Want to be a great global leader?

Is leadership across cultures “just leadership”? I would love for that to be true but I believe there is more to it!

In this article, you will learn:

A story of an American manager taking over management of a Polish team – and it not going so well…

Key skills that leaders working internationally need to develop

Why flexibility matters

Let’s look at an example of a US manager who was selected based on his expertise to move to Poland to lead a team there. What could his steps be?

He could do the logistics, check the visas, find an apartment, get excited about the move and new experience, be humbled that he has been selected to support this team abroad. He was chosen because he was the best and had expertise in what the team was working on. He definitely would want to connect with the team beforehand as well, get to know them, their struggles etc.

Ok, that’s all fair let’s get one step deeper. How do you do that?

So far at home in the US he was just approaching the team directly, having team meetings with brainstorming, one on ones with them, getting them excited, involving them in the decisions, getting them to action as quickly as possible with the project versus evaluating the risks too much.

So naturally, he went to Poland and tried the same strategy!

He heard that Polish people maybe complain a bit more etc, but he was confident that he could bring the energy and enthusiasm into the team. But – – he hit a wall.

He felt like the team was quite distanced from him, didn’t engage as much as what he was used to, didn’t show that much proactivity and expect more lead from him than what he’d seen before.

In our conversation, he concluded that the team just doesn’t have enough competences to do this project. He wanted to discuss with me what training he could suggest to them to be more communicative, to know more and increase their expertise.

Meanwhile, the team’s opinion of this manager continued to deteriorate. ‘He’s just so American’. ‘He can’t make decisions, he asks us about everything, I don’t trust him’. ‘He wants to be our friend, but we need him to be the boss – he’s not serious’.

What worked in the home country, made him temporarily fail in the new context.

However, this story does not end here – not to worry!

This particular manager was open to development and to learn about cultural impact on running international teams. Together, we got to the conclusion that his leadership style may have not been the best fit to what the team expected and needed from him at the time. Of course, there may be a certain preferred organisation style of leadership promoted in the company, but we can’t underestimate the management styles that people are used to in their work settings across the different countries.

He reflected on the challenges he was experiencing and concluded that he may need to be a bit more directive in his approach to leading the Polish team, so that he can build the necessary trust basis that will go both ways. He also needed to ensure that his new Polish team had enough autonomy to do their jobs, but to do that he had to ensure giving them a clear context around the tasks that were expected of them. That was not exactly what he would do ‘back home’ but it worked wonders for his relationship with the team in Poland.

Did he lose himself in the process? Absolutely not.

Did he need to adjust some of his behaviours or ways of working to achieve better results when leading a team outside of his home country? Of course, yes.

Did he experience a variety of emotions during his own personal transition and while experiencing professional challenges after having been a high performer for years in his original office? Oh yeah.

Will the same adjustments work for anyone who is moving from the US to Poland? No.

What I hope this story can illustrate is that the openness to exploration and development is the key skill that any leader needs to have to be successful when working in an international environment.

But that’s probably not sufficient for you! So let’s have a closer look at the skills that I believe make a great global leader.

First and foremost – deep self-awareness.

Not as in ‘I’m so amazing I know myself so well’, no no. Self-awareness as in – knowing your values, attitudes, biases, cultural influences, leadership style and personal attributes. This helps be clear about what you stand for, makes it easier for you to adjust when needed, helps you make decisions too based on your core. It will also be very valuable during any recruiting process (your own or for your team members) as you’d be able to clearly articulate how you work, your values and what areas you’re currently developing in. Thanks to this, people who will consider working with you will know what they sign up for from the beginning.

Also read: D.I.V.E. in with awareness or stay confused

Next up is: Managing relationships and ways of working.

Useful cultural dimension to consider here is the trust building. Is it more task-based or relationship-based? For example, in the United States, both business leaders and workers tend to focus on a task-oriented approach to business. People are valued based on how well they accomplish tasks (and whether they do it on time and within budget).

Accounting for global leadership skills, as a leader you may need to adjust your thinking to a more relationship-oriented approach to business.

Many places in the world base trust on relationships rather than tasks. What’s considered being lazy in one country might be part of the workday and building relationships in other parts of the world. Take getting together with co-workers and talking over a long coffee/lunch break, for example. That’s where it may become tricky to do business with people in more relationship-based cultures. Very often there business deals are kept within a circle of relatives and close friends. And it takes time to build enough trust to enter this close circle!

Broad cultural knowledge

Yes, I mean just generally read up about the world, what’s going on, but also considering the cultural dimensions when working in international teams. What can help you specifically is not so much the knowledge in itself. It’s more the awareness of where your preferences are and ability to relate them to the potential tensions you experience at work. See how the first skill comes in super handy here? 🙂 If you’re able to describe what you’re experiencing and the dynamics that is at play, it’s easier to go past any blockers and find an effective way to move forward and work together well.

Also read: Power distance – what does it mean to be a good boss?

CQ Drive – the driver behind cultural competence development

CQ is Cultural Intelligence. It’s a concept I work with a lot as it is helpful in determining if a challenge I experience may be cultural. And if there is something cultural at play to consider – what to do about it. The CQ Drive in particular is the part of CQ which is your curiosity and motivation to experience difference, learn about other people and other countries. For a global leader, those commitment and openness to learning are going to be key skills, especially if jumping between the different contexts frequently.

Adaptability and flexibility – without losing your core

Global leaders must develop flexibility in how they approach situations in different countries based on the local culture. This includes both their personal approach and the systems they put into place for their teams. What has worked for years in the U.S. might not work at all in parts of Europe or Asia.

It’s the ability to shift leadership style depending on the country/culture – without losing yourself in the process. Now, that’s the challenging bit. Because what we don’t want here is to be a different person whenever we are speaking to someone new. Nor we want to make assumptions about how people want to be treated. That’s why (yet again!) we need to come back to the skill of self-awareness, and be clear about what kind of leader we want to be.

If some of the values are contradicting with the kind of global leader you want to be – you may need to consider revisiting the topic of values. Or search for roles and work in cultures or organisations where you can put these values into practice.

In my career so far I’ve worked with multiple leaders from literally across the world. They were all different, individual, with their own story, perspective and experience.

The global leaders that I (and many other people) loved working with though had something in common. That something were the five skills above which were at the core of their leadership style – the openness, commitment to learning, flexibility, self-awareness.

They were all different on individual level – extroverts, introverts, parents, young single people, women, men, some loved travelling, some were bookworms, others loved partying… They each brought their individual flavour to their teams, but all that with openness, understanding, self-awareness and adaptability.

If you want to continue developing your international career, let’s make sure to stay connected! Sign up here to receive a guide outlining 5 common corporate career traps we fall into, and how to get out of them!