Rethinking leadership development

Global leadership represents so much more than the location of your leaders. Your brand manager in Seattle might just be as much of a global leader as your operations manager in Rio de Janeiro. Sure, there can be a geographical meaning, but it goes much further. Global leadership includes leading diverse groups, leadership across the supply chain and throughout the enterprise. Simply stated, global leaders, different than everyday leaders, are adaptable people who are capable of leading effectively anywhere they are placed. They are the people who help your organization succeed in today’s constantly evolving and rapidly changing dynamic business environment because they are capable of evolving and changing as well, without losing their identity. The questions is – how do you create more of them?

It is unsettling to me how companies are still looking to capture the perfect leadership competency model. The expectation is that the right skills are developed for the right situation. The belief is that the right skills help leaders execute the plan. But, there are contradictions for every situation. If yesterday’s move was logical, rapid change might make it illogical today. Consistent business practices are only valuable in a consistent business climate.

The science of leadership and leadership development has failed to keep pace with the enormous changes in the global marketplace. Our leaders do not know how to manage the paradox between the need to be strong-willed and sensitive to the needs of the team. They struggle balancing command and control and remaining collaborative. They struggle balancing between having the right answers and forming the right questions. Today’s leaders do not know how to manage the paradox that exists in protecting organizational heritage and tenets while driving change, or from making the tough call while trying to create an inclusive working environment.
 
Leadership development must look beyond simple skill-set development and focus more on helping leaders navigate the paradoxes by helping them form the proper leadership mindset.
 
To create global leaders, mindset development must come before skill-set development. For instance, it is hard to become a better listener, without developing curiosity first. Learning to look people in the eye, fight distractions, and ask appropriate questions are important, but they are simply mechanical skills. Being open to new ideas and processes, and remaining inclusive of others, lets you really hear what’s being said – and put it to good use. This is what I mean by mindset.  Mechanics can be applied and developed universally; mindset is individual. Mindset is the true separator of talent, not technique.

Mindset helps today’s global leaders navigate disruption and change. The right mindset allows the global leader to operate under the right guiding principles. The right mindset allows these global leaders to manage the paradoxes effectively in order to achieve the right outcomes.

For the global leader, managing the paradoxes and navigating through change and disruption is everything. Our companies miss the mark if they focus first on developing the right skill-sets because the skills can become irrelevant in such a short period of time.
 
However, I want to be clear. Completely discounting the need to develop the leadership skills of our talent would be wrong. The charge is that skill-set development alone does not equip our leaders for today’s inconsistencies and contradictions. Start by developing the right mindset first and then work to develop the broadest base of transportable skills for your leaders. This ensures your leaders are adaptable and your organization is agile and frees you up to release your leaders to perform rather than managing the skills they apply from situation to situation.

If you’re organization is finding it hard to adjust effectively to the vast changes in today’s global business environment; consider developing the mindset of global leaders – leaders who are capable of navigating through change and disruption.

---

Biography

Mike Thompson is the CEO of SVI, a leading organizational development company whose mission is to create irresistible companies and extraordinary people. Thompson coaches current and next generation executives at many of the world’s largest companies to support them in developing sustainable and scalable organizational development solutions.