Leadership in a global market
Recently, I took a trip to Tokyo, where I met with clients and networked with connections who are looking for growth opportunities. It was a fantastic trip with old connections renewed and new relationships built. The experience has reminded me just how important it is to embrace global leadership.
Your leadership is global, whether you’re ready for it or not
Whether you’re a leader in a small business or a large organisation, global leadership not an abstract concept – it’s a reality.
Increasingly as we become more and more connected via technology, the global market has direct consequences for every business, no matter the size. There are expansion opportunities for businesses beyond the confines of their origin country and knowledge of these international markets is essential.
Even in schools, students are learning to adopt this global mindset, as they embrace various networking opportunities with schools all over the world, through HSIE initiatives and even brother/sister school relationships.
New leadership skills aren’t needed – a new mindset is
Chances are, if you’re leading a team or an organisation, you’ve already been honing your leadership skills. The prospect of embracing global leadership might seem daunting, but the good news is that there’s no need to reinvent the wheel; the skills you’ve been using with your team can be built upon and adapted for the global landscape.
Having a global mindset is all about taking all the qualities and skills you have as a leader and applying a global lens to them.
Just as you have a thorough understanding of your local market, you should be aiming to understand the markets internationally. Just as you deeply understand your own culture and how business is conducted within it, you should work to understand business culture in the market you’re looking to expand into or connect with.
These considerations are important for any business, but for those who are looking to move into developing markets it’s critical. You need to have a full understanding of the communities you will be working with, because your work in these countries will impact local communities directly.
Your team is already global
The one thing local business will always have in common with global business? Strong connections. Building these cross-cultural relationships will always help you to build on these understandings and develop a global mindset in an organic way, helping you to be sensitive to other ways of thinking and operating.
Here in Australia, we’re lucky to have such a strong multicultural workforce where teams are diverse in many different ways. Making these international connections can seem out of reach – particularly for small businesses – but it is possible to start working on your global mindset as you work with your local team, which no doubt includes team members with a variety of cultural backgrounds.
The skills you build upon in your local team will help prepare you for big expansion opportunities, even if those opportunities are years away.
Building on your global leadership skills is essential, especially as a new generation of leaders enters the workforce. Over the last two decades they have been educated in a way that has kept this global perspective front of mind as they adopt new technology and adapt to an ever-evolving world. They’re ready to bring their global mindset to your teams and lead in their own way.
Want to develop your global leadership skills? People Make the Difference can help. To find out more, visit www.pmtd.com.au or call us on 0412 333 415. Try our online leadership training videos – $99 for complete access. Great value if you’re committed to growing your leadership potential.
