Differences in perceptions of leadership between U.S. and Japanese workers

Differences between American and Japanese workers regarding perceptions of effective leadership were investigated. 128 American workers and 203 Japanese workers were asked to describe the characteristics of their ideal leader. Results indicated that Americans perceive personality characteristics as more important for leadership, whereas Japanese perceive skills and behaviors as more important for leadership. Suggestions are made for training leaders from the U.S. and Japan for cross-cultural situations and for future cross-cultural leadership research.