Global Leadership Development - Essay Example

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Introduction With the onset of globalization, a large number of corporations are considering expanding their operations. These expansions include opening overseas branches in order to tap the foreign market. This realization is a growing issue in corporate governance as a large number of corporations is realizing that there is a lot of potential in the foreign markets. The difficulty arises when it comes to the exact mechanics of the operations of these overseas branches. Especial of interest to these corporations is individuals qualified enough to take up managerial posts in these foreign offices. It is a well-known fact that despite the standard corporate and academic qualifications, additional training is needed if one is considering taking up management overseas. This requirement is especially from a human resource management point of view. The following essay takes an in-depth look at global leadership development from an international human resource management point of view. The assertion is that regular local vocational training is not enough on the global scene. Additional leadership development with a more global outlook is by all means necessary if one is to venture and succeed in the highly competitive and diverse international markets. Importance of consideration of leadership from a global perspective. The consideration of leadership is imperative from a global perspective. This importance has to do with the versatility paradigm of leadership; hence leadership is increasingly becoming versatile and diverse. With new opportunities opening up on a daily basis globally, one cannot just focus on operating in their locality (Briscoe, 2013, p.149). It is increasingly becoming necessary to train and develop leaders who can take up managerial positions in corporations in any corner of the globe. From an internationally human resource point of view, the development of global leadership is an inevitable venture for any company intending to expand its capacity globally. This is because the business needs assurance of individual to whom it can entrust the usually difficult task of managing and supervising its overseas subsidiaries. There may be very qualified and capable potential employees near the branch. The overall outlook, however, for any corporation at this point is levels of accountability and trust. Thus, academic qualifications are right and very inviting but not enough in this instance. There needs to be additional training that will give the corporation a sense of security as far as the management of the overseas branches is concerned (Briscoe, 2009, p.73). The development of global leadership is also critical in terms of just building the skills of individuals and releasing them out to the world so that they can make a positive change in the corporate sector or otherwise. It is a known fact that corruption is a pertinent issue that is retrogressive to development especially in the third world. The worst part is that the main perpetrators of these corrupt acts are people in senior managerial and leadership positions. This behavior is a vice that has led to the impoverishment of millions of people due to deprivation of development opportunities all for the personal gain of a few. From this perspective, global leadership development is more inclined towards initiating a paradigm shift as far as global corporate leadership is concerned (Dowling, 2012, p.57). This means developing a new breed of leaders who are better in every way and do not share the vices of the existing leadership. This step is more likely to change the global financial scene as it will greatly hinder corruption, a significant source of revenue loss on a global scale. Identification of high potential leaders The first step in global leadership development is the identification of leaders with a high potential. The question thus arises as to the exact mechanisms being employed to identify and recruit these high potential leaders. Monitoring of individuals from a very young age is paramount in this respect. This is because the potential for leadership manifests itself at a very young age. Once this potential has been positively identified, it is critical to ensure that the potential leader in question does not, at any point in time, lose track. A good example is the wings to fly initiative in Africa that the Equity Bank initiated. This program primarily deals with the identification and recruitment of potential leaders. Once Equity Bank has identified these potential global leaders have, it sets an initiative to give them additional training on leadership, despite their regular academic training (Fisher, 2012, p.69). This task is making waves in African countries such as Kenya. People are emerging from this program initiated by equity bank and changing every aspect of the corporate scene in the country as well as in neighboring countries. When it comes to the recruitment of potential global leaders, many corporations view high IQ as a prerequisite for a possible candidate. As a result, students with a relatively higher IQ may be shortlisted by an interested company and then trained in global leadership and management by the company in question. In some instances, the company also takes it upon itself to cater for the tuition fees of the student in question.By so doing, the company aims at ensuring that poverty does not deprive the world of a potential revolutionary corporate leader. Companies also offer internship programs to shortlisted students with the aim of ensuring that the students in question are acquainted with the corporate scene from a very early age (Harris, 2003, p.56). These companies also set up programs in foreign countries where shortlisted students get to meet with their equivalent from different countries and share ideas. This is crucial because it builds the capacity of the students to view issues from a global perspective as opposed to just the perspective of their respective localities. Cross cultural training One cannot talk about global leadership development without touching on issues of culture. In many countries, human resource management is often intertwined with the cultural practices of the people in order to provide a conducive working environment for the local people. A good example is the Arab world. Arabia being a Muslim region, human resource management tactics had to acknowledge this fact in order to ensure employee satisfaction. A good example is the fact that Muslims pray five times in a day. Thus, in any corporation in the Arab world, mechanisms have to be put in place in order to accommodate this fact. This clarity translates to organizations showing tolerance to the culture of their employees who in turn work wholeheartedly for the firm in question. It is very clear that global leadership development is related to cross-cultural training. For instance, a gay person intending to take up managerial positions in a foreign country has to be well versed in the cultural practices of the country in question. The cultural practices find their way into the corporate culture of the country in question. Thus, a global leader taking up managerial positions in India, for example, has to understand the Indian culture. This global leader has to know all the Indian holidays and their importance to the Indian people. In effect to this, the leader cannot force employees to come to work on any of these holidays.They will appreciate the co-workers culture and the religious and social implications of these holidays (Harzing, 2004, p.68). Multi-cultural development in global leadership development is aimed at streamlining the management with the workforce. Managers who are not well versed in the cultural practices of their workforce are very likely to get involved in conflicts with this workforce (Harzing, 2003, p.99). That is why cross-cultural training and cultural tolerance is an integral part of global leadership development. Selection and recruitment of global talent Global talent in this context refers to individuals with an operational capacity that is at the global level. These are extraordinary individuals who do not aspire to mediocrity but rather are anxious to prove themselves the very best on the global stage. It is pertinent from the global leadership development point of view, to identify and tap the potential in these individuals. A human resource management practice that is essential in this respect is talent scouting. This means building a team exclusively tasked with identifying individuals with potential to become global corporate leaders. These talent scouts will search the globe for these individuals and in effect ensure their recruitment. Learning and knowledge From an international human resource management point of view, learning and knowledge base of the global leaders in the global leadership development programs has to be very specific. This can be attributed to the fact that different countries have different human resource management practices. In addition to the international labor laws, every country also has its labor laws. For example, in Wales, one is only considered as a fully-fledged employee once they have worked for a period of at least two years. Before this period, one can be terminated from employment and will not be liable for compensation of any sort from the employer (Mendenhal, 2000, p.50). This law is an example of strange labor laws that the global leaders have to respect to increase their versatility and capacity to work in different places. Global leadership development training has to take into account various human resource management practices that are in existence in different regions of the world. A good example is the fact that one cannot effectively manage a corporation in Saudi Arabia without being well versed with the restrictions on hiring women in that country. It is, therefore, essential that companies training potential global leaders identify the labor practices of their regions of interest. Once these practices are identified, they can be incorporated into the global leadership development training (Dunning, 2008, p.87). As a result, the corporation will have global leaders who are well qualified but also well versed with the human resource management norms of the countries where they are likely to take up leadership positions. International assignments It is a known fact that one cannot adequately train an individual to be a global leader without exposing this individual to the global scene. Exposure is necessary for any vocational training irrespective of the field because it prepares individuals for the actual situation on the ground. From an international human resource management point of view, corporations need to put in place programs where the global leadership development trainees get a chance at exposure to the global scene. One way of achieving this is through the inception of exchange training programs. During this program, human resource management departments in different countries liaise with each other throughout the program. (Dunning, 2008, p.94). As a result, candidates from one country can travel to another country in order to experience the actual situation on the ground in that country. This program is a very similar one to the exchange programs that are popular in colleges and high schools. The only difference is that this exchange program is taking place at a corporate level. The candidates in this exchange program have it in mind that this program is pertinent to their development as global leaders. As a result, they will take part in these exchange programs with the sole aim of well versing themselves with the human resource management practices in different countries, in effect building their capacity as global leaders. It is also crucial that these global leadership development candidates get international assignments during their training. This process will enable he corporations training them to assess the validity of their training programs. During these international transfers, the performance of these candidates will be the subject of high scrutiny. This scouting will act as a point of validation as to whether or not the global leadership development programs in place are bringing about the desired results. These international assignments are also very necessary from the point of view of the candidates in question. This is because they will give the candidates an opportunity at self-evaluation. As a result, the candidates will be able to determine which region suits them the most in terms of their capabilities to interact and work effectively with the people from this area. Standardization of development and training One issue that arises when it comes to global leadership development is the question of standardization of the training. If ,for example, a corporation like Apple chooses to venture into global leadership development, issues will arise as to whether the quality of training offered to candidates in the United States is the same as that offered to candidates in other parts of the world. It is critical, to this effect, that corporations venturing into global leadership development have an independent body monitoring the quality of training offered in different parts of the world. This body will be like a bureau of standards ensuring that candidates from different parts of the world are well at par in terms of their proficiency in their respective fields (Mendenhall, 2000, p.92). Human resource management teams from subsidiaries in different countries can also be tasked with the evaluation of candidates in the global leadership development programs from different countries. Taking the example of the Apple corporation training candidates in the United States and China, it is a very realistic prospect human resource management teams in the United States of America can evaluate the Chinese candidates and Chinese groups and vice versa. Any discrepancies in the findings of the groups will reveal whether or not the level of training being offered in these countries is the same. It will also enable the corporation to determine the capacity of these candidates to work in different regions of the world (Harris, 2003, p.40). Developing a global mindset The main challenge as far as global leadership development is concerned with developing a global mindset in the candidates. This is because the education system in most countries of the world focuses on training students to take up positions in their localities. As a result, the students are tailored to excel in various fields in their countries. The challenge facing corporations of building a global mindset in these candidates thus presents itself. One practice that can help in this instance is clearly explaining to the candidates that business knows no boundaries (Fisher, 2012, p.81). This clarity will help the candidates to understand that despite the geographical borders separating nations, the world is more or less a single cohesive unit as far as business is concerned. One way of doing this is sending the candidates in the program to missions in foreign countries. These missions should be of an administrative nature in order to evaluate the capacity of the candidate in question to synchronize their mindset with the new locality to which the company sends them. Cross-cultural adjustment Cultural shock is also an issue that has to be dealt with in global leadership development training. Very often, these candidates have a very hard time adjusting to their new environments because they find the culture of the people in their new locality very alien. The culture of the candidates may also be very questionable to the people in their new locality. A good example is American summer dressing can appear very strange in a Middle Eastern environment. This problem is, however, rather easy to tackle. Before a company posts candidates to a new locality, it should exclusively train them in the culture of the people in that new locality. For example, a candidate to be occupying a leadership position in Africa can be taught the African culture. This may include African cuisine, language and manner of dressing. These lessons will help to reduce the level of cultural shock once the candidate effectively arrives at their new locality (Dowling, 2012, p.162). The key to tackling this problem is in essence preparation from an early stage. In addition to training the candidates on paradigms of a global culture, they can also be trained on the specific cultures of regions where they are likely to work. Conclusion Corporate leadership has indeed morphed from a locality based venture to a global juggernaut. As a result of this metamorphosis and the ever increasing need by corporations to establish overseas subsidiaries, delocalization of leadership is an inevitable venture. Corporations are thus forced to look at leadership from a global perspective. This has perhaps been the key motivating factor behind the establishment of the global leadership development program. This is a program aimed t training gifted leaders to be able to take up leadership positions on a global scale. Among the key considerations of this program is the identification of candidates and training them in cross-culturalism. Bibliography Bratton, J., and Jeffrey G. 2000. Human Resource Management Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. 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