In
my previous post I mentioned that when leading dispersed teams it’s all about
communication. But there are some other key drivers that are reshaping the
leadership landscape. When you are leading global or multicultural teams there
are some specific proficiencies and abilities that are mandatory for success.
The Institute
for Future has recently published a report
about the ten skills for the future of workforce. Not surprisingly, the first
of them is sense-making, a skill
that help us create unique insights critical to decision making. From my point of view this is the most
important ingredient of leadership. Simon
Sinek calls this concept "Start with why". He explains that “in
business it doesn´t matter what you do, it matters why you do it. If every
organization started with WHY decisions would be simpler, loyalties would be
greater and trust would be a common currency. If leaders were diligent about
starting with WHY, optimism would reign and innovation would thrive”.
Accenture has also developed a vision
about this issue. In the report “Global
Leadership Teams, the view from the top” they discerned three key
attributes that top top leaders must have if they are to manage the complexity
and the tensions that face global companies:
Clarity of focus: “A leadership charter and a set of operating
principles may never need to be written down if they are unambiguous and easily
understood. But they do need to be communicable so that new members and other
layers of the organization can quickly assimilate them as a guide to action”
Agility: “The key to that agility is having the
right people in the room at the right time.”
A foot in the future: “To be able to change ahead of the
curve, to be prepared for the widest range of eventualities, global leadership
teams must be confronted by challenging ideas and people”
In summary, “having
a clear sense of purpose, the right people in the room and the ability to
change ahead of the curve will be the hallmarks of successful truly global
leadership teams”.
I assume that all
this may seem very easy, but in practice it is really hard to achieve. So the
question is: do you have what it takes
to lead global teams?
