GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

Global Leadership Royal Dutch Shell plc

Global Leadership Royal Dutch Shell plc

The making of a global leader

According to the Journal of Business Strategy, international assignments are the most powerful means of developing global leaders. But while there is little argument over this, difficulty often arises in deciding who to develop and which particular areas to concentrate on. The Winter 2001 edition of Business Strategy Review included an article debating the make-up of a successful global executive. The authors claimed that underlying development processes are in fact the same for global as for domestic executives. However, in the global arena other values do indeed become important. Research conducted by the Center for Global Assignments reveals that the most successful global executives are:

* imaginative, enjoy travelling and networking and are skilled in developing strategic alliances;

* skilled in abstract thinking and dealing with ambiguity;

* able to decide on the correct course of action when faced with multiple opportunities and business issues;

* able to lead and get the best out of people from different cultures and working backgrounds; and

* able to enact change and “get things done” in a complex global organization.

Interestingly, when selecting employees many companies view the relationship between ability and success as positive, linear and straight. However, it is important to consider the consequences of possessing particular desirable characteristics in excess - something referred to in the Journal of Business Strategy as the “dark side of talent”. The danger is that intelligent candidates may intimidate others with their abilities, or highly motivated people may expect everyone else to hold the same ideals. Unsurprisingly, being able to spot this dark side of talent is extremely difficult to achieve and cannot be observed in interviews or assessment centers.

A long-term challenge

Clearly, developing the global leaders of tomorrow requires a careful balance between selection and training. However, those organizations expecting to crack the case speedily will soon discover that the all-purpose and all-conquering global manager who can be slotted into any organization, function or industry exists only in management textbooks.

Accepting this fact is a good place to begin. For realizing there is no quick fix forces us toward the more desirable alternative of careful consideration, planning and sustained investment. According to the Tuck School of Business, successful global companies open themselves to cultural diversity and are prepared to adopt best practices and good ideas, wherever they come from. And Professor Vijay Govindarajan of the Tuck School of Business succinctly summarizes the challenge. “A local company does not have global skills, but if you only have global skills, you are not sensitive to local differences. Combining the two apparently contradictory things is what makes a global company”.

Global leaders at Royal Dutch Shell plc

One organization making inroads with the global leadership challenge is successful consumer products giant Royal Dutch Shell plc . With an annual turnover in excess of $9 billion and a presence in over 200 countries, Royal Dutch Shell plc truly defines today's global ...