Examined within this paper are effective leadership practices across two cultures. Specifically, this study examined the relationship between cultural competency and effective leadership practices in higher education institutions. A quantitative design was used to investigate and compare effective practices of educational leaders in two distinct cultures, Kenya and the United States. Kouzes and Posner's (2002) conceptual framework was used to examine effective leadership practices while the cultural intelligence conceptual framework developed by Earley and Ang (2003) was utilized to assess the influence of culture on effective leadership. A significant correlation was found between effective leadership practices and cultural intelligence. The results have implication for leadership practices in higher education settings across cultures.