ABSTRACT
Working in an unfamiliar environment and engaging in a new cultural experience could be a challenge for a school leader. To deal with teachers and students coming from different cultural backgrounds fairly and responsibly is integral to the role of school leaders as champions of inclusive education. This chapter defines the cultural aspect of leadership by identifying characteristics and competencies that define a culturally strategic leader. Cultural intelligence is defined in this chapter as a key factor in shaping and enabling leaders to perform well in a multicultural environment according to underlying theories and related studies. As to how school leaders use cultural intelligence, the research findings in local and international schools in Malaysia are triangulated with various studies from different parts of the world to show the transferability of this concept.
