The recent controversy most commonly known as the "Port Deal" has illustrated the need that leadership must address behaviors, not the people or person. The Port issue peaked this week when the bipartisan House Appropriations Committee voted 62-2 to stop the port deal without further discussion.

The controversy began when DP World, a Dubai owned port management company, purchased Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company of Britain. P&O managed 6 American ports and had operations at 16 other American ports. The controversy ended when the government of the United Arab Emirates announced they would transfer the ports to a United States owned entity.

It is too early to the long term price in the relationships between America and Middle Easterners.

Opponents of DP Worlds management of the ports used the argument that the United States should not allow a foreign country to control an American port. It quickly came to light that other US ports were managed by the countries of Singapore and a "private" company in China where in reality the government owns virtually everything. However there were no steps to change the management of these ports and opponents to the DP deal stated that in these ports the ports were only managed, not controlled. In reality all situations were the same, leaving the only issue being that DP World is Arab while the others are not.

The controversy got out of hand because those involved did not follow the leadership principle of focusing on the business behavior instead of the people, says Rick Weaver, Chief Operations Officer of Detroit based Multicultural Business Council. Had foreign ownership of American ports been the issue, the impact would have been less. Instead, the issue revolved around the trust-worthiness and integrity of Middle-Easterners.

Any business leader needs to understand that when they have an issue in the workplace, regardless of what it is, they must address the specific behavior, not the people. For example, if a company is dealing with rampant employee theft they can take a very expensive tactic of terminating individual employees. The most effective leaders would look at why the leadership had allowed the situation where employee theft seemed acceptable by the employees at large.

Had the issue been a security issue focused on foreign port ownership, the UAE offer to end the controversy would not have resolved the issue. It would have continued until Chinese and Singapore owner ports had been turned over also.

The lesson for business is that in a multicultural business world, never focus on the culture, focus on the business behavior.