Develop Global Leaders to Target Global Markets
According to the 2014 Corporate Learning Factbook, organizations in the U.S. spent over $70 billion on leadership training programs in 2013.
Why should companies spend so much on leadership development? The answer is simple; we are living in an era in which the move towards globalization is inevitable. There is a call for the business world to interact and integrate globally as companies move production and assets across borders. Emerging markets present greater opportunities for growth. This shift towards globalization calls for global leadership skills and capacities.
Exceptional leaders are not known by their hierarchical status alone but for their extraordinary leadership skills and capabilities. Individuals are leaders because of their influence and performance and not by their ranking or position at the job.
‘A leader is not unknown by the personal characteristics that cause people to go after him or her, but the followers respond to those characteristics.’ (Crosby, 1997)
The American Management Association (AMA) carried out a survey of nearly 1200 senior executives from more than 40 countries to gauge the role of global leadership development. The findings showed that 53% respondents accepted that job level does not make leaders influential; rather it is their performance at the work that makes them inspirational for their co-workers.
Leadership development courses help to create efficiencies and opportunities for organizations to excel. It helps them to communicate productively and effectively with their suppliers, partners and clients to manage their inventories, supplies, and dispersion network. It assists the local producers to sell their products in the global market with the same ease that they face in the local market. For instance, Haier can sell its home appliances with the same convenience in Washington DC as in Beijing. Likewise, Apple can sell its high tech gears with the same handiness in Europe as in Malaysia.
Effective and well-planned leadership development courses go a long way in developing talent, building productive teams and creating synergy. They improve decision-making and communication skills within the working environment. It is critically vital for organizations to train leaders according to the needs of the competitive world, which require leadership training activities.
What do Global Leaders have?
Sir Andrew Likierman, the Dean of London Business School, with a long and distinguished corporate and academic career, shared four secrets of success with the World Economic Forum.
- Follow a flexible approach and keep options open
- Be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
- Get international experience – assumptions won’t get you anywhere
- Communicate your creative ideas
What Sets Global Leaders Apart from Leaders?
There is a huge difference between a leader and a global leader. A leader is a person who implements organizational and personal agendas and ask the team to follow them wholeheartedly. These agendas help to get work done within the specific framework. The framework that is in use values and assists the workers in knowledge, decision-making, and improvement.
A global leader on the other hand, deals with more complex and interconnected state of affairs in an international and multicultural context. Leadership training activities can improve these competencies. Mendenhall et al (2008) proposed the following idea about the global leaders:
Global leaders achieve significant positive change in organizations by modifying communities and by building trust. The arrangement of hierarchical structures and procedures in a context includes numerous cross-culture partners, various cross-border management, and different societies under conditions of transient, topographical, and social unpredictability.
The Importance of Global Leadership Development
In the market of competition and diversity, powerful and captivating leadership is not enough. A leader should be globally and culturally competent, responsive, and comprehensive to determinedly stand in the crowded business market. Intercultural competencies are an essential essence of success in the global market.
Global leadership development courses are essentially important in our globalized world. Effective global leadership is imperative in all organizations. Charles Ray, member of International Advisory Board at Critical Mobilization, pointed out that effective global leaders gain the trust of multiple stakeholders and achieves organization goals without upsetting or breaking relationships.
Inspiring global leaders should build up an entire array of interpersonal, subjective and administrative skills. To do this, they should get a specific measure of involvement through experimentation, hazard taking, and working abroad or with multicultural groups.
Briefly, every organization would profit by rapidly starting to characterize the style they are searching for in their future leaders. Since while anybody can turn into a global leader, the successful global leaders of tomorrow will be distinguished today and will have had the chance to build up their abilities early.