1. Thirty-five personal attributes of leaders are viewed in some societies as contributing to good leadership, and in other societies as inhibiting good leadership.  Among the 35 are “cunning,” “provocateur,” and “sensitive.”

 
2. Charismatic leadership is often said by businesspeople to be highly effective.  The GLOBE research confirms that, worldwide, “Charismatic/Value-Based” leadership is indeed effective; it also specifies the attributes of such leadership. 

 
3. The United States emerges as the only culture in which participative leadership has a positive influence on employee performance.

 
4. Most managers around the world wish that their companies and supervisors would focus more heavily on high performance than actually is the case.

 
5. "Team Oriented" leadership is seen by business people in all cultures as moderately or highly desirable and as contributing to good leadership.

 
6. Managers in the Middle East were less likely than managers anywhere else to view leadership that is “Charismatic/Value-Based,” “Team Oriented,” and “Participative” as substantially contributing to good leadership.  On average, they viewed these three characteristics as having only a mildly positive effect.

 
7. Concern for gender egalitarianism is positively associated with good leadership in the great majority of societies; this finding is notable because fully three-quarters of the 17,300 respondents worldwide were male.

 
8. “In-Group Collectivism” is the degree to which people express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their organizations.  Contrary to the individualistic ethic of the U.S., American managers value (desire) In-Group Collectivism to the same extent as managers in Russia, Spain, Zambia, Turkey, and Thailand.

 
9. Overall, the GLOBE findings suggest that leaders are seen as the embodiment of an ideal state of affairs, and thus as the society’s instruments for change. 

For the full 818-page research report [R.J. House et al., Sage, 2004], click here.