By: Horace McCormick

Program Director

UNC Executive Development

About the Author:

Horace McCormick, Jr. serves as a Program Director of UNC Executive Development at the University

of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. Horace has 15+ years executive human resources

and talent management experience in global fortune 200 organizations. He has designed executive

development and learning strategies at all organizational levels and has developed senior leaders in

Europe, Asia, North and Central America.

If you'd like to talk to the author of this paper or to any members of the UNC Executive Development

team about your talent development needs, call 1-800-UNC-EXEC or email unc_exec@unc.edu.

All Content © UNC Executive Development 2017

Website: www.execdev.unc.edu |Phone: 1.800.862.3932 |Email: unc_exec@unc.edu

Preparing Leaders to Succeed in a

Global World

Preparing Leaders to Succeed in a Global World

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Introduction

lobalization is a fully loaded freight train that cannot be stopped. According to the Wells Fargo

International Business Indicator survey released in late April 2016, 47 percent of U.S.

companies surveyed expected their profits from international activity to increase in 2016, and

87 percent of companies agreed that international expansion was needed for long-term growth. In

addition, 60 percent of survey respondents expected their international business to increase in 2016,

and 54 percent of survey respondents believed that the international component of their businesses

would become more important over the next 12 months (Wells Fargo staff, 2016). All this despite a

global business environment that is often described as more volatile, uncertain, complex, and

ambiguous (VUCA) than ever before.

This global VUCA landscape makes developing globally competent leaders more important than ever.

In fact, 63 percent of the organizations surveyed for a 2015 University of North Carolina (UNC) and

Human Capital Institute (HCI) study on global competencies said there was an urgent need to develop

globally competent leaders, yet only 48 percent thought their training was realistic to the challenges

they have found when working on a global scale. Another study by McKinsey found that 76 percent of

multinational organizations said they needed to develop global competencies, but only 7 percent

thought they were doing so very effectively (Ghemawat, 2012). That same study found that nearly a

third of U.S. organizations said they had not pursued international business opportunities because they

lacked competent employees who could operate in a global arena.

This white paper:

Discusses what “global competence” is and why developing globally competent leaders is so

important;

Examines critical global competencies identified in the 2015 UNC/HCI study on global

competencies and by other sources;

Examines why global leadership development initiatives and international assignments often

fail;

Discusses HR and talent management professionals’ roles in developing globally competent

leaders, and;

Offers steps HR and talent management professionals can take to develop global leaders and

to develop a global mindset in their organizations.

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Global Competence person who is globally competent has the

right attitude, knowledge, skills, and

business expertise to be effective in a

global business environment, working within

and across different cultures. The UNC/HCI

study on global competency found that globally

competent leaders demonstrate three

interdependent dimensions:

1. They have a positive disposition toward

cultural differences that includes a

sense of identity, good self-esteem, and

empathy toward others.

2. They can speak, understand, and think

in languages beyond their native

tongue.

3. They have a deep understanding of

world history, geography, and other

topics like health, climate, economics,

and the ability to think critically about

current global challenges.

In other words, they have a global open mindset

and think in terms beyond their areas of

business expertise.

Developing globally competent leaders is

important to global—and to not-yet-global—

organizations because it gives them a

competitive advantage over their peers. The

UNC/HCI global competence survey found that

88 percent of currently global organizations and

29 percent of local, regional, and national

organizations anticipate using international teams in different countries within the next three years.

And 86 percent of currently global and 22 percent of local, regional, and national organizations are

also planning to expand their operations into other countries in the next three years.

A Practices to Develop an Organizational

Global Mindset Culture

1. Encourage top managers to be committed to

building a global mindset culture.

2. Ensure that global mobility is part of the

organization’s talent philosophy and strategy.

3. Create and deploy an infrastructure for global

communication.

4. Segment talent appropriately and assess

employees for global mindset potential.

5. Use development assignments to build global

mindsets in individuals and on teams.

6. Reduce reliance on headquarters as the

“center of gravity” in decision making.

7. Ensure that cross-cultural awareness and

sensitivity are key elements in all parts of the

organization’s learning strategy.

8. Identify a broad global leadership pool

through talent reviews and succession

planning.

9. Recognize and reward those who demonstrate

a global mindset.

10. Support individuals on overseas assignments

with coaching, mentoring, and networks.

11. Ensure there are formal and informal

processes in place for sharing best practices

globally.

(Source: Henson, 2016.)

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According to the UNC/HCI global competence survey, the top ten competencies that are important for

effective global leaders to have are:

Multi-cultural sensitivity;

Effective communication skills;

Strategic thinking ability;

Leadership, influences others;

Respect for differences;

Ethics and integrity;

Adaptable in new environments;

Collaboration skills;

Decision-making ability, and;

Flexibility and willingness to change.

James Clawson, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business has,

through extensive research, identified similar skills and traits global leaders must have to be

successful. These skills and traits include overseas experience, sensitivity to cultural diversity,

humility, presence, cautious honesty, global strategic thinking, intellectual curiosity, strong self-

awareness, and cultural intelligence (Hassell, 2016).

The importance of the knowledges, skills, abilities, and behaviors identified in the UNC/HCI global

competence survey vary depending where in the world one is situated. In North America, for example,

multi-cultural sensitivity/awareness was seen as the most important competency, followed by ethics

and integrity, effective communication, leadership/influences others, and respect for differences. The

top five competencies in Asia in order from most to least important were multi-cultural

sensitivity/awareness, flexibility, willingness to change, effective communication, strategic thinking

ability, and collaboration. In Western Europe, effective communication topped the list as the most

important competency, followed by strategic thinking ability, multi-cultural awareness,

leadership/influences others, and flexibility/willingness to change.

Global leaders must also have a good grasp on the environment in which they are doing business, and

to do that, they must be able to constantly scan the environment. Scanning the environment in which

they are doing business will help them understand the economic drivers in the countries in which they

operate; the amount of government involvement in business; the country’s technological standards;

transactional differences; the delicate balance between local versus home-office control; differing

legal, regulatory, and compliance requirements; environmental constraints; and safety and security

risks.

It should be a top priority in organizations to develop these competencies in leaders. As previously

noted, 63 percent of respondents to the UNC/HCI global competence survey said there was an urgent

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need to develop globally competent leaders. The McKinsey study, however, found that few business

leaders felt they were doing so effectively. There is good news, though; 92 percent of respondents to

the UNC/HCI global competence survey agreed that these competencies could be developed through

development and experience. Unfortunately, training and development initiatives often fall short,

leading to failed international assignments that hurt an organization’s bottom line.

Why Global Development Efforts Fail

here is no single reason why business leaders say their global development efforts fail. Forty

percent of business leaders responding to a survey conducted by The Conference Board and

Development Dimensions International (DDI) reported that their programs had too many

inconsistencies to be successful. Another 13 percent of survey respondents from multinational

organizations said that too much corporate control doomed their leadership initiatives (Vollmer,

2015).

Another report by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) and the American Management

Association found that business leaders said their global development initiatives were ineffective

because they lacked a focus on soft skills development and used outdated development strategies.

Business leaders responding to that same survey also said their global development initiatives had a

shortsighted view of who should be developed (Hassell, 2016).

Poorly designed global development initiatives often lead to an increased likelihood of failed

international assignments. Survey respondents to 2015 study by Mercer said that nearly half (44

percent) of their international assignments failed because of poor candidate selection. Survey

respondents also said that difficulty adjusting to host countries (41 percent) and poor job performance

(41 percent) also lead to failed international assignments. Partner unhappiness (41 percent) also

factored into why international assignment failed (Mercer staff, 2015).

HR and Talent Management Professionals’

Roles in Developing Successful Global

Leaders R and talent management professionals can play an important role in increasing the likelihood

of successful international assignments. A SHRM Foundation study found that HR plays a

crucial role in an expat’s experience. HR and talent management professionals can increase the

likelihood of a successful experience by:

Ensuring that employees become fluent in the language in which they will live and work;

T

H

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Offering specialized cross-cultural training geared toward the country in which they will be

assigned;

Offering psychological screening to assess readiness for an international assignment;

Assigning a mentor in the host country;

Keeping a connection between the expat and the home-based organization (Gurchiek, 2016),

and;

Integrating executive coaching at critical stages during foreign assignments (Gurchiek, 2016).

Myths About Preparing Globally Competent Leaders

Myth 1: Global leadership can be developed through experience.

This is not necessarily true. Global leaders must also understand the factors that shape international interactions in

their businesses, and this can be done by understanding cross-cultural differences and their effects—conceptual

learning that can augment experiential learning. When leaders can fit their personal experiences into a global

framework learned through customized development experiences, they learn faster and gain more from their time

abroad.

Myth 2: Development is about building standard global-leadership competencies.

A standard global-leadership competency development approach reinforces a one-size-fits-all notion of global

leadership that is inconsistent with the reality of globalization. Development programs must be customized with the

country or region in mind. For example, global leaders must have a thorough understanding of the government,

economic drivers, technology standards, environmental constraints, and more in the countries or regions in which they

will operate. The development focus should be on the right competencies needed for the region and the leader’s role.

Myth 3: Localization is key.

Expatriation has actually declined by about 60 percent since the late 1990s, and as a result, localization has increased.

Local talent still requires significant development, however. To reduce reliance on localization, employers are moving

to the use of multinational project teams that blend expatriation, localization, and job rotations. Expatriation is still the

best way to learn about a country or region’s history, culture, politics, administrative, operational, and environmental

differences.

Myth 4: Technology can speed the development of global competence.

Technology can help, but there are more effective accelerators, including developmental projects that provide

experiential learning, mentoring, and coaching. Development of global competence can also be accelerated when HR

and talent management professionals attach specific learning objectives to assignments, rotations, and expatriations.

(Source: Henson, 2016.)

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These findings from multiple studies on why global development initiatives and international

assignments fail can help guide HR and talent management professionals in designing or redesigning

their own global development programs.

How to Develop Global Leaders

R and talent management professionals should take a multi-faceted approach to developing

global leaders by considering the following steps:

1. Expand the global leadership talent pool through early career identification.

2. Offer more globally focused development opportunities.

3. Provide more multinational business opportunities.

4. Go mobile.

5. Provide coaching at critical stages.

Expand the global leadership talent pool

HR and talent management professionals must think beyond their most senior leaders when deciding

who in their organizations should be developed into globally competent leaders. Employees at all

levels may never step foot outside of their home countries, but may still be charged with leading

virtual international teams, or interacting on a regular basis with stakeholders and customers from

around the globe. These employees will need to become more culturally sensitive. The Conference

Board and DDI report suggested that HR and talent management professionals consider broadening

their high-potential talent pool to include the top 15 to 30 percent of an organization’s workforce.

In an article for Harvard Business Review, Bill George, a professor of management practice at

Harvard and former chair and CEO of Medtronic, a global medical technology company, goes further,

recommending that organizations develop hundreds, even thousands of leaders to the point that they

are comfortable operating in a variety of cultures (George, 2012). Diversity is also high on George’s

list. In that same article, he writes that the diversity at the top of an organization should reflect the

diversity of the organization’s customers, a recommendation that also emerged from the UNC/HCI

study on global competence.

Offer more globally focused development opportunities

The UNC/HCI global competence survey found that organizations can improve their global

development programs by ensuring that participants are given opportunities to develop knowledge and

appreciation of different cultures and languages. The SHRM Foundation study, however, found that

less than half of the organizations surveyed required any kind of cross-cultural training. Cross-cultural

training should include political, gastronomical, religious, and security issues (Gurchiek, 2016).

Teaching collaboration skills is also important (George, 2012). HR and talent management

professionals should also consider shifting global development experiences away from management

H

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skills, though, to focus soft skills such as increasing self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and

resilience (George, 2012). Other development initiatives could include how to think strategically,

relationship building, and working across silos (Vollmer, 2015). Employers could also offer global

immersion programs where participants learn about the economic, cultural, and political climate of a

particular country or region. For employees slated to live outside of the U.S., HR and talent

management professionals should ensure that they—and their family members—are given extensive

language training to the point of fluency.

Provide more multinational business opportunities

A Korn Ferry study (Hazucha, 2014) on how to develop global leaders recommends that organizations

offer employees multinational business opportunity experiences to help build their global

competencies. “Multinational business opportunities” is defined in the study as giving employees the

chance to travel and work closely with people around the world, but not necessarily requiring them to

live in another country.

Examples of multinational business opportunities may include virtual rotation programs, global

immersion programs that include study and short-term job assignments abroad, job rotations across

geographic regions, business units and function, and assigning projects with team members from other

countries. All of these experiences give employees the chance to further develop cross-cultural

sensitivity and to broaden their global knowledge without having to commit to a long-term expatriate

assignment.

Go mobile

Becoming fluent in another language, global immersion programs, job rotations, and short-term job

assignments abroad can all help build globally competent leaders, but at the end of the day, nothing

beats a longer stay in a country to really learn about its culture, norms, and people. Business leaders

know this. According to a recent Mercer study, 44 percent of survey respondents said they expected to

see long-term assignments increase over the next two years, and 54 percent of respondents said they

expected to see one-way transfers increase over the next two years. In addition, 56 percent of

respondents said they expected to see short-term assignments increase over the next two years. If

organizations hope that employees will accept expatriate assignments, they must ensure that

employees trust them to find appropriate landing spots at home before they return from their

international assignments. This trust is established based on the employee’s observations of what

happens to their peers when they return home.

In addition to facilitating career management and leadership development, international assignments

are used to help employers assign employees with specific technical skills in an area where those

skills that might not be available locally. They are also used to ensure the transfer of know-how and to

provide specific managerial skills. Shorter-term international assignments can also be useful when

there are specific project needs (ExpatNetwork staff, n.d.).

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While there are obstacles to global mobility, it appears that actions on organizations’ parts to ensure a

more successful expatriate experience—including better development, language preparation, and

coaching—are easing those obstacles.

Dual-career/family-related issues were an obstacle to global mobility for 37 percent of survey

respondents in the latest Mercer study, down from 64 percent in the 2012. Thirty five percent of 2015

survey respondents said cost was an issue—a drop from 41 percent in the 2012 survey. A quarter of

2015 survey respondents said hardship/remoteness of locations was an obstacle, as opposed to 41

percent saying that was an obstacle in 2012. And finally, 23 percent of 2015 survey respondents cited

career management issues as an obstacle to global mobility, a drop from 45 percent in 2012.

Provide coaching at critical stages

Coaching is a critical component of a successful expatriate assignment. As such, HR and talent

management professionals should ensure that all employees who take on new roles outside of their

home countries for the first time are provided coaches during these critical stages:

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Stage 1: Ninety days before expatriation: Coaching should focus on family cultural readiness, role

clarity, expectations, mobility issues (i.e. salary, taxes, and action plans for maintaining relationships

back home).

Stage 2: First 90 days in the host country: Coaching should focus on identifying specific cultural

differences, reality testing and developing action plans, assimilation, on-boarding, easing family

transitions, connecting with the new team, identifying mentors and a new support network, assessing,

and goal setting.

Stage 3: Ninety days before returning: Coaching should focus on the employee’s return assignment,

final performance review, reality testing expectations for the repatriation and assignment, networking

and leveraging relationships back home with HR and others, finishing strong in the host country,

easing family repatriation, reflecting and sharing what was learned, and helping with HR

administrative issues.

Stage 4: First 90 days back home: Coaching should focus on reflection, on-boarding, assimilation, re-

establishing relationships, resettling family, connecting with the new team, applying appropriately

what was learned, goal setting, and action planning.

Coaches should be identified three to four months before the employee’s departure to help him or her

prepare for the changes that lay ahead for the employee and for his or her family.

Conclusion

rganizations of all sizes are increasingly “going global,” and the number of startups that are

global from day one is on the rise. To remain competitive in this global business world, HR and

talent management professionals must ensure that leaders at all levels of their organizations are

globally competent—even those whose positions may never take them out of their home countries.

The good news is that leaders can become globally competent through a combination of globally

focused development and international experiences.

O

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About UNC Executive Development

Our approach to program design and delivery draws upon the power of real-world, applicable

experiences from our faculty and staff, integrated with the knowledge our client partners share about

the challenges they face.

We combine traditional with experiential and unique learning to ensure that all individuals gain

relevant new skills that they can easily implement within their own organizations. Through action

learning and business simulation activities, we challenge participants to think, reflect and make

decisions differently.

Our Approach: The Partnership

Our team customizes each leadership program through a highly collaborative process that involves our

clients, program directors, faculty and program managers. We are dedicated to following-up with our

clients and individual participants to ensure that their learning experiences have been meaningful and

impactful. This integrated approach consistently drives strong outcomes.

Our Approach: The Results

Our executive education programs are designed with results in mind, and we are focused on

successfully meeting our clients' business and academic expectations. Below are a few examples of

the results our client partners have achieved:

Big data analytics

Leadership refocused with new

strategy and cohesive vision

Strategic plans created for the global

marketplace

Supply chains streamlined

Products redefined

New markets targeted

Cost-saving measures developed

Silos leveled

Teams aligned

Participants leave empowered to bring in new ideas, present different ways to grow business and

tackle challenges. The result is stronger individuals leading stronger teams and organizations.

Contact Us

Website: www.execdev.unc.edu | Phone: 1.800.862.3932 | Email: unc_exec@unc.edu

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https://www.expatnetwork.com/short-term-expat-assignments-on-the-rise/.

George, B. (17 February 2012). A new era for global leadership development. Harvard Business

Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/02/a-new-era-for-global-leadershi.html.

Ghemawat, P. (June 2012). Developing global leaders. McKinsey Quarterly. Retrieved from

http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/leadership/developing-global-leaders.

Gurchiek, K. (22 March 2016). HR best practices can lead to a better expat experience. SHRM.

Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/global-hr/Pages/HR-Best-

Practices-Can-Lead-to-Better-Expat-Experience.aspx.

Hassell, B. (27 July 2016). Are you developing global leaders? Chief Learning Officer. Retrieved

from http://www.clomedia.com/2016/07/27/are-you-developing-global-leaders/.

Hazucha, J. (11 August 2014). Developing global leaders. Korn Ferry Institute. Retrieved from

http://www.kornferry.com/institute/developing-global-leaders.

Henson, R. (06 August 2016). Building an organizational global mindset culture: Implications for

practice. In Successful Global Leadership. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

KPMG staff (04 May 2015). Global assignments policies and practices survey 2016. KPMG.

Retrieved from https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2016/10/global-assignment-policies-and-

practices-survey-2016.html.

Maurer, R. (19 December 2014). Women urged to seek expat experience to develop leadership.

SHRM. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/global-hr/Pages/Women-

Expat-Leadership.aspx.

Mercer staff (2015). Infographics from the 2015 worldwide survey of international assignment

policies and practices. Mercer. Retrieved from https://www.imercer.com/content/global-mobility-

trends-infographics.aspx.

Training Journal staff (02 December 2015). Global employee mobility assignments expected to

increase in 2016. Training Journal. Retrieved from

https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/news/global-employee-mobility-assignments-expected-

increase-2016.

UNC Executive Development and Human Capital Institute staff (2015). UNC leadership survey 2015:

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Retrieved from http://execdev.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/unc-leadership-survey-2015-white-paper-on-

global-competence-0.

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Sources (continued) Vollmer, S. (23 September 2015). How multinationals can improve their leadership development.

CGMA Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.cgma.org/magazine/news/pages/how-multinationals-

can-improve-leadership-development-201513066.aspx?TestCookiesEnabled=redirect.

Wells Fargo staff (25 April 2016). Despite weak global economy, U.S. companies still turning to

international markets for growth. Wells Fargo. Retrieved from

https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/press/2016/international-business-indicator_0425/.