Leadership and Culture in the UK\'s Brexit Vote

Leadership and Culture
With the UK’s recent vote to exit the EU, also known as “Brexit,” the individualistic culture of the United Kingdom was on full display. Just as the UK had voted to hold on to the usage of its own currency in the 1990s though other European nations were banding together to use the Euro, the UK was once more in the 21st century demonstrating its own individuality and opting out of the European Union. There were many British leaders who helped bring this individualistic movement to the fore—from Nigel Farage, who rallied voters for this momentous vote, to Theresa May who became Prime Minister following the fallout once the votes were counted and Cameron was obliged to step down as England’s PM who, ironically, was the one who dared to call for the Brexit vote in the first place (Parker & Barker, 2016). May pledged to respect the decision of the voters and work towards a swift and conclusive break with the EU—and all that needed to be done was to settle on the terms of the separation and to address matters like trade and expenses owed. This however has proven to be easier said than done as the individualistic culture of the UK was now up against the collectivist culture of the EU.
The individualistic culture of the UK is different from the collectivist culture of the EU in that the former is more willing to assert its own sovereignty and individual rights as a nation than are the member states of the latter. In the EU, the member states all pledge to abide by the rulings of the central EU governing body, and the states are supposed to bring their own national laws into conformity with the guidelines given by the central authority. The states of the EU all share in one another’s ethical principles (for example, the open borders policy promoted by Germany has led to a flood of migrants from the Middle East into various states throughout the EU—though a handful of small states have begun to express their own individualism by refusing to allow migrants into their nations, such as Poland). In the UK, a wave of nationalism, fueled by Farage and essentially backed by May when she became PM, led to the standoff between the UK and the EU. The UK, like Poland, wanted its immigrant problem addressed and the best way it felt it could do that was to simply get out of the EU. Otherwise, it would have had to abide by the EU’s central authority’s declaration that member states accept refugees from the Middle East. The UK did not want to participate in this collective stance.
The UK’s history as an autonomous power most likely helped to influence this decision as well. As Hofstede (1980) shows, the culture of a people is influenced by their history, their background, their attitudes and beliefs and their shared experience. Culture is what gives people a sense of values, a sense of how to express themselves, and a sense of what to do to protect themselves. For England, an island that is not part of the actual continent of Europe, the indvidiualistic nature of the country’s culture is associated with its independence. It has always been a power and a rival of other nations in Europe—from Spain to France to Germany, and has fought with them throughout history. This individualism is thus intertwined with its cultural character. For Germany, Spain, France and the Belgium on the other hand, these countries have often had monarchs intermarrying with the families of their neighboring nations, thus demonstrating more of a willingness to form a collectivist culture. Plus, they share a mass of land and if there is a war on the continent, they all suffer—so their sense of culture is much more associated with the collectivist principles than is the case in England.
The Prime Minister of the UK, however, could have communicated and led his nation to maintain union with the EU while acknowledging the individualistic culture of the nation by using the “face saving” negotiation tactic as described by Lumsden, Lumsden and Weithoff (2010). This tactic would have allowed Farage and his followers to present their issues and grievances in a respectful way, but it also would have allowed the PM to show that while the UK is individualistic, it still has the responsibility of helping its neighbors and contributing to their network of friendship. Cameron could have highlighted England’s role as a leader in the EU and used this common perception to serve as the foundation for a push towards his goal. Instead, Cameron largely sat off to the side while Farage rallied the votes needed to win the day. Meanwhile, Farage showed that he cared about the voters and the identity and culture of the UK and did not want either to be pushed to the sidelines by EU policies that had little to do with the character and individualism of the UK. Farage appealed to the voters’ sense of identity while Cameron merely expected that the voters would do the “right thing”—which for them was different from what it was for him.
In conclusion, the culture of the UK helped to influence the decision of UK voters regarding the Brexit issue—but so too did the leadership. Leading up to the vote, Farage demonstrated more leadership and connectivity with the voters than did Cameron, who lost his seat as a result. May took over and promised to uphold the will of the voters. So while the rest of (mostly) collectivist Europe watched the UK get ready to leave its embrace, the UK asserted its individuality and promoted a culture that was all its own when it voted to leave the EU. Had Cameron shown more willingness to acknowledge this character, he might have siphoned voters over to his side.
References
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related
values.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Lumsden, G., Lumsden, D., & Weithoff, C. (2010). Communicating in groups and teams:
Sharing leadership (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Parker, G., & Barker, A. (2016). How brexit spelled the end to Cameron's
career.FT.Com, Retrieved from http://lib.kaplan.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1806384284?accountid=34544