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This note explores the critical skill of leading across cultures in global and diverse business environments. It addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by cross-cultural teams, providing leaders with strategies to navigate cultural differences and leverage diversity for enhanced performance and innovation. The note begins by outlining potential pitfalls in cross-cultural leadership, such as miscommunication, cultural stereotyping and varying expectations around decision-making and work styles. It then highlights the value creation opportunities, including diverse perspectives, enhanced creativity and increased organizational adaptability. A significant portion of the note is dedicated to understanding key areas of cultural difference, including communication styles, decision-making processes, attitudes toward time, relationship expectations, power dynamics and tolerance for ambiguity. It provides a comparative analysis of these dimensions across different national cultures. The note offers ten comprehensive strategies for effective cross-cultural leadership, ranging from cultivating cultural intelligence to managing virtual cross-cultural teams. It emphasizes the importance of developing cultural intelligence (CQ) and provides guidance on how leaders can enhance their CQ and foster it within their teams. Practical tools, such as a cross-cultural leadership preparation checklist, are included to help leaders apply the concepts in their work. The note concludes with a list of references for further reading on the subject.