Global Leadership &Bull; Define Global Leadership Global Essay

Global Leadership

• Define global leadership

Global leaders are born and then made for the reason; since the full potential of an individual can't be realized until they are provided with an opportunity and regular training (Gregersen et al.,1998). In order to survive in this competitive world, the global organizations have to face increased challenges and competition for which the success demands the corporate top manager's best performance. Whilst working across multiple borders these executives have the opportunity of becoming global leaders.The leadership style of an admirable global leaders is such that engenders superior corporate performance by creating a balance amongst four competing criteria of performance including; profitability and productivity, continuity and efficiency, commitment and morale and adaptability and innovation. According to Turnbull (2009) global leadership is a contested term as it is applied in different ways by people belonging from different disciplines and with different understanding of leadership.Globalization is referred to as the shift towards an interdependent and more integrated world economy. Globalization comprises of the development of extensive worldwide patterns of economic relationships amid nations (Jokinen, 2005).

• Distinguish between global leadership and traditional leadership

Osland (2008) states that the term global leadership seems to be qualitatively different as it required different skills and competencies from traditional leadership. Along with traditional leadership skills, global leader can understand what is effective at the national or local level is not necessarily effective on global level. Traditional leaders weren't required to cognize the problems outside the doors of their own organization. In comparison, to be effective and solvent today's global leaders need to be aware of the worldwide marketplace. Globalization is used to describe doing domestic work internationally which requires two dimensions of complexity including; culture and business. The skills required to work globally and in domestic are somewhat the same however, scholars have argued that skills linked with traditional leadership literature are essential to lead globally. However, the global context places higher demands on utilization of those competencies. Global leadership can be different from domestic/traditional leadership in nature as it requires one to work with complexity, boundary spanning, and face ethical challenges, pattern recognition and building learning environments, teams as well as community.

However, it can't go without saying that at present still in many societies around the world traditional leadership style in organizations is practiced. Decisions made in areas of health, agriculture, land use and conflict resolution are frequently made under following the guidance of traditional authorities. Even though, traditional leaders as well as organizations have a tendency of being ignored and depowered by national governments and development efforts, a number of these local governance structures still have been able to subsist till today. Regardless of all this, modern societies are tend to ignore the fact that the role played by traditional leaders in national development today. Since we have made a shift from an industrial economy into the service-based society of the contemporary world, thus we are also seeing a change in the view of leadership. The biggest different in traditional and global leadership is that in traditional leadership new ideas are not welcomed by the traditional leader as he considers himself the foundation for operating any new business along with the ways of operating it. The setback to traditional leadership is that whilst global leadership believes in working in teams, traditional leadership doesn't acquire a team as a result of which frequently they are unaware of changes and problems. Also, traditional leadership is slow in terms of reacting towards a change.

• Evaluate how globalization and the global context influence global leadership

A number of massive shifts have been brought by globalization of the world during the last two decades. At present, firms find it very important to have their leaders and staff equipped with intercultural competence. In this day one of the strongest evidences of globalization is the interdependency of global economics. In order to meet the growing challenges and opportunities leaders need to arm themselves with intercultural competence and global perspective (Morrison 2000).At present, a global leader has to face many new complexities as a result of which global leaders have got to understand the unique skills in order to leader in the global environment.A new way of coping up with these complexities requires adaptation of virtual and multinational teams. In virtual global teams, the requirement of globally minded and intercultural competent leaders is not merely a reality; it actually is the need of multicultural context of regional teams and organizations.

• Analyze challenges and opportunities facing leaders in today's global environment

Presently, organizations are experiencing the challenges as well as opportunities surrounding globalization for which the need of leaders who possess intercultural competence is very important. The term intercultural competence can be described as a skill that is the key to meeting the unique demands of global interconnectedness. As a result of changes in the pace of business, at present organizations are in demand of effective, adaptable and committed leadership. With these changes in the business world companies need to develop leaders regardless of the constraints of financial resources and limited time. Presently, organizations are in search of new and less customary ways of identifying and training dynamic global leaders. As a result, these leaders retain range of qualities and skills that are essential to succeed in today's complex environments.

According to Glodsmithet. al. (2003), five characteristics that a global leader must possess include; ability to think globally, appreciate cultural diversity, developing technological skills, sharing leadership and building partnerships and alliances.

• Evaluate the changing expectations and roles of global leaders in managing change

With the ongoing challenges and opportunities emerging from global business, future global leaders need to acquire dynamic people skills, possibly even more than just academic and technical proficiencies. Also being an expert in languages along with having exposure to multiple cultures and experience in other countries as well. To cope up with problem solving in changing and complex environment the global leaders need to have multidisciplinary perspectives.

• Foster global leadership development in yourself and others

In order to foster leadership development in one's self, a person needs to be aware about what makes leaders effective across varying cultures. Simply put, a leader needs to know what qualifies as effective leadership in a certain culture. One approach, one behavior and one way of dealing with people will not develop global leadership. In order to become a global leader, a person needs to be able to interact with different sorts of people and know how to act in different situations. More impertinently, a leader should be able to work in different situations. Another important aspect of developing global leadership is focusing on emotional intelligent, empowerment and self-awareness. It should be noted that the traditional management skills are not crucial in the development of a global leader. In order to develop the global leader within one's self, a person needs to be aware of his or her capabilities. He needs to visit places and try to explore his or her potential.

It is stated that one of the qualities a global leader is to manage a diverse group of people. This shows that a global leader should be able to deal with and interact with a diverse group. A major way global leadership can be fostered is by expanding ones social circle in different ethnic groups. A person should not be alien to new cultures or new traditions. He or she should try to adapt to different cultures and take out time to spend with a diverse group of people. It is stated that global leaders should be able to align employees and therefore reach the company's goals and objectives. A person will only figure out how persuasive he is after spending time with a diverse group of people. He needs….....