Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to point and counterpoint a global business leader who has the leadership characteristics essential to be an excellent global and multicultural leader and to identify one leader whose leadership characteristics is not conducive for a global and multicultural organization. The researcher will explain why each of the leaders was selected as well as identify and describe the characteristics possessed by each individual. In addition the researcher will discuss what leadership characteristics the selected leaders’ posses that match an ideal leader. Finally, the researcher will compare and contrast the leadership characteristics of both selected leaders.
Why the Two Leaders were selected
The reasons the researcher selected Mr. Akio Toyoda and Mr. Bernard L. Madoff as the successful and unsuccessful global business leaders because, both come from humble beginnings. In addition, both leaders come from different cultural background and ethnic groups. Mr. Akio Toyoda started at the bottom and moved from lower positions to the top position in within Toyota as Mr. Toyoda is the founder’s grandson. Mr. Bernard L. Madoff built the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities from the ground into a very powerful organization and the majority of Mr. Madoff family served in key leadership position. Mr. Toyoda earned a Master in Business Administration where as Mr. Madoff earned a bachelor in political science (Fogelson, 2010; McGee, 2007; Cresswell & Thomas, 2009; Czarny, 2009; Baldwin, 2010)
Global Business Leader Leadership Characteristics
Leadership Characteristics Essential for an Excellent Global Leader
Mr. Akio Toyoda is the president of Toyota Motor. Headquarter in Brussels, Belgium; To...
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The modern world has experienced tremendous changes, which have contributed to changes in people living in the global world. These changes have mainly been brought by globalization, which is a major phenomenon in the 21st Century. Leaders across various professions, businesses, and governments need to cope with globalization since it forces them to cross borders more often and communicate or conduct business with people from other cultures. This process involves developing necessary skills for working effectively in the modern complex world. Actually, the ability of these leaders to work effectively not only requires the development of essential skills but the application of leadership principles in the global work environment. In essence, leaders must develop their ability to apply leadership principles across culturally diverse workforce in today’s global work environment.
Post-bureaucratic leadership is ‘the process of controlling, motivating and inspiring staff’ (Clegg, Kornberger & Pitsis 2011, p. 126), whereas globalisation refers to ‘the increase in financial integration of economies around the world’ (Clegg, Kornberger & Pitsis 2011, p.612). As such the practice of leadership is an integral component in all aspects of an organization as it can determine the success or failure of a business. According to (Punnet 2004) ‘leadership is a key component of all organizations, but its ability and functions have become more difficult with the rise of globalisation during the post-bureaucratic era.’ This essay will examine how the various leadership approaches have contributed to managing globalisation and the effects
Hollander (1985) defined leadership as the process of influence between a leader and followers to attain group, organizational, or societal groups. Some leaders are innate, however now a days most of the leaders develop himself/herself by education. Education system takes a great place to develop leadership quality in context of globalization. “Students are now consumers who define quality education from a global perspective” (Drucker, 1995). Current education system has been changed in Asia basically in Thailand to create more efficient and effective leaders. There are lots of multinational and international organizations that are operating their businesses all over the world. Because of globalization cross-cultural workplaces has become a challenge for the organization. The culture of multinational or international organization has shared by the members of the organization. The individual level, the intra-organizational level and the inter-organizational levels are the three levels of contrast for cross-cultural organization. (Rhein, 2013)
Yvon Chouinard is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, legendary climber, and surfer. He is also a writer, writing essays on outdoor climbing issues and ethics, and more recently publishing a book about mixing environmentalism and sound business practice in corporate policies (Green Economy Initiative, 2011). Chouinard is most noted for his clothing and gear company, Patagonia, Inc., where he has constructed a culture that strives to create an ideal working environment where employees thrive and become more productive at the same time. Patagonia’s environmental ethic is outstanding, having founded 1% For the Planet, an alliance of businesses that contribute at least 1 percent of their net annual sales to approved environmental organizations, and is working to revolutionize supply chain transparency in their company. Sustainable business practices have been at the core of the company since it was founded in the late 1950s – long before sustainability and being “green” became buzzwords. Yvon Chouinard is not only a successful business person, but a leader with discipline, vision, and influence.
There are numerous leadership skills leaders utilize within a global organization to integrate inclusion. To create an inclusive organization the leader must consider methods that will influence employees that incorporates a diverse cultural organization. Per Bourke and Dillon (2016), inclusive leadership requires six C’s of success in a global organization. The Cs includes; commitment, curiosity, courage, cognizance, Collaboration and cultural intelligence. Commitment encompasses the leader is driven by fairness. The leader’s beliefs and values motivates them to put energy and time into change the work environment. The leader leads with experiences on how to change the organization into one that is inclusive due to the diverse population of employees. Curiosity provides the leader with determination to constantly strive to learn new things. Leaders that are filled with curiosity have an open-mind, a hunger for knowledge, and a passion for uncovering distinctive concepts (Bourke, 2016). A leader that has courage will ask others for help in the decision-making process. They are not afraid to acknowledge when they need others’ opinions and help. Courage permits the leader to challenge others and utilize their strengths to aid in developing an inclusive
Leaders should have multicultural and global perspectives for several reasons. Leaders should be able to overcome personal bias of those from other countries and eliminate any cultural ignorance by understanding cultural stereotypes. It is important to understand cultural uniqueness and building relationships between different cultures. This can be done by becoming more culturally aware, appreciating each other’s differences, and by learning of each other’s similarities.
A leader must be able to use reasoning and observational skills in order to interpret unfamiliar situations and therefore come up with appropriate behavioral responses. They must be able to respond to new situations in culturally appropriate ways. As we all know different people respond to things differently. If you are a leader of a big corporation, you will not only have to deal with the cultural differences of your own employees, you will also have to deal with the cultural differences from outside sources such as buyers or clients. In order to have high cultural intelligence it is important that cognitive, emotional, and physical components work together. Cognitive abilities requires observational and learning abilities in order to understand others. Leaders must also show self-confidence and self-motivation, this is the emotional aspect. A leader must also be able to shift speech patterns, expressions, and body language to tune into people of different cultures (Daft,
Chan, K. W. & Maubourgne, R. A. 1992, Parables of leadership, Harvard Business Review, July-August.
Leadership can be defined as the method in which one influences a group of individuals for a common goal. There have many great leaders in the world but these leaders are not born leaders. One must have willpower and the desire to become an effective leader. These leaders become dependent upon based upon their abilities and their success. A leader is looked upon for guidance and the inspiration to know what the right thing to do is. The theoretical foundations of the research of leadership are firmly supported. To better understand the foundations and understand the focus of leadership, it is essential to have knowledge of the history of leadership, the meaning and concept of leadership, types of leaders and leadership styles, and issues in leadership such as issues with culture and gender. According to Antonakis (2004), “leadership researchers have struggled for most of the last century to put together an integrated, theoretically cohesive view of the nature of leadership, invariably leading to disappointment in those who studied it” (p.4). An overview of the history of leadership is necessary to understand the concept of leadership because it also provides a framework for other areas of leadership. In any conventional group, individuals fill different role and one of those roles must the leader which is essential for the group to achieve it purposes.
Globalization has many implications for leadership today and in the future. Global perspectives are being spread to the farthest points in the world and to the most isolated people. People of different cultures come to the United States daily to live, travel, or engage in business. Leaders must respond to this challenge of globalization so they can effectively reach out to as many people as possible. Opening themselves to the world's changes allows leaders to compare and contrast their culture with the arts, language, beliefs, customs, philosophies, and ways of living of other people. By observing and questioning another culture, leaders can understand the origin of an individual's viewpoints and become more sensitive to the cultural needs of that individual. By continually exposing themselves to other cultures, young leaders can thoroughly develop this global perspective and devote themselves to making connections with the entire world.
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A leader is someone that you can look up to, someone who has a conglomerate of attributes that motivate people to follow them. There are many reasons why you can find someone amusing, intriguing or interesting but the conglomerate of actions performed by them is what makes them stand over others. A global leader is someone who has transcends the geographical limits with their contributions not only to their field but to humanity as well. In this essay I will briefly discussed the attributes of the global leader I selected, his visions and his contributions to mankind.
Leadership is defined as a process by which an individual influences others to obtain goals. There are three aspects that should be addressed when explaining leadership. One aspect is that leadership is a social influence process; leadership could not exist without a leader and one or more followers. Another leadership aspect is compliance; all of the leader’s directions must be complied with voluntarily. Compliance is what separates leadership from other influence-based formal authority. Finally, leadership results in the followers’ behavior, that is purposeful and goal-directed which must be in some organized setting (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009).
...Harris, Sarah V. Moran (2011). Managing Cultural Differences, Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World. 8th ed. UK: Elsevier Inc.. 10-25.
Many people associate leadership with a specific job title or form of power within an organization. However, through personal experience, I have concluded that leadership can come in many forms and position as well as from multiple sources of roles and job titles both with and without power. Based on the definition of leadership, anyone can be considered a leader as long as they have the ability to influence people to achieve a particular result or goal which benefits the organization or group as a whole. Individuals with a secure sense of self and understanding, acceptance of diversity within an organization tend to be the strongest leaders that not only make others want to follow, but they also encourage other leaders to gravitate to their