Relevance of Global Leadership Cannot Be Overstated

Relevance of global leadership cannot be overstated in today's business world. This is more so the case given that the boarders that existed between nations three or four decades ago are slowly becoming nonexistent as the globe becomes more and more interconnected. Indeed, to remain relevant, businesses are increasingly exploring opportunities beyond their traditional markets. It is for these and many other reasons that global leadership has become so important. In this text, I largely concern myself with global leadership and why its relevance cannot be overstated going forward.

Global Leadership: Its Definition and Relevance

The global economy significantly differs from the domestic economy. For this reason, the skills a leader would need to succeed in a domestic situation are not the same skills he or she would require in the global marketplace. It therefore follows that some differences exist between global leaders and domestic leaders. However, it should be noted that although in essence most of the tasks global leaders undertake are similar to those of leaders in the domestic markets, leaders operating in the global landscape must in addition to having a global mindset also have the ability to adapt their approaches to leadership to fit various situations. So, with that said, how should global leadership be defined? Before I give my own definition of global leadership, I will examine two definitions of same as offered by various authors in the past. Global leadership according to one school of thought should be seen "as the abilities of a leader to act differently in different cultural settings within a globalised world" (Rothwell, 2012, p.46). On the other hand, global leadership in the opinion of Beechler and Javidan (as cited in Mendenhall, 2013, p.262) can also be defined as "the process of influencing individuals, groups, and organizations (inside and outside the boundaries of the global organization) representing diverse cultural/political/institutional systems to contribute towards the achievement of the global organization's goals." Following these definitions of global leadership, global leaders are in some quarters "seen as top managers with management positions in international settings or multinational co-operations that work across boarders or world-wide and have respective abilities and experiences" (Rothwell, 2012, p.46).

In my view, and based on the definitions of global leadership I have highlighted above, global leadership has got to do with providing leadership across boarders. It is in the course of providing leadership across boarders that an individual encounters a myriad of complexities and opportunities provided by the diverse economic, regulatory, as well as social and cultural systems of other jurisdictions. In that regard, for an individual to be referred to as a global leader, he or she must have a number of competencies in addition to the ones he already has in his or her leadership portfolio in a domestic setting.

Why Global Leadership is so Important

To begin with, as I have already pointed out elsewhere in this text, the world is increasingly becoming borderless. In that regard, organizations of today are expected to go out of their way to exploit opportunities elsewhere in the world in an attempt to enhance their bottom-line and serve underserved markets. It is for this reason that we need global leaders. To survive in extremely competitive global markets, organizations of today must adopt a global view. This is particularly the case given that business entities no longer depend on their home markets for sales. It is important to note that in the recent past, the further development as well as enhancement of e-commerce has made it possible for businesses (regardless of their geographical locations) to engage customers from far away markets. Given these new developments, organizations that do not adopt a global perspective in their conduct of business are not likely to survive. Only leaders with a global mindset can ensure that the organization they lead adopts a global perspective. Indeed, according to Marquardt and Berger (2000), a global mindset is considered one of the most important attributes leaders in the twenty-first century have to develop.

Next, organizations of today, unlike those of yesteryears, no longer source talent from a single market or region. In seeking to hire the most competent employees to advance their agenda going forward, organizations of today are searching for talent from whenever they can find it. This effectively means that those hired could be from diverse cultures, races, backgrounds, or even sexual orientation. Based on their unique set of skills, global leaders have the unique ability to ensure that they fully utilize human capital regardless of its diversity. As Luftman (2011) points out, global leadership appreciates and welcomes employee diversity.