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.
Action Point
Action Point: To assess your global leadership development programme consider the following:
What are the key elements of your global leadership programme?
What are the most important skills and competencies for your global leaders?
How do you measure the effectiveness of your global elite?
Sources: Unruh, G. C. and Cabrera, A. (2013) Join the Global Elite, HBR, May; and Molinsky, A. (2013) Global Dexterity, HBR Press.