What sort of leaders succeed internationally?
January 22nd, 2008 Posted by sibylle in Employer Branding, Global LeadersMultinational companies need to ensure that they have a pool of global leaders in different functions and at different hierarchical levels as non domestic markets are currently one in the most important sources of profit.
Most companies have started to reflect on identification and development of high potentials, but have they thought about soft skills that their leaders need to succeed in the
international arena. Will a high potential identified as such in her home country also do a good job abroad?
We have all heard stories that seem to prove that this is not necessarily the case. Take a high potential educated in an individualistic Western culture allocating high value to individual performance and reward and put him into a collectivist Eastern culture.
How would he be able to cope with values opposite to his own?
To succeed in a different culture, a leader has to be able to adopt some values and working methods of the foreign culture to achieve his business objectives. This attitude illustrates intercultural flexibility and adaptability.
Leaders who can make the most of international challenges need skills such as curiosity and observation, empathy and ability for dialogue, flexibility & the capacity to think out of the box along with the capacity to step out of one’s comfort zone and be both resilient and patient.
Why not add such skills to 360° assessments or to required criteria in a job description?
Sibylle
Tags: 360° assessment, Global Leaders, High Potential recruitment, intercultural skills, Mobility
