BUSINESS RESEARCH

Developing International Leaders

In a dynamic and globalised world, multinationals are under increasing pressure to maximise the capabilities of their international executives. In just thirty years, the amount of people working in foreign subsidiaries outside their company headquarters has increased from 25m to 81m. A United Nations Global Compact survey found that some 76% of executives said that it is important for firms to develop the potential of their global leaders.

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June 2013

Most global leaders aren’t born global, nor are most brilliant multilinguals. On the contrary, people can learn to become global “by spending substantial professional time abroad and by connecting with people whose backgrounds and opinions differ wildly from [their] own”. Companies can facilitate this competence-building process by establishing superior global leadership development programmes. Global skills and competencies are built and strengthened by both “thinking” and “doing”.

(1) Learn By Thinking:

- Observe: Cultivate a curiosity about how places function. Ask many questions, and don’t assume you know the answers.

- Open your mind: Respect other cultures, welcome new experiences, and capture opportunities to work with people of different nationalities. Explore situations from multiple perspectives.

- Develop empathy: Learn about the issues that matter to people in other cultures. IBM uses humanitarian assignments in emerging countries to develop international leadership skills.

(2) Learn by Doing:

- Forge relationships across cultures: Don’t ask for help first, but instead start by providing assistance. Attend events such as the World Economic Forum, the Boao Forum for Asia, and TED conferences.

- Start locally: Use existing networks, such as alumni and professional associations. Also, LinkedIn can show you the reach of your network and where it is growing fastest in the world.

- Be the centre: Move toward the middle of your network by introducing people who would not otherwise be connected. You will enrich yourself in the process.

- Speak: Learn a foreign language and practise with native speakers.

Referenced techniques

Technique

Leadership

Good leaders are continually working on, and studying to improve, their leadership skills. This technique explores what makes a good leader and covers the characteristics of good organisational leadership.

Technique

Transformational Leadership

The concept outlines core ‘constants’ that can be used to develop effective leadership within the organisation and describes the principles that underpin transformational leadership. The concept will give you an understanding of how to adopt this approach in any organisational setting.

Technique

Global Strategy

The concept explains how the world's leading companies are built on global strategies. It describes the components of global strategy and provides examples of cases of companies that have developed successful global strategies and sustained competitive advantages in developed and emerging markets.

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