"GLOBAL CHALLENGES REQUIRE GLOBAL LEADERS”

"According to the survey conducted by the senior executives, 76 per cent believe that their organizations need to develop global-leadership capabilities, but only seven per cent at present are working effectively. 30 per cent of US companies admit that they have completely failed to exploit their international business opportunities.

Leadership in 21st century is not an easy task. The shell life of a modernistic leader is not so easy because their life is so challenging and they are known as the pillars of their organisations, they need to inspire a variegated group of people. Thus a leader needs to be extraordinary and dynamic for achieving these characteristics one needs to be a strong communicator.

Apart from being a strong communicator, a leader or more importantly a global leader should have strategic perspective, customer focus and understanding, ability to spot trends and connect the dots, engage and commit teams, willingness to take risks, have a deep knowledge and expertise in his field. With rising importance on emerging markets, in order to adapt to local cultures and market needs, companies must be decentralised and collaborative in their decision making. It requires developing of leaders who capable of working anywhere. Basically the global leaders should be capable of handling customer service, give information to its workers and boost technology and finance of the organisation.

Not only a leader is the head of its team but also the planner, organiser, coach, trainer, problem solver and decision-maker of the team.

Qualities that a global leader must possess:

·        They need to have good communication skills to interact with the shareholders and partners as well as techn savvy. Ability of negotiation is must for the global leader.  A sharp vision of planning and developed economy is the positive weapon of a global leader.

·        Leaders who are well-versed in facing the challenges of a growing economy are more acceptable in comparison to others. Also, able leaders should have the vision of a developed economy alongside capability of planning, dealing with contingencies and developing plans for five-six continents simultaneously. The individuals should be multilingual and exposed to multi-cultural activities across the world.

·        Global leaders must be effective in making the employees understand the organisation’s mission and values, empowering people to lead by example and collaborating as a friend philosopher and guide rather than a strict teacher.

·        Global leaders are those who can easily understand the seriousness of educative suggestion.

·        Corporations want leaders who are fitting in all cultures; they want those who are multilingual and understand the importance of doing business outside their home environment.

·        Global organisations prefer candidates who have foreign exposure because these experiences will provide broader knowledge about seeking global opportunities throughout one’s life.

The writer is Dr KJS Anand, executive director at IMS, Noida