THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEADER 257- Ability to relate to people
- Curiosity.
With respect to cultural adaptability, the Jesuit order can be singled out
as having been extremely effective in selecting people with the right
qualities. Their Weltanschauung made them very successful in ‘ conquer-
ing ’ the world. Jesuits have successfully grappled with challenges that
test great companies like forging seamless multinational teams, motivat-
ing performance, being open to change, and staying adaptable. The
success of the Jesuits is very much due to the selection and training of
people prepared to be guided by four principles:
- Self - awareness: understanding your strengths, weaknesses, values,
and worldview. - Ingenuity: confi dently innovating and adapting to embrace a chang-
ing world. - Love: engaging others with a positive, supportive attitude.
- Heroism: energizing yourself and others by embracing ambitious
goals and a passion to excel.
Apart from the criteria used by the Jesuits to prepare them for success,
there have also been lists of criteria of what is important for global
executives compiled by researchers and practitioners. Among them,
Michael Harvey (1985) has made probably one of the more heroic
efforts. He suggests some 30 characteristics (including mental fl exibility,
stability of marriage, social and cross - cultural exposure, and physical
and emotional stamina), each weighted according to country and type
of job.
I have learned from experience that the greater the consideration
paid during the selection process to a candidate ’ s emotional intelligence,
the higher the success rate in the assignment. What is open to question,
however, is whether these selection criteria are specifi cally applicable to
executives on international assignments. Some of the factors — emotional
intelligence being key — probably increase effectiveness whatever the
context may be. Obviously much more research is needed to refi ne these
selection criteria.
According to Zeira and Banai (1985) , the criteria for selection for
cultural adaptability are all too frequently developed in a vacuum. The
advice of the host - country nationals — the people who are to work with
the expatriate manager — is rarely sought at the selection stage. They
suggest that in fact the better the fi t between the stakeholders ’ expecta-
tions and the expatriate manager ’ s behavior, the less the inter - role