Meeting the Demand for Global Leaders

Global Leaders: The Reality of Multiple Complexities
How do organizations navigate the challenges of local vs. global expectations? How do you work in a global context and contribute to teams who are geographically dispersed? Answer our reader survey and look for results in next month's issue of Leading Effectively.

Global leadership is complicated, requiring leaders to operate amid myriad challenges. "The role of a global leader has a particular complexity, one that is categorically different from the complexity faced by domestic and even regional leaders," says Ancella Livers. Global leaders operate with layer upon layer of complexity and challenge. "The rules of engagement understood by one group or culture may not be relevant to another. This creates an environment of multiple complexities — what we call a multiplex environment," says Livers.
The leap from being a successful manager in your home country to a global leader is a big one. "Previously successful strategies and preferred ways of leading may not translate well in a global setting," Livers adds. The challenges leaders face when they are immersed in the multiplexity of working globally include:
Handling culture conflicts. Global leaders work across multiple cultural groups simultaneously. In this context, they face situations or incidents where two or more cultures' priorities or values conflict. Sometimes the cultural conflict is glaring; more likely, the differences are subtle and easy to miss.
Adapting one's own behaviours. Cultural assumptions and behaviours play a role in a leader's identity, too. "Global leaders need to be highly aware of the influence of culture on their own thinking - and then have ability to go beyond that," explains Livers. "They cannot limit choices and actions to reflect only their culture. Leaders need to be skilled at accurately reading people and situations and then adjust their behaviours accordingly."
Creating shared goals and implementing shared work. Leaders in global organizations need to find ways to find common ground while honouring differences. "Global leaders must be able to understand and appreciate other cultural perspectives, while at the same time creating alignment around the work and the mission," Livers says.
Managing the relationship between corporate and local. A significant challenge for global leaders is to understand and manage the tensions between organizational headquarters and regional or local offices. When do local needs, customs, regulations, practices or markets drive decisions? How do corporate-level expectations get infused at the local level? How can leaders navigate the constant duality?
Communicating across barriers. Communication can be a challenge in any setting; it is more complex and even more essential to communicate effectively when you are operating from a distance. Effective global leaders learn to overcome geographic, culture and language barriers.
Understanding and managing external forces. Doing business globally requires leaders to learn the governmental, legal, historical and economic factors that influence their work. External forces do impact the way organizations operate; often, leaders must accept that these factors are outside of their control.
"We know that to be effective outside of familiar domestic or regional settings, leaders need to think and act in new ways," says Livers. "By identifying the challenges, we are better able to help leaders gain the knowledge and the tools they need for global assignments."