Practical Coach: Management Skills for Everyday Life, The

Cultural Influences on the Self-Concept: The Independent and Interdependent Self

The most simple but powerful understanding of all is the understanding that every successful and happy “me” is dependent upon the establishment of an operationally sound, effective, and successful “us.”

—James Musgrave and Michael Anniss, Authors of Relationship Dynamics

If our self-concept is, in large part, socially and culturally determined, then it follows that our beliefs about the ideal self—and ideal manager—vary across cultures. From the moment we are born and first reach out to other human beings, we begin the lifelong process of trying to make sense of ourselves, others, and our relationships. One of the most fundamental lifelong challenges we face is to ...