Global Leadership of an International Relief Agency - Essay Example

Global Leadership of an international relief agency Introduction Global leadership is a complex concept, considering that it requires that such a leader is well acquainted with the geopolitical, social and cultural factors that affect the effectiveness of a leadership style (Javidan& Dastmalchian, 2009:41). This is because; a leadership style that is applicable in one part of the world might not be applicable elsewhere, owing to the differences in these factors. Therefore, effective global leadership must entail the capacity to navigate all the collaborative efforts from the different stakeholders involved in a project of an organization, and steer the whole stakeholder team towards a common vision, without being hampered by the geopolitical, social or cultural hindrances (Clark, 2012:n.p.). Thus, this discussion seeks to assess personal qualities for effective global leadership of an international relief agency, with a view to evaluating the skills required and the existing skills gap that calls for further skills development. Further, the discussion seeks to analyze the factors that may inhibit the formation of an effective global team for the project, defining how the global team will be formed through the demonstration of sensitivity to the issues involved in building a multinational team, and also demonstrating the globalization and the contextual issues that will serves as the critical success factors for the project. Personal qualities and skills for effective global leader and the existing skills gap for further skills development Existing Personal qualities and skills The leadership of an international relief agency entails the management of a team that is formed across borders, where cultural, legal, economic and social factors are at play (Tichy & DeVanna, 1990:27). Therefore, the success of a global leader is determined by the ability to work in multiple environments and deliver the core objective of the organization. Thus, the major skills that are required for a global team leader which are part of my personal skills include: Flexibility Flexibility is a major component that can determine the success factors of a global leader. This is because, the leader will be required to incorporate the views, cultural factors, economic and legal aspects of different nations where the relief agency will be operating, to develop a comprehensive working plan that will be suitable for all the nations (Ghemawat, 2012:n.p.). Considering that I am highly flexible, this will serve as a major strength towards enabling me form an effective working model that will suit the relief project. Inquisitiveness Inquisitiveness is another important skill that I posses, which will be of great value to the success of the project. This is because, inquisitiveness enables an individual to inquire and learn into the everyday life of the different communities the individual is serving, and thus manage to understand the political, social and cultural values, which are critical for the success of the project targeting the communities (Clark, 2012:n.p.). Responsiveness Responsiveness is one of the major traits that define my personality, which will be of great use in the global leadership role of a team leader. The establishment of a multinational team requires that the leader is responsive to all the team members and their diverse needs, as well as the diverse needs of the communities in the international borders where the relief agency operates (Tichy & DeVanna, 1990:42). The existing skills gap for further skills development Frame-shift Frame-shift is a skill for global team leadership that requires a leader to keep shifting from one leadership style to the other (Javidan& Dastmalchian, 2009:41). In this respect, the leaders can apply consultative leadership style in one country, and then shift to a hierarchical and bureaucratic leadership style for a different country, depending on the nature of leadership that is effective in the different environments. The major weakness that I highly regard is consultative leadership, and thus may have problems shifting into stricter and bureaucratic leadership styles. Thus, this is one of the major areas that I will need to develop, to be able to possess, apply and shift to different leadership styles whenever the situation demands. Eagerness to learn too much My personal trait is defined by the eagerness to learn too much, which then might pose a major problem for the position of a global team leader, which requires striking a balance between different environments. Thus, learning too much and adapting too much to one environment will affect the rest of the environments negatively (Clark, 2012:n.p.). Therefore, this is an area that is need to develop the balancing skill, so that I will be able to learn just what is sufficient to serve each community effectively, and avoid adapting too much to one environment while neglecting the others. Factors that may inhibit the formation of an effective global team for the international relief project Cultural knowledge and awareness Lack of cultural knowledge and awareness is a major factor that may inhibit the success of the international relief agency project, where the leadership and the team members of the project team lacks adequate awareness and understanding of the essential cultural dimensions for the different communities that they seek to serve(Tichy & DeVanna, 1990:77). Considering that culture defines the subsequent values that a community holds and expects to be respected, the failure to understand the cultural values of a community may eventually lead into a conflict with the society, which may tamper with the success of the relief project. Therefore, cultural unawareness is a major inhibitory factor for the success of a project operating across borders, since the team will be required to understand all the cultural values of the different communities and environments they seek to serve, which may take long to accomplish (Ghemawat, 2012:n.p.). Lack of mutual trust Mutual trust is the most important success factor for a team, and it requires that all the team members are open regarding their beliefs and behaviors (Javidan& Dastmalchian, 2009:36). Therefore, the establishment of a committed team is hampered by the lack of mutual trust, especially where the team is comprised of different nationalities, languages, races and cultures, where some of these aspects may conflict (Clark, 2012:n.p). Therefore, the development of mutual trust serves as a major inhibitory factor to the success of a multinational team for the relief project, requiring more time and high level of indulgence by the team leader, to establish an environment where mutual trust can be build, and allowed to thrive. Lack of shared vision This is another inhibitory factor that may hinder the success of establishing an effective multinational team, considering that achieving shared vision requires that all the team members perceive the goals and objectives of the project from the same perspective (Tichy & DeVanna, 1990:33). However, the problem of realizing a shared vision with a multinational team is that different cultural, social and economic backgrounds of the communities and the nations from which the team members are drawn shapes the goals and objectives for the relief project differently, thus affecting the realization of a shared vision (Ghemawat, 2012:n.p.). How the global team will be formed through adhering to sensitivity of the issues involved in building a multinational team Establishment of common objective The global team will be established through the formation of a common goal for the international relief agency project, where the team members will only qualify to join the global team after having demonstrated their commitment to the common objective of the project. This aspect is important because, the failure to bring the whole team under the umbrella of a common shared objective will mean that the team will lose commitment to the common objective of the project in the future, and eventually split into different objectives and ideologies, which will eventually be a recipe for the project failure (Clark, 2012:n.p). Gender, cultural and racial balance The global team for the relief agency will comprise of a well balanced team in terms of gender, race and cultures. The relevance of gender, cultural and racial balance for a global team is to ensure that the team can use its diversity as the major strength (Javidan& Dastmalchian, 2009:22). In this respect, the strength of the global team will emanate from the diversity of the team, since every culture, language and race that the relief project seeks to serve will be well represented in the team, and thus such team members will interpret the social, cultural and geopolitical values of the different communities to the team. This way, the team will be successful in serving the diverse communities and nations across the borders, without causing a cultural, language or social conflict (Clark, 2012:n.p.). Establishment of the team equality principle The success of any global team highly depends on the level of equal treatment that the members from different cultures, social backgrounds and geopolitical environments receive from the team leadership (Tichy & DeVanna, 1990:54). Therefore, the major principle upon which the multinational team for the relief project will be built is equality, where the team will not discriminate against any member on the basis of their gender, culture, religion and race, but use these differences as the strengths to enable the team become effective in serving different communities across the borders where the project is targeting to serve. Discrimination is a vice that leads to lack of motivation and demoralization of the team members who are discriminated against, which then kills the team spirit and eventually hinders efficient cooperation among the team members (Javidan& Dastmalchian, 2009:29). Therefore, through establishing a team based on the equality for all team members, the team will be guaranteed to remain united and cooperative throughout the project duration. The globalization and the contextual issues that will serve as the critical success factors for the project Team diversity Team diversity is a concept that refers to the comprehensiveness of a team, in terms of gender parity, racial, cultural and language integration, which makes all the stakeholders feel equally represented by the team (Clark, 2012:n.p.). Therefore, team diversity will serves as a major critical success factor for the project, since the constitution of the team in a manner that incorporates different languages, cultures, social and geopolitical backgrounds will be essential, to ensure that the team will be able to effectively interpret and apply the values of the communities and nations the project seeks to serve (Tichy & DeVanna, 1990:72). Shared objective Shared objective will serve as a major critical success factor for the multinational team, considering that it is through sharing the common goal for the project, that a team will be capable of ensuring that the divergence of ideas and opinions which might be held by the team members does not split the targets that the team seeks to accomplish (Clark, 2012:n.p.). Therefore, by building the team based on the principle of shared objective, it will be possible for the team to remain united and focused towards the realization of a common goal. This way, it will be possible to realize the project success. References Clark, D. (April 6, 2012). Five Ways to Become a Global Leader. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved March 25, 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2012/06/04/five-ways-to-become-a-global-leader/ Ghemawat, P. (June 2012). Developing global leaders: Companies must cultivate leaders for global markets. Dispelling five common myths about globalization is a good place to start. McKinsey Quarterly. Retrieved March 25, 2014 from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/leading_in_the_21st_century/developing_global_leaders Javidan, M., & Dastmalchian, A. (2009). Managerial implications of the GLOBE project: A study of 62 societies. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 47(1), 20-41. Tichy, N. M., & DeVanna, M. A. (1990). The Transformational Leader. The Key to Global Competitiveness. New York: Read More