32 l T+0 l MlY 2O12 Pholo by iSlockpholo.

com
With aII ef the veIatiIity and
uncertainty happening in the
werId and in the werkferce,
eur prefessien must take
respensibiIity fer creating
effective gIebaI Ieaders
starting with eurseIves.
Begins With Learning
Professionals
By Katberine RcIt and Kyckc 5eki
GLOBAL LEADEPSHIP
MlY 2O12 l l 33
0ur world is increosingly vololile, uncerloin, ond complex. This chonging conlexl
is discussed ol lenglh in books by Bob Johonsen lLeaJers Hake the FutureI,
ldrion Done l0|oba| 7renJsI, ond olhers. Populolion growlh, urbonizolion, ond lhe
increosingly diverse mixlure of old ond young workers will conlinue lo lronsform
lhe globol workforce. n 7he 2020 workp|ace Jeonne Meisler ond Korie Willyerd
describe oddilionol forces lhol ore shoping lhe workploce-including mobile
lechnology ond sociol leorning.
Pcoplc around thc world arc now bound togcthcr by our intcrconncctcdncss as wcll as cconomic unccr-
tainty. Pcoplc cvcrywhcrc arc asking what it takcs to bc an cffcctivc global lcadcr. In thc past, thcy tcndcd to
look to thc Hnitcd Statcs for guidancc. Thosc days arc gonc, although H.S.-bascd corporations and consult-
ing firms still havc disproportionatc influcncc through thc compctcncy modcls thcy promulgatc. Many of
thosc modcls arc undcr sicgc, particularly thosc that idcalizc a particular typc of lcadcr.
LI5TEN T0 TRI5 FEATUPE
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For example, six leadership styles
(performance oriented, team oriented,
participative, humane, autonomous, and
self-protective) were ranked differently
by various cultures in the epic Global
Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Effectiveness (GLOBE) Study. That study
found 22 universally desirable leader
characteristics-such as trustworthy,
encouraging, decisive, and communica-
tive-plus eight that were universally
undesirable-for example, asocial, non-
cooperative, egocentric, and dictatorial.
It also found 8 traits that were culturally
contingent, including enthusiastic, logi-
cal, micromanager, and risk taker.
With all the shifts happening in the
world and in our workforce, we need new
types of global leaders to help organiza-
tions navigate complexity and change.
Those of us who are managing learning
functions must help leaders perform
tasks that are required today, yet equip
people to cope with ambiguity and per-
form what will be needed tomorrow. We
need to collaborate with other disciplines
to create leadership models and train-
ing tools that will equip global leaders to
master new challenges. We also need to
step up as global leaders ourselves.
Unfortunately, many learning profes-
sionals do not see themselves as leaders,
much less as global leaders. In our article
on global leadership in the June 2012
issue of the InJusirlul Orgunlzuilonul
Psychologlsi, we argue that four shifts are
required for everyone:
1. cultivating the "being" dimension of
human experience
2. developing multicultural
effectiveness
8. appreciating individual uniqueness
in the context of cultural differences
4. becoming adept at managing
paradoxes.
If we can help ourselves and other
leaders become adept in these areas,
we can shape how global leadership is
practiced in our organizations.
CuItivating being"
"Doing" is what we do, while "being"
is who we are. Being is our energetic
presence. It can be experienced by
others as the atmosphere we create.
Interculturalists estimate that as much
as 08 percent of message interpretation
relies on nonverbal channels. Cultivating
the being dimension of human experi-
ence requires getting in touch with our
identity as well as our energetic presence,
and then behaving in more congruent
and authentic ways.
Barbara Schaetti, Sheila Ramsey, and
Gordon Watanabe developed six prac-
tices as part of their personal leadership
methodology (attending to judgment,
attending to emotion, attending to
physical sensation, cultivating stillness,
engaging ambiguity, and aligning with
vision) that can help people to develop
in this area. Adair Nagata's work on
bodymindfulness also is relevant. She
stresses the importance of heightening
our bodily awareness and the congruence
of our body language when communicat-
ing with people across cultures. Joshua
Ehrlich's work on reflection and "mind-
shifting" is another vehicle for building
capabilities in this area.
One of our corporate clients recog-
nized long ago that being authentic was
a core capability for the leadership it
wanted to cultivate. It commissioned
coaching for all global leaders to heighten
everyone's authenticity in conjunc-
tion with accelerating their leadership
performance. Part of that effort involved
everyone identifying their own purpose-
and figuring out how their personal
purpose could flourish in alignment with
the company's purpose. "Walking their
talk" as leaders became more personally
meaningful.
As learning professionals, we need
to look at our own being, what is con-
veyed by our own presence and energy.
We must use our own energetic pres-
ence to convey richer messages inside
TIPS FOP COACHING
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and outside of our classrooms-as well
as promote the notion of being in our
organizations. This involves helping all
employees to pay attention to who they
are and equip them to be who they want
to become. In fact, helping our leaders
cultivate their being dimension may have
the greatest ROI in terms of increasing
their overall effectiveness.
0eveIeping muIticuIturaI
effectiveness
Both of us experienced living and work-
ing in another country for more than six
years. We are luckier than most to have
had that experience. Our worldviews
were changed forever, along with the way
we relate to people from other cultures.
However, people don't need a reloca-
tion experience to develop multicultural
effectiveness. There are plenty of oppor-
tunities in daily life much closer to home.
While there is no consensus about
what intercultural effectiveness means, it
undoubtedly involves the ability to com-
municate effectively and appropriately
in intercultural situations, along with
adapting one's behavior to each cultural
context. We also believe it involves appre-
ciating differences and being humble
about what we do not know.
We were surprised to see that fewer
than 10 percent of the corporate compe-
tency models that we examined during
the past year contained any language
related to global work or intercultural
effectiveness. That reminds us of the old
saying that if you can't measure it, you
cannot manage or improve it. Luckily
there are assessment tools such as the
Global Competencies Inventory (from
the Kozai Group) and the Global Mindset
Inventory (from Thunderbird University)
that can help with the measurement.
It is vital for learning professionals to
develop greater multicultural effective-
ness as well as help leaders in this arena.
We must become more aware of our own
cultural values and how those play out in
various learning activities. We also need
to recognize that our assumptions about
how people learn and perform-and
why-may be culturally biased. It would
help to involve a cross-cultural team in
designing the talent management system
and all learning activities. If that's not pos-
sible, engage someone with an external
perspective to challenge your assump-
tions and help raise your awareness.
Understanding our own ignorance
and limitations in working with other
cultural groups may help us to adopt
an attitude of humility and respect as
learning professionals, particularly when
conducting training. In the future, we will
see more people from different cultures
who have a different frame of reference
than our own participating in our training
programs. We must avoid being U.S.-
centric (for example, thinking people
should learn from us) while enabling
people to learn from one another and
from wisdom traditions in other cultures.
Appreciating individuaI
uniqueness
Many people learned about cultural dif-
ferences by being exposed to the bipolar
cultural dimensions developed by Geert
Hofstede and others (for example, power
distance, individualism, masculinity,
uncertainty avoidance, and long-term
orientation). It is well-documented that
national cultures differ on these dimen-
sions. For example, the United States is
high on individualism and low on long-
term orientation. Japan is high on both
masculinity and uncertainty avoidance,
and lower on individualism.
"Sophisticated stereotypes" such
as these can help us understand and
appreciate cultural differences. However,
they can become dangerous if they turn
into negative stereotypes. Leaders must
pay attention to the uniqueness of each
individual to understand and take advan-
tage of her motivation. We need to adopt
a holistic perspective that focuses on
someone completely, not just his job or
country of origin. We must try to under-
stand each person's unique strengths
as well as her multilayered cultural
identities.
Many learning professionals will have
an opportunity to take a courageous
personal stand in this area. Depending
on the extent of cultural stereotyp-
ing already in place, we may need to
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DESIGNING
LEAPNING
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confront those stereotypes and propose
new initiatives for developing global
leaders. Meanwhile, it will be important
to appreciate unique contributions from
everyone on the training and develop-
ment team, including stakeholders and
suppliers. We should avoid using talent
management and training systems to
categorize people excessively-and
ensure there is room to identify and
develop individual uniqueness as well.
Hanaging paradexes
Paradoxes are ubiquitous in modern life.
According to an article in AcuJemy of
Munugemeni Pevleu, Wendy Smith and
Marianne Lewis describe paradoxes as
"contradictory yet interrelated elements
that exist simultaneously and persist over
time." Marty Gannon defines paradoxes
as "a statement, or set of related state-
ments, containing interrelated elements
opposed to one another or in tension
with one another or inconsistent with
one another or contradictory to one
another (i.e., eitherIor), thus seemingly
rendering the paradox untrue when in
fact it is true (bothIand)."
We identified 10 paradoxes facing
global leaders:
5trategic and eperatienaI-Global
leaders should operate from a long-term
perspective when pursuing strategic
opportunities and must ensure that all
the day-to-day operations are planned
and managed.
Taking charge and empewering-
Global leaders need to exercise control
over groups of people and engage and
empower employees to execute what
needs to be done.
kesuIts and reIatienships-Global
leaders must focus on achieving organi-
zational goals and bottom-line results,
and should build relationships with
myriad stakeholders to create alignment
and foster collaboration.
Listening and expressing-Global
leaders should ask questions and listen
to a variety of perspectives, but also must
clearly express their own point of view.
6IebaI and IecaI-Global leaders need
to operate with a global, cosmopolitan
mindset and be sensitive to local markets.
Cemmen greup and uniqueness-
Global leaders should pay close attention
to common group characteristics and
respect cultural differences, but also must
appreciate the unique qualities of each
individual.
0pen mind and decisiveness-Global
leaders have to be open to others' ideas
with a nonjudgmental attitude, but must
analyze data and make decisions, often
without consulting others.
Censistency and versatiIity-Global
leaders must provide clear and consistent
direction to others, but also adapt to par-
ticular conditions, situations, or people.
RumiIity and cenfidence-Global
leaders need to be humble about their
own accomplishments, limitations, and
mistakes, but also should convey self-
confidence that attracts others to trust
their leadership.
0eing and being-Global leaders
should consider what they do and make
things happen. At the same time, they
must be mindful of their energetic
presence.
Those paradoxes are not all unique or
necessarily global in scope. In fact, learn-
ing professionals everywhere are facing
most of them as well (particularly results
and relationships, and listening and
expressing), although the corresponding
behaviors may be different.
For example, our version of the stra-
tegic or operational paradox may involve
thinking about future-oriented, strategic
issues while managing our LMS. Our ver-
sion of the global or local paradox may
involve promoting corporate training
standards while honoring and respecting
local customs.
Our profession must face gnarly para-
doxes head-on rather than shy away from
the difficulties or ambiguity they repre-
sent. We can start by monitoring our own
tendency to engage in eitherIor think-
ing rather than expressing a bothIand
perspective.
We should try to understand what
paradoxes play important roles in our
own cultures and organizations-and
then find ways to strengthen people's
paradoxical mindset and capabilities to
deal with them. Author Barry Johnson's
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DELIvEPING
TPAINING
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polarity mapping approach can be a good
tool for doing this work with individuals
and groups.
The diagram above shows the relation-
ship between global leadership and some
of its components such as multicultural
effectiveness and handling paradoxes.
However, global leadership always is
more than the sum of its parts thanks to
the complex, contextual nature of human
performance-where one's effectiveness
in a particular culture is determined by
many things, including whether the cul-
ture is high- or low-context itself.
Embedying the shifts
We have opportunities to develop better
global leaders in every area of expertise
(see sidebars). For example, those of us
who design learning can structure activi-
ties that will help learners use all their
senses (mental, emotional, and physical)
to collect input and integrate across mul-
tiple contexts. Those of us who deliver
training can anticipate and prepare for
challenges involved in training people
who are using English as a second (or
third) language, who may not compre-
hend all the content.
Although it may be time consuming or
impractical for us to learn a second lan-
guage, we can check for comprehension
and arrange for participants to discuss
course content in their local languages.
1he Essenilul GulJe io 1rulnlng Globul
AuJlences by Renie McClay and LuAnn
Irwin is a useful resource. Coaches can
explore what multicultural muscle needs
to be developed-such as curiosity or
positive mindset toward difference-and
then work with their clients on develop-
ing that capability.
Meanwhile, people working in career
planning and talent management could
do more to acknowledge paradoxes fac-
ing leaders. One such paradox occurs in
succession-planning situations, where
people may be encouraged to share their
best talent with the larger organiza-
tion, yet want to keep that talent in their
own area. People involved in facilitating
organizational change should stress the
importance of being for change sponsors
and champions-because people who
are affected by change will watch the
leaders' behavior, not just hear or read
their words.
Those of us who work on improv-
ing human performance may need to
adapt standards developed for a Western
performance context to reflect alterna-
tive ways to accomplish the same task in
other cultures. While managing organi-
zational knowledge, we could analyze
practices for capturing and storing orga-
nizational knowledge, if everything is in
English, that might limit contributions
and use by other cultures. While measur-
ing and evaluating, we should recognize
that most assessment systems depend
on observable behavior or results rather
than things like being-and that compe-
tency models may not capture individual
uniqueness effectively.
The world has a desperate need for
better global leaders to navigate all the
complex and ambiguous challenges
that lie ahead. Our profession must take
responsibility for creating better global
leaders in our organizations-start-
ing with developing ourselves as global
leaders.
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unleush ihelr poienilul unJ munlfesi ihe uorlJ
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MlY 2O12 l T+0 l 37
GLOBAL LEADEPSHlP
LEADEPSHlP
ESSENTlALS
MLTlCLTPAL
EFFECTlvENESS
Performance
Orientation
Agility
Culture
Pelationships
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