Read, summarize and critically analyze the attached article. Be sure to use cross references as you critically analyze. State your recommendations and personal view of the article.
In Focus/Dealing with Change Leading Globally Requires a Fundamental Shift t was after Nirve's parents came to the job interview that Rene real- ized the shift to global leadership would present more changes than he had anticipated. In Rene's country such meetings were for the job appli- cant only. For Nirve, however, bring- ing one\"s parents and sometimes even grandparents to the potential work- place was normal, even expected. Such gaps between different peo- ple's expectations can have a signi- cant and often unanticipated impact in the global leadership arena. Leaders who consider themselves ready to take on the business chal- lenges inherent in operating around the world often do not consider and are unable to predict the kinds of leadership challenges they will face. Although many executives recog- nize that moving into a global posi- tion requires them to manage under multiple sets of laws, currencies, and time zones, many don't understand that to lead in a global setting requires a fundamental shift in their thinking and behavior. As leaders increasingly take on global roles, it is becoming clear that the skill sets required for effective global leadership include not only well-researched and well-understood competencies but also abilities that take leaders across an exciting, some- Editor's note: In Focus is an occasional series that takes close iooks or specic topics of importance to leadership andr leaders. llhl run q-u tnnunr-n - Ancella Livers times frightening, new frontier. [t is almost a cliche to say, for instance, that global leaders must be adaptable and open to new ideas. However, knowing that one must be adaptable and actually being adaptable are very different things. In truth, leaders often struggle to grasp the intricacies of leading groups of people from around the world. Global leaders must deal with many boundary- spanninq complications. Further, executives have to under- stand that their ability to lead effec- tively is often determined by their followers1 willingness to follow. Consequently, when leaders' styles are alien to their followers\" experi- ence, the leaders will either have to modify those styles, educate their fol- lowers about those styles and hope the followers are willing to change their own leadership expectations, or face the prospect and even likelihood of an ineffective leadership tenure. To be sure, leaders who work in their home countries and have solely domestic responsibilities can also nd leading an organization to be complicated. There are various views to consider and numerous challenges and sometimes time zones that must be managed. However, because these leaders are working in their native countries, the cultural attitudes, expectations, and assumptions including assumptions about leader- shipare usually clear. When one is leading regionally, across national lines but within a defined geographical area, leadership becomes more complex. In such cir- cumstances, leaders are called on to negotiate different business practices, cultural tenets, and languages even as they juggle the leadership expecta- tions of their followers. Yet, as diffi- cult as regional leadership can be, the countries within a region often share enough basic, overarching cultural understandings to make even highly divergent behaviors vaguely familiar. Beyond this, countries within a region often have long histories of dealing with one another, and their citizens are acclimated to each other's idio- syncrasies. In moving into global leadership, however, leaders must deal with a sig- nificantly higher number and degree of boundzuy-spanning complications and thus mu st negotiate through greater complexity, ambiguity, and diversity than is found in either the domestic or regional context. New global leaders often have only a pass- ing cultural, historical, and business familiarity with those with whom they interact and lead and so have little in the way of true understanding about what they must do to successfully navigate their new circumstances. This intense environment of multi- ple layers of complexity and perspec- 23 |I||\\J:A|IA|Ir--I- HAIR-D
