Skills for Global Leaders

Peter Drucker once said, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” For this management “guru” who introduced the concept of the “knowledge worker” (1959, “The Landmarks of Tomorrow”, Harper & Bros.), communication was one of the most important skills for any leader or manager. Above all else, without being able to communicate effectively, neither leadership nor management can be fully achieved. “Hearing what is not said” can be even more challenging in a global context because the communication might be between different cultures which exhibit different ways of communicating. 

One of the earliest articles on intercultural leadership focused on this key skill of communication. Ruben, in “Handbook of Intercultural Skills”, Vol 1, 1983, Pergamon, identified key skills “being associated with effective transferring of knowledge in a multicultural environment”. Whilst relatively old, these key points have been cited as recently as 2007 by Moran et al, in their 7^th edition of “Managing Cultural Differences – Global Leadership Strategies for the 21^st Century”, Eslevier. They appear to be “common sense” but worth repeating because they are often overlooked.

Here’s a synthesis of key skills for global leaders and further implications (“et alors”).

Skills for Global Leaders

In order to effectively communicate knowledge in a multicultural environment, the global leader should exhibit the following skills:

·         Respect. The ability to express respect for others is very important. To do this, the leader must be acquainted with the cultural norms of the host or visitor.

·         Tolerating Ambiguity. The ability to react to new, different and unpredictable situations with little visible discomfort or irritation. Persistence and perseverance are also required.

·         Relating to People. Too much concern for the task and neglect of “people maintenance” can lead to failure in transferring knowledge.

·         Being Nonjudgmental. The ability to withhold judgment and remain objective until one has enough information. This requires empathy.

·         Personalising One’s Observations. An ability to accept the relative subjectivity of one’s own knowledge and perceptions, knowing that they are not necessarily universally applicable.

Et alors?

As Moran states, these skills are “often not demonstrated by multinational managers or supervisors of minority employees in one’s own culture”! This article was first published almost thirty years ago and one of the key points was acquaintance with cultural norms of the host or the visitor. In other words, when doing business, it is not just a case of “when in Rome, do as the Romans” but to extend the old adage further, “when the Romans visit, do as the Romans”! Yet thirty years on, even the most culturally-aware managers tend to put the onus of “respect” on the visitors rather than the host. To effectively transfer knowledge in a multicultural environment, all the cultures have to adapt when communicating. This does not mean that each visitor has to adapt to each host, rather that both host and visitor have to find a way to show respect and, amongst other things, perhaps “hear what is not said”.

According to Ruben’s proposed skill set, some cultures might find it “easier” than others to effectively communicate knowledge in a multicultural environment. Some cultures prefer to focus on the relationship rather than the task; some do not avoid uncertainty and can easily tolerate ambiguity; some are “reactive” with a tendency for high empathy; and some are “particularist” rather than “universal” in their approach to truth. The need for respect in a multicultural environment means that both host and visitor should make the effort whether it is easy or difficult to adapt; however motivation might be another question and here an imbalance might appear. By virtue of being a visitor, the visitor might be ready and willing to adapt; but the host might not always be so inclined especially when there is one “principal” host and many visitors. Despite the advice of the Handbook of Intercultural Skills, many international companies therefore remain today multinational but not multicultural.