out the organisation. A calendar of events that are important to staff can be developed with staff input and scheduled in a business work programme. The business simply has to provide the opportunity for social conversation and interaction to take place in a safe and socially conducive environment with management leading by example - ‘Walking the talk.’ The benefit to the organisation will be more engaged staff, more cohesive teams, happier customers and a positive impact on the bottom line. Holona and Trish Lui specialise in building cross-cultural effectiveness to support high performance in teams and organisations to achieve their business goals. Email: [email protected] April 2016 ModernBusiness 23