INTRODUCTION 245together — and as companies ’ reach becomes increasingly global, we have
to mold and develop leaders who can deal with these problems and run
these enterprises. It is not always easy to appreciate or understand that
what people do, mean, and say varies from one culture to the next, but
without that understanding, it is impossible to lead in another culture.
In a corporate context, there are differences in the way people view
things like power, status, hierarchy, authority, and control. Do global
leaders require a set of skills entirely different from those needed by their
domestic counterparts? What are the main issues leaders have to deal
with when they move beyond domestic markets? I have spent many long
hours talking to leaders of these organizations about the choices they
have to make.
Going outside your home market means having to deal with a mul-
tiplicity of new issues related to different cultural, legal, regulatory, and
economic systems. It ’ s about operating in multiple environments trying
to achieve a common objective. It ’ s about the allocation of power and
resources. What kind of organizational structure should the organization
have? What decisions are made at headquarters and which are made at
the country level?
Leaders of European or global fi rms have to revisit many of their
assumptions about things they would normally take for granted. Leaders
who are most effective operating outside their home markets engage in
an interesting balancing act. Being global doesn ’ t mean that people will
understand you if you speak in English but just a little bit louder. It
means appreciating the fact that every country is so different — that
attention needs to be paid. But while national culture is important,
individual personality traits play a role, and so does company culture.
In these organizations, senior leadership needs to make sure the manage-
ment team they have at the local level is making the right decisions at
the right time. In addition, they need to put into place mechanisms that
will help other people in the organization to learn from these decisions.
Global organizations are far too vulnerable to ‘ not - invented - here ’
syndrome.
While fi nding people who have a sense of cultural relativity is
important, close attention also needs to be given to the leadership
pipeline that operates in global organizations. Through the high - level
executive seminars that I run, I have been closely involved in creating
the kind of experiences that will help develop a fi rm ’ s next leaders.
In particular, my CEO seminar ( ‘ The Challenge of Leadership ’ ) and
my coaching and consulting seminar ( ‘ Consulting and Coaching for
Change ’ ) have been used to create the kinds of leaders needed for
global fi rms.