Leadership without Borders

The word globalization is ubiquitous in business, so much so that it’s almost embarrassing to mention it.

Multinational companies (MNCs) have existed for more than half a century and many of us could rattle off a list of two dozen or more of them. In fact, globalization has so permeated our lives that it is often impossible to find something as basic as a car or a household appliance that is manufactured and assembled in our own country.

But globalization has not only increased in scope, it has also done so in speed.

 

Everything from buying socks to soup can be done online. Deliveries and returns can be arranged without writing a letter or making a phone call; and goods and services can be paid for without leaving home.

And therefore it’s not an exaggeration to say that even sole proprietors – infopreneurs – are international business people just as much as any traditional bricks-and-mortar MNC. 

This globalization has led inevitably to the need for a new style of leadership that is compatible with the absence of national boundaries; what you might call leadership without borders. 

The need for such leadership has been known for almost 50 years. Geert Hofstede, in his landmark study of IBM employees in 70 countries found that national cultures had a profound effect on the way that leaders, managers, and employees interpreted their roles and responsibilities.

The differences were so marked that it was all too evident that the leadership styles that American businesses relied upon were entirely inappropriate for almost everyone else in the world.

It was only because of the raw financial power held by the US companies that they were able to influence the management practices of foreign subsidiaries to the extent that they did. 

However, the collapse of the Old Soviet Union, the resulting rise of capitalism not only in Eastern Europe, but in other emerging nations, and the comparatively recent decline of economic influence in the United States and developed countries in the European Union has meant that no company, however large, has a corner on the global market.

And that means that the way is open for the most astute leaders to fill the void left by the outdated practices of the past.

 

Here are three characteristics that managers in all levels of their organizations can use to bridge that gap.

 1. Leaders must embrace diversity

Whatever beliefs leaders hold about how to accomplish their organization’s mission, they must realize that there is a multitude of ways to achieve the same thing.

Let’s consider the creation of strategy, for example.

In the United States, profit is king. Whatever else the company does, its strategies are intended to generate as much money as possible.

In Japan, however, the pursuit for profit is 80% less than the Americans.

Yet, despite opposite approaches to strategy, organizations in both countries enjoy worldwide success.

 

2. Leaders must respect laws of the countries where their employees live.

One factor that separates American companies from their European counterparts, for example, is the number of weeks of vacation that each gets. 

In the former, two weeks is quite common for new employees. Four weeks are reserved for those who’ve been in the company for 10 years or more.

Leaders must not begrudge these differences.

  

3. Leaders must develop relationships with their employees, as well as their customers, and that means that they must give them both the time that’s needed.

 The key to leading without borders is to accept that the differences between nations are good for business and resist the temptation to make everything conform to the way it is at home.