Asian Immigrants in Leadership Roles in the United States: Implications for Leader Development

Keywords: immigration, workforce diversity, multicultural, cross-cultural management, global

Abstract: Cultural identity and resource availability aspects in traditional leadership development literature remain understudied, especially among minority populations like Asian immigrants.

This phenomenological study explores the leadership journeys of United States immigrants from China, India and the Philippines, and reveals that their pathways to leadership reflect an adaptation process that appears to interact in complex ways with individual, organizational, and societal resources available to them. Migrant leaders overcome assimilation challenges and leverage their unique individual human capital to enhance their chances of success. Findings suggestive of a relationship between leveraged or suppressed cultural traits and leadership styles are explored.