Being Global. Gregory Unruh
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research on cross-cultural leadership (including the GLOBE project led by our own colleague Mansour Javidan and involving researchers around the world, which we'll discuss in detail in chapter 2). Our focus, however, is not how you can move from one cultural context to another or on how to adapt your style to remain effective in an international assignment. Our interest is in how you can actually transcend culture, become effective across cultural settings, effectively interact with culturally diverse individuals and organizations, and create value.
More importantly, Being Global is different due to its inward focus. Most existing literature focuses on the outward issues of what leaders do—the actions they take, the words they use, and so on. We agree that the ultimate purpose of self-development is to prepare you to take appropriate action, and in the book, we often show the leaders we profile in action. Nonetheless, our main purpose is to invite you to pause and look within yourself. We are interested less at this stage in what you want to do than in what you want to be and how we can help you become a truly global leader.
Our Global Examples
Each of the people we write about in this book is a global leader; by definition, he or she possesses all the characteristics we identify in chapter 1 as necessary to qualify as a global leader.2 In most cases, however, we discuss each leader in a specific context in which he or she displayed one characteristic in a particularly inspiring or instructive way. This is simply a function of convenience, not a reflection of the balance of leadership capabilities that person possesses.
It is important to recognize, however, that every global leader—regardless of age or experience or skill level—is always engaged at some level in ongoing self-development. Global leadership skills take a long time to develop, and the path is not straight. On the contrary, it can double on itself, forcing the leader to relearn old lessons for a new situation. The global leaders we profile showed impressive skill at a particular time in a particular context, but that does not mean they are infallible. Being global is kind of like being a black belt in karate: earning the belt requires a great deal of focus, discipline, and ongoing practice, and keeping the belt requires the same. Many martial arts disciplines treat the black belt as a starting point or foundation upon which you build for the rest of your life. Any decrease in commitment, a switch to tennis, or even a new sparring partner can all knock you back down.
There are, of course, benefits to falling. It may be tough on the ego, but the different view can reveal where you are and where you still need to go. Consider this book a hand—we'll help you up and show you the way to go. How you continue, of course, is up to you.
We start you on the path in chapter 1 with an overview of global leadership—what it is, why it is so necessary, and what characteristics global leaders possess. We then follow with three chapters that delve in detail into the three core characteristics of global leaders. In the conclusion, we highlight the ongoing work you can do to develop your global leadership skills. The key to this book, and to everything in it, is a deep belief that while you may not have been born a global leader, you can become one. It is up to you.
CHAPTER 1
Global Leaders Can Be Made: Learning to Connect, Create, and Contribute
In 2007, Israeli-born Shai Agassi abandoned his position as the heir apparent of the global software giant SAP AG. He left to pursue a vision of environmentally friendly electric vehicles—an entire world of cars and charging stations, as well as the supply and regulatory infrastructure needed for an electric car to flourish in a gasoline-dominated automotive market. If successful, Agassi's approach would offer a transportation alternative that does not drain the earth's limited supply of fossil fuels or stuff the atmosphere full of greenhouse gases. He also plans to make a lot of money for investors and create thousands of jobs.
Agassi is not an inventor or a government official. He doesn't have any distinct expertise in mechanical engineering or manufacturing, and he doesn't have the power to change transportation regulations or energy policy. What Agassi does have is a set of skills in much shorter supply than any of these resources or assets. Like the rest of the individuals we introduce throughout this book, Agassi is a global leader.
What Is a Global Leader?
Global leaders craft solutions by bringing together people and resources across national, cultural, even organizational boundaries. Global leaders are visionaries inspired by a worldwide challenge that remains unsolved, an ignored social injustice or a business opportunity that has gone unexploited. They can identify and call on different individuals who together possess all the pieces necessary to make the vision a reality. These people may speak different languages and be motivated by diverse goals or driven by different values. They may be unlikely collaborators. Global leaders understand the cultural, social, or political differences that keep contributors apart and find ways to build, cultivate, and connect them despite, and sometimes because of, those differences.
In Agassi's case, it was clear almost from the outset that his vision of sustainable transportation would not be possible without the engagement of individuals and organizations spanning the globe, from the public, private, and civil sectors. So Agassi raised venture capital from investors in California, New York, Copenhagen, and Tel Aviv for his firm, Better Place; he reached agreements with the governments of Israel, Denmark, Australia, Hawaii, and California; and he partnered with the Franco-Japanese automobile conglomerate Renault-Nissan.
Agassi is an exceptional human being, but he is not unique. Over the years, we have met many people who share the same ability to form a vision and bring together resources and individuals from around the globe to realize that vision in a way that brings value to everyone involved.
Other global leaders we introduce in this book include Rangina Hamidi, an Afghan woman who launched a textile business in Kandahar in 2002 after the fall of the Taliban; Lalit Ahuja, who help establish Target in India; Merle Hinrichs, founder of the global trade matchmaking firm Global Sources; Bill Browder, founder of Hermitage Capital Management; and dozens of others.
Each of these leaders exhibits the traits and characteristics needed to effectively craft global solutions. They act as bridge builders, connectors of global resources and talent, dedicated to finding new ways to create value. None of them was born a global leader, but they each found a way to become one. They have experienced the difficulties of crossing lines in a world that is becoming more tightly connected yet no flatter, where the nuances and differences across cultures are becoming, if anything, more visible and critical.1 They have found ways to navigate uneven terrain, close gaps, and make a difference for people around the world. The old adage “think global, act local” does not begin to describe any of them. Agassi, Hamidi, Browder, Ahuja, and Hinrichs are—or more accurately, they strive to be—global.
Why Do We Need Global Leaders?
The most promising opportunities and the biggest challenges we face today are inexorably global in nature. Our economy, environment, resources, education, and health systems all connect to, rely on, and affect the economies, environments, resources, and health systems in other countries.
Take a mundane example: there are few items more iconic “American” than a pair of blue jeans. Look closer, however, and a decidedly global picture emerges. The cotton may be picked from Peruvian or Ugandan fields, shipped to China for finishing, and then sent to Malaysia to be spun into yarn. The yarn goes to Thailand where the fabric is woven, then to Singapore to be cut, before it is sent to Indonesia for sewing. Labels come from India. Zippers from Hong Kong. Thread from Malaysia and buttons and rivets from Taiwan.
Blue jeans are pretty low-tech as far as manufactured items go. The range of countries and systems involved in their production nonetheless signals a widely acknowledged fact that business in most industries—apparel, automotive, electronics, processed food, and pharmaceuticals, to name a few—has become relentlessly international. The words “Made in ______” on many product labels simply refer to the last stop on a global journey.2
International trade is not new, of course.