Global Leadership Term Paper

Global Leadership Final

Presently, across borders global economy is becoming a competitive landscape that is turning out to be more complex, dynamic and indefinite for operating firms. Global leaders are born and then made for the reason that the full potential of an individual can't be realized until they are provided with an opportunity and regular training. (Gregersen et al.,1998). However, in order to obtain opportunity and education an individual must show interest in and process necessary skills for global leadership. A global leader is required to stretch their mind so as to incorporate the entire world with hundreds of countries, business contexts and cultures. A global leader has got to retain four distinct competencies including; personal literacy, social literacy, business literacy as well as cultural literacy (Bingham, 2000). At present, dealing with uncertainty is a leadership characteristic which a global leader must have. Also, in business understanding the need of a customer is very important as there are a number of variables involved in successfully selling a product internationally.

A global leader needs to be able to balance the tensions that arise amid local adaption and global integration. Global organizations must develop strategies as well as structures which are suitable to the international context (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1998). A one-size-fit all approach towards leadership development can't be applied presently, as the balance of competencies is different in every country for executives and leadership development professionals. According to Bird (2010), global leadership competencies can be broken down into three main categories; business and organizational acumen competencies, managing people and relationships competencies, and managing self-competencies. A leader needs to know how to communicate their goals and visions for which they have to adapt their interpersonal style so as to persuade as well as influence others to accept these goals. As the goals of an organization can change every now and then it is important to respond to these changes positively and cope up with the pressure that results from these changes. Several believe that by acquiring certain competencies one can describe the successful global executive (Hollenbeck, 2001).

Steve Jobs, a global leader who has made remarkable contributions and achievements in his career, was far from perfect according to his biographer Walter Isaacson. Steve Jobs at time could be dictator, mean-spirited and arrogant. However, these characteristics can't take away the fact that he was a great leader. Apple's success without a doubt is accredited to the leadership style of Mr. Jobs. He is an innovative man who kept on coming up with innovative ideas and products which competitors still didn't introduce yet. Jobs is the person responsible for the success of Apple today. Three leadership qualities which Jobs possessed included; a clear vision, ability to inspire and trust, additionally he had passion for the company and its people. These qualities identify the leadership character of Steve Jobs. Having a clear vision is very important for a global leader, as only then the people in the company will follow your vision and have trust in you. With the vision Jobs had, he was able to create a "higher purpose" and gained trust of the people by showing his competencies in several areas. Mr. Jobs was not a man driven by his ego or any self-interested needs. He can be described as a man who sets an example for an inspirational change ambassador as he had the ability of motivating his employees in order to accomplish implausible goals. The leadership style of Job's was complex Simon & Schuster, 2011). When committed he would be extremely focused, and had the confidence of taking risks. During his adult life he was interpersonally immature; his behavior is described as being stubborn, impatient and hypercritical. In comparison with other global leaders, Job's was aware of the power of cultural influence in sustaining the strategic competencies inherent in his everlasting vision of creating. The approach Job's had towards leadership is both charming as well as impenetrable.In order to be a transformational leader one must have individualized consideration, inspired motivation, idealized influence, credibility and intellectual stimulation. Henry Ford followed the transformational leadership style as he was able to constantly change as well as adapt to situations and was able to implement new ideas. He was an excellent engineer who was happy when he was designing. Ford was popular amongst his workers and the public as he was able to produce a car which was affordable to all. In order to make his employees feel valued, Ford would give away high wages to his workers in the assembly line. By doing so he was able to bring in talent to Ford Motor Company from all over the region. He was a man who believed in himself and was aware how important his work was as he would stay active and involved in the company operations. His personality was outspoken and forceful. Mr. Ford was always involved in trying to explore new fields and was curious in learning about new subjects. Henry Ford is considered to be a charismatic leader. However, he lacked forward planning and contingency which turned out to be a bit of a disaster for his career after producing his Model T. car. Nevertheless, he produced Model A Ford which turned out to be an instant success. He was a man who never kept trying to come up with something new that caters needs of all. Henry Ford didn't believe in working just till he retired rather, he didn't see himself retiring. He was a man content with his job and work; thus didn't want to give up on it. After retirement, Ford spend a lot of time in achieving awards for his great work and the accomplishments he was able to maintain.

Seeing from the discussion above, it only seems necessary to state how one can include all the aforementioned qualities of a global leader. First and foremost, it should be stated that a global leader should himself be clear about the objectives of the company. Being clear about the objectives of the company doesn't mean that there would not be any decisions or problems in the way. Having a clear vision basically implies that what level you want your company or firm to reach. In my opinion, in order to be a global leader, one should study the company, its potential and the outside market as well. After studying these components in detail, a leader can have a clear vision about what the current situation is and how to make the situation better.

As Bird (2010) stated that managing relationships and people is also an important task of being a good leader. Therefore, having the best strategies and plans will not get the leader anywhere if he or she doesn't know how to interact with the people. Sir Richard Branson who is the leader of Virgin mobile makes sure to answer the queries and concerns of all his employees. He checks his emails and text messages and replies to all the concerns in time. This quality of his should be incorporated by all the leaders who wish to improve their people relationship. Once the employee knows that his leader cares about his problems, he will want to work towards the benefit of the company. Thus, a major way through which global leadership can be attained is to improve the relationship with the people who work for you.

Last but not the least, self-competencies need to be looked at as well. This means that the leader should go on to learn new ways of leading and running his company. As everyone knows, the only thing constant is change. A leader must be prepared and be able to handle these changes, as the key to being a successful global leader is to be able to face these changes….....