Review of Professional Management- A Journal of New Delhi Institute of Management

Anil Behal ¹, Sana R. Mitchell ¹

Affiliations
1 ORGDYNE Training & Consulting, LLC, US

Abstract

Increasing amount of work is performed today in geographically dispersed team settings that transcend the boundaries of time, space, culture, and territory. An in-depth comprehension of the complexities involved in leading and managing these communities of practice could not be greater. Any group of individuals meeting together for a common, well-defined purpose over a certain period of time, can be loosely defined as a “community of practice” (CoP); however, when the work is primarily carried out in cyberspace using computer mediated communication (CMC) and its attendant tools and accessories, we generally refer to such communities as “virtual communities of practice” (VCoPs). While the extant literature on networking technologies reveals a lot of research already conducted on the technographic profile, virtual experiences of community members, and the impact of technology on communication, it is relatively mute when it comes to an understanding of the emotional experiences of leading and managing VCoPs. This paper explores the various aspects of leading, facilitating, learning, and participating in virtual or asynchronous platforms with a special emphasis on the intersection of “virtuality” and “emotion."

Keywords

Virtuality, VCoPs, CoPs, Swift Trust, E-Learning, Virtual Leaders, Virtual Learners.

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Sana R. Mitchell ¹

Affiliations
1 601, Sunset Circle, Nashville, Tennessee, US

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to identify and address the higher education leadership challenges in facilitating culturally sensitive leadership behaviors and attitudes following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The 9/11 attacks set a global precedent of cultural stereotyping of minorities in professional and academic domains. It is imperative that educational and organizational leaders identify marginalization and cultural stereotypes in their professional contexts to mitigate the negative effects impacting students and colleagues in learning and work performance. The findings in this paper have been extracted from the author's dissertation research study. Four key components of effective leadership practice and behavior were identified to assist and enable leaders to perform intuitively and responsibly. This paper also challenges current leadership practices in Higher Education that do not factor in culturally insensitive misappropriations to rise up to the challenge of becoming self-aware and leading from an empathetic and intuitive mode of conduct.

(Based on author's dissertion research study)

Keywords

Higher Education, Educational Leaders, 9/11, Cultural Stereotyping, Culturally Sensitive Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Racism, Bias.

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