Essential Skills for Leadership Effectiveness - Term Paper Example

Global Leadership Name Institution Date Course Executive summary This report explores the international expansion projects for organizations by investigation the leadership skills required for such projects and the challenges experienced. The report first compares the writer’s leadership skill level with global expectations for literature material before proposing a development program. The development program seeks to supplement the writer’s skill and enable him carry out the task successfully. The report then discusses other challenges that are likely to be faced by leaders driving expansion projects, and then provides workable recommendations that may be used to minimize or even eliminate these challenges. The conclusion summarizes the main ideas in the report and gives recommendations for global leaders who are keen on enhancing their skills Introduction Expansion of business is one of the critical goals of several organizations around the world. While most of them started out with small establishments, they have continued to be faced by the need to expand in facilities and the workforce. Travel, construction, technology, tourism are just some of the industries that have witnessed extensive expansion, with global presence in numerous destinations. The expansion of business has been driven by the desire to increase service and generate more revenue, but as most organizations will testify, the expansion itself has not been easy. Organizations have had to make extensive arrangements for such growth, which has involved great financial commitments and risk taking; these arrangements proving critical for the success of the endeavour. When these expansions involve establishment of new projects in the new destinations, the project managers or team leaders are faced with great tasks. Depending on the scale of the projects, the team leaders are expected to possess specific team leadership skills and they must also be ready to learn and expand knowledge. This report discusses my own personal strengths as team leader in one of such projects, and goes ahead to explore several other team requirements that are necessary for the success of the project. Also discussed in the report are global issues that surround international business expansion and their possible solutions. Personal skills and the development plan I believe in my personal strengths and my ability to manage teams in this kind of task. With deep personal awareness and sincerity, I am able to easily convince other team members on specific lines of action, but again give them time to share their own views about the issue at hand. People easily agree with you if they realise your sincerity, and if they learn that your decisions take into account their input. These qualities have helped me easily interact with people, even when we are not used to each other. This will be particularly important in this assignment since I will meet several other new members of the team. I also have adequate awareness of the need to respect other people, their cultures and behaviour because I understand that these differences arise due to the different values and the backgrounds people come from. I admit, however, that I have not interacted with so many people from the other cultures around the world and this may mean that I will need to carefully establish these people’s ways of doing things when I meet them. I nevertheless understand that my ability to easily convince will help. I have deep awareness of this organization’s values and strategies and I believe that this will be helpful when laying down strategies and goals for the new establishment. I have also studied the business environment and the industry performance at the new destination and I have adequately understood the operations and scale of the potential competitors. I believe that my familiarity with technologies for communication will further help me in the sharing of information and easy coordination of people and resources in the implementation of the project. Skills required for international leadership Several organizations across the world have struggled to find project managers who will comfortably and effectively increase their global economy (Rifkin, 2006). Business expansion across national borders will require a leader who possesses several personal and managerial skills that will make the job easier for him/her. It is important that the leader demonstrates cultural awareness if he/she will have to deal with employees as well as partners overseas. Cultural awareness of the team leader and the team members will greatly influence the success of the business because it will directly show the image the new organization brings into the new country. People want to be associated with familiar things and they will comfortably transact if they feel that there is understanding between themselves and the business. As Dubrin, (2004) points out, global leaders must develop deep self-awareness. The leaders need to conduct self-awareness tests and assessments and understand their strengths and weaknesses. An understanding of individual reaction to situations will influence their approaches to decision-making. An awareness of self-limitations and behavioural patterns will help these leaders perform effectively in cross-cultural settings. Leaders should also appreciate individual differences, given the highly backgrounds of the team members. The team members will have particular behaviours that have been shaped by their cultural backgrounds, values and life experiences. An appreciation of these differences will help the leader remain unbiased and make team decisions that will benefit the organization (Holt & Seki, 2012). The leader must also demonstrate respect in the way he/she interacts with the other members of the team. People have different expectations of the manner in which they are treated depending on their values and cultural backgrounds. Respecting individual traits and personal attributes, is the best way to avoid stereotypes and unleash the maximum potential of the workers in the diverse work place. As Weis (2004) says, a good leader must growth his/her capability and self-assurance to assist the workers become more confident and enthusiastic. To increase their self assurance, the leaders must understand the new environment as well as the competitors. An understanding of the competitors’ strategy and performance will enhance the leader’s competiveness in the new market. The leaders should also be able to look at the bigger picture and develop strategies that will move the overall strategy of the business. They must therefore look at existing challenges as lifelong endeavours that will help the organization and its employees grow. The global perspective will help them evaluate and predict future challenges and then develop better ways to handle them when they come. With skills in creating a vision and selling this vision to the employees, international leaders can easily and effectively achieve desired business performance. The leaders must be able to recognize and connect the organization’s development plans with global trends. The vision must elaborate how the team will effect changes that will positively contribute to the organization’s goals and international trends (Lussier, 2005). Another very important skill for international leadership is the ability to build effective communication skills. Okoro (2012) argues that to maintain international competiveness, the leaders should possess cross-cultural negotiation skills. To avoid misunderstanding or misinterpretations by the diverse characteristics and personalities, the leader should be able to ask questions and also exchange messages in an effective manner. Among other critical skills needed by the leaders, there is the ability to search for and utilize resources in the new environment. The leader may employ the available technological means that have made the world a global village. Development plan I believe that to effectively carryout this task, I will need to add some other skills and knowledge areas that will help me out in running the project. I will need to further study international trends in the industry, and then focus on the regulations in the industry within the destination country. Knowledge of international business law will greatly help me relate with regulatory bodies in the new destination and make the execution of the project much easier. Apart from the regulatory laws, I will need to further study the major cultures likely to be interacted with during the execution phase. Again, there will be the need to lay down guidelines that will help me maintain an overall, global perspective. This is because it may be challenging to handle project issues and local business matters and still maintain the overall strategy in line with that of the organization. As Johnson (2008) observes, successful global leaders show possession of mental models which offer effective ways of handling and viewing the complex issues in the leadership practice. To ensure that the team works effectively, I will also need to enhance my abilities to influence and motivate the team and urge them to uphold corporate culture, in a manner that will enable the team accomplish organization goals Merging personnel from the home country and the emerging economy – challenges Merging the teams from the two environments is likely to present several challenges. There is the likelihood of confusion due to the difference languages spoken by the two groups. The challenges associated with language problems may cause delays in the implementation process since it may be difficult to pass instructions and coordinate the whole team. This may further be worsened by the cultural differences between the two groups in the team. Such differences are likely to cause difference of opinion and reasoning among the team members and influence the speed with which decisions will be made. It may be the case that the new group also lacks the organization’s philosophy and they may want to conduct business according to their own methods. Administrative and legal differences may also come up. These may be experienced in the way the people perceive and observe safety standards and the reporting of cases. Again, there is the danger of having two groups at different knowledge and skills levels. While great effort will be put to select the best team members from the two countries, this may still be a possibility. The difference of skill level could be a major setback and this will need special arrangements for education and training. Solutions for the challenges Cultural and language differences are issues that will always arise when businesses expands into new economies. Since this may be difficult to avoid, it may be necessary to select destinations where such differences are minimal. That is, there may be destination where cultures are not sharply contradicting and the people are able to get along with each other after some short time. In the cases where the destination is far away from the home country, the team leader may choose those members that can speak internationally recognised languages, like English. It may also be necessary to educate the chosen members on matters of culture and expectations from the other group as well as the organizations values and strategy. This may prepare them and make them understand each other faster. Cases of differences of legal and administrative matters may be minimized by encouraging team members to learn and practice international standards and regulations. This may mean conducting briefings and reminders and also providing them with copies if necessary. Further training will help neutralise any skill level differences between the two groups and bring everybody to a common level. If the difference in skill level is not significant, members may continue learning on job while the project continues. Efforts will be made, however, to ensure that those selected from both sides are as competent as possible. Conclusion As organizations continue to expand, they are faced with completely new sets of challenges and only those that have put in place appropriate measures manage to succeed. The project leaders in these expansion projects have the greatest responsibilities and their global leadership skills may be the decisive factor of whether or not the project becomes a success for the organization. As has been seen in the discussion above, these skills include personal attributes as well as the awareness of other global issues that influence multinational businesses. It is important that the goals and strategies developed for the expansion project remain in line with the overall organization strategy and respect the trends and cultures of the new country. List of reference Rifkin G, 2006, The Soft Skills of Global Managers, Harvard Management Update, Vol. 11, No. 3. Lussier RN, 2005, Human relations in organization, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, NY. Okoro E, 2012, Cross-cultural etiquette and communication in global business: Toward a strategic framework for managing corporate expansion. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(16), 130-138. Chuang SF, 2013, Essential skills for leadership effectiveness in diverse workplace development, Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development, Volume 6 Issue 1. Holt K, & Seki K, 2012, Global leadership: A developmental shift for everyone, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5(2), 196-215. Weiss WH, 2004, Effective leadership: What are the requisites, Super Vision, 65(1), 14-17. Johnson HH, 2008, Mental models and transformative learning: The key to leadership development, Human Resource Development Quarterly, 19(1), 85-89. Dubrin, A, 2004, Leadership: Researching findings, practice, and skills (4th ed.), Houghton Mifflin, Boston. Read More