As Japanese organizations continue to expand their businesses overseas, the need to develop effective global leaders and managers is becoming an urgent issues for many organizations.
However, the definition of an “effective leader” varies from one culture to another. In fact, effective leadership behavior in one culture could be completely ineffective in others. Whilst true leaders can envision what they want to achieve, and take appropriate steps to make that vision a reality, how they communicate and interact with the people they lead will usually define their success.
Leading across cultures is naturally more complex and requires a broader range of skills, abilities and awareness.
Therefore, it is important to recognize that successful leaders in Japan may not necessarily be successful leaders overseas, and vise versa.
So how can your organization develop effective global leaders?
The basic framework usually includes the following steps:
- Identify your organization’s potential global leaders (talent pool / succession planning)
- Assess their capabilities and development needs
- Develop and implement appropriate learning and training programs
- Create opportunities through work assignments for leaders to develop their skills
- Measure progress to track actual development and progress
Leaders need to learn and understand the perceptions of their global workforce, as well as the expectations of their global customers and vendors. This means providing training and coaching to help leaders acquire higher-level management skills and develop their leadership competencies. HRD managers need to define the abilities and competences required to be an effective leader in their organization.
The basic key competencies required by all global leaders are:
- Lead multicultural teams effectively
- Communicate clearly and decisively
- Use authority with confidence, accountability and integrity
Effective training and coaching focuses on preparing potential leaders and helps them achieve more personal satisfaction whilst achieving the strategic business objectives of the organization.
Philip Deane