Going back to basics, as an Intercultural Executive Coach, and having dedicated my blog to the Global Leader. What is a Global Leader? It can refer to the Expatriate or ExPat, (and these can separate in the self-initiated expatriates” and the “organizational ones). We can also include the Company Globetrotter and the Executive Nomad. These last ones, a growing group, can denote permanent employees working location-independently by leveraging information technology. Whatever their names or descriptions, they are all success driven global leaders that are presented by Intercultural challenges.
In one of my first blog I describe the Intercultural Coaching I offer to these executives. I offer this under the format of 3 approaches involving the combination of 3 major happenings in their lives:
- Their New Position or new job, in or new country, city, or company,
- the Change itself seen as a new gain, but at the same time, a loss.
- And the new Intercultural reality being faced, a combo of your culture and the new culture you now coexist in.
Global assignments in companies have heavily increased and continue to grow. Every day we see multiple organizations, both private and government, extending their scope to new countries and new continents. Extend this scope to new cities within a same country, and a new company culture; again it’s another considerable change. Thus, the number of expatriates has been dramatically increased. Consequently, global leader development has become an important human resource development issue and needs to be on their agenda.
The Global Leader’s Success is a team thing
The Global Leader is not the only one arriving at a new job or new culture, the people around them are also facing new changes. Coaching is a good support program to accompany the many leaders that are living this change. But also, for those who are receiving a new boss from other cultures or a new peer from another culture. Even for the new bosses themselves, coaching with a touch of intercultural development is a great enabler. We all know that to handle ambiguity with a new member of the team can be a challenge. We can say it’s a 360º learning opportunity for the whole team.
As company environments become more multicultural and diverse, individuals must develop cross-cultural communication skills to achieve effective performance. One of these skills is having the ability to understand and adjust quickly to the host culture. Expatriate research literature claims and strongly support the fundamental assumption that expatriates must adjust to new cultural environments. This will be achieved by modifying and adapting their behavior to fit the host country’s cultural values, norms and paradigms.(1) Adjustment, be it from an expatriate, global leaders or any new executive on board, is an important predictor of performance.
The Successful Global Leader
There are several reasons for sending a corporate executive to another culture, be it continent, country, or city. The global leader can take many varied roles across industries and organizations. Some of these responsibilities may be:
- Penetrating new markets, managing operational start-ups, overseeing manufacturing processes or implementing technologies.
- Managing joint ventures or transmitting organizational culture.
- Transferring knowledge of specialized skills or technical expertise to, troubleshoot, or implement specific technologies or processes.
- Manage crisis and thus stabilizing operations, providing leadership during these challenging periods.
- Simply sent for their own growth. Such as, developing international communication skills or extending their knowledge of certain markets to later penetrate those markets.
As stated earlier, this can be a corporate headquarters decision, or sometimes people decide for themselves to work abroad. An example is the new Global Nomad who takes a laptop and works remotely from all over the world.
These experiences will allow Global Leaders to further develop their leadership and functional skills. It will acquire experience and skill sets strongly valued by current or future employers, differentiating them in the job market.
Skills of Success for an Intercultural transition
It is key to match the managerial and technical skills and expertise of the appointed global leader with the needs of the company in the new location. One must assure that these technical skills and expertise are joined by other elements such as: overall motivation for the job and the enthusiasm for the change, good communications skills, intercultural and cross-cultural openness, and knowledge. The previous competencies can become obstacles when transferring managerial practices to the new country.
Just as a reminder, intercultural communication deals with moderate awareness of cultural differences, and cross-cultural communication concerns interactions between people who have significant cultural and social differences.
Some cases show that not all Global leaders are successful; not all leaders fruitfully slide into a new global role. Failure to deliver in international assignments are often measured by early returns to home country or to corporate offices, in the best cases. We can measure failure through many indicators: delivery dates for launches not accomplished, productivity metrics not achieved, an ill-managed key company relationship, damage to the organization image, or lost opportunities. Some leaders fail simply because they were unable to adapt to the physical and cultural differences of the new environment. Mentioned in another blog, we mustn’t forget that a spouse/ partner’s satisfaction in a new job is a key point.
The Challenge of assuring the Global Leader’s Success
Navigating expatriate assignments is exciting yet challenging, and as an experienced coach, I’ve guided individuals through this transformative process. Key coaching insights for Global Leader encompass cultural fluency, adaptability coaching for thriving in new environments, aligning career transitions with professional goals, building emotional resilience, developing leadership in diverse contexts, ensuring goal alignment, and thoughtful improvement area planning. Coaches empower leaders to not only overcome challenges but also maximize the unique potential of their international or change experience, fostering success in a globalized and ever-changing world.
