Search results “2013-08”

August 2013

Do You Have a Global Mindset?

Think globally, act locally. It’s not a new idea.

When developing a strong business, one that not only can scale globally, but can also work within smaller networks, the key is to “build deep understanding and partnerships across cultural, political, economic, and regulatory differences,” according to our August 2013 Entrepreneur of the Month, Thunderbird School of Management’s Mansour Javidan.

His new book, “Developing Your Global Mindset,” will push the boundaries of your current global leadership skills, says Javidan.

“Our goal is to identify ways you can successfully influence diverse others while working within the complex and fast-paced world of global business,” he says of his book, which is an invaluable resource for individuals and teams who have global interactions as well as those who coach and develop global leaders.

Scroll down for our Q&A. And click here for Javidan’s Tips for Entrepreneurs to help you develop your global mindset.

Also in this issue:

Futurist Andy Hines gives us insight into Fred Kofman’s “Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values.” “I came away with several takeaways that I can immediately integrate into my work,” says Hines. You will, too! And be sure to check out Hines’ interesting speech topics to hire him as a keynote speaker.

How to Be Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps) is a charming offering by cartoonist Jessica Hagy. Not only will these ideas on places to go and things to do make you grin—they’ll help you hone your global mindset with humor. Check out our August Book of the Month.

Financial Planner Bryan Beatty sheds light on the volatile bond market in this month’s Retirement column.

Hiring expert Barbara Mitchell shares three tips on how you can develop a global mindset in your HR department.

Last, but not least, I say goodbye to my father, who passed away this year on Father’s Day. Our tumultuous relationship taught me how to go deep, stay strong, and think big. I invite you to read my eulogy to my dad in this month’s Parenting column.

In celebration of thinking deeply about all of life’s big issues, we leave you with this parting thought from Jessica Hagy’s “How to Be Interesting.” From the chapter entitled, “Embrace Your Weirdness,” she writes:

No one is normal. Everyone has quirks and insights unique to themselves. Don’t hide these things—they are what make you interesting. Leave the house as yourself. Be yourself at work. Wear your personality proudly. Don’t censor your skills or hide your unique features. To have a difference is to have an identity. To make it public is to truly be yourself.

Here’s to embracing your inner weirdness—and to making a difference. — Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher, Be Inkandescent
• Find PR help here • Illustrations by Michael Glenwood Gibbs

Want to know the 8 Steps to PR Success? Watch the video on InkandescentTV. Click here to download the 8 Steps Guide.

Entrepreneurs of the Month
Tips for Entrepreneurs

Mansour Javidan Helps Us Think Globally

AUGUST 2013: HOW TO BECOME A GLOBAL LEADER

By Hope Katz Gibbs, Founder and Publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine

When it comes to thinking globally, Mansour Javidan, PhD, is an expert. He’s the director of the Najafi Global Mindset Institute, and Garvin Distinguished Professor at Thunderbird School of Global Management.

He also is the past president and chairman of the board of directors of the world-renowned research project on executive performance and leadership known simply as GLOBE, an acronym for Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness.

This project’s ongoing research involves 825 organizations in 62 countries, and just produced a third book, “Strategic Leadership Across Cultures,” on CEO effectiveness across 24 countries.

What impact do cultural preferences have on the way the people of a country behave—and on how business owners should respond?

To find out, Javidan put his research to the test when he took a four-year sabbatical from his university teaching duties to work with the CEO of TransCanada PipeLines, a multibillion-dollar Canadian energy company. He was instrumental in helping the CEO develop new directions and strategies, and facilitate cultural change within the company and its pipeline business. And he was directly involved in the acquisition of a $15 billion corporation, the largest such merger at the time in Canada.

The merger resulted in the formation of the fourth-largest energy services company in the world. Javidan established a process for new business development that involved more than 200 employees throughout the company and proposed new business ideas that produced an estimated $50 million in net after-tax earnings.

I sat down with Dr. Javidan recently to discuss his latest publication, “Developing Your Global Mindset: The Handbook for Successful Global Leaders,” co-authored with Jennie Walker, PhD.

Are you ready to develop your global mindset? Scroll down for our Q&A with Javidan. And click here for our podcast interview on the Inkandescent Radio Network.

Be Inkandescent: Let’s talk about “mastering the art of global leadership.” What does that mean exactly?

Mansour Javidan: In most industries, growth is coming through globalization. Companies are looking for new markets in other countries; they’re looking for supply-chain partners in other parts of the world, and also talent pools in different parts of the world. Corporations are globalizing.

Be Inkandescent: What is the impact of that very simple idea—a company wants to explore global markets—on the day-to-day activities of a typical manager or entrepreneur?

Mansour Javidan: As the company globalizes, a typical manager will be increasingly asked to work effectively with people who are from different parts of the world. It doesn’t matter where the manager was raised, as much as where the people are from with whom the manager is working. That is the crux of the HR challenges that businesses are facing. Think back to your own elementary and high school education, your teachers’ advice, and the textbooks you read—did they teach you to live and work with people who are different from you? The answer, when I asked thousands of managers, is, “No.” Most of us have learned how to live and work with people who are “like me.” That’s what societies do, that’s how they educate their kids.

Be Inkandescent: So increasingly, companies are saying to their people, “Yeah, it’s good that you can work with people who are like you, but I need you to work with people who are different from you.”

Mansour Javidan: Right. And a typical manager is scratching his or her head, saying, “Well, what the hell does that mean? I never trained for that, I never developed for that.” There is a real disconnect between what the companies are very logically asking of their managers and how managers are developed as human beings.

Be Inkandescent: So, is the issue of global leadership how to increase your influence?

Mansour Javidan: Yes, leadership is about influence. The question is, how do you influence people who are different from you? Many of us now work with employees in many different countries, and we’ve discovered not one single company that would say it has an oversupply of global leaders. Every company we know of tells us it has a shortage of global leaders. The reason is obvious: People are developed as local leaders, and companies are asking them to think globally. The focus now is to decide what kind of training, what kind of development, what kind of support does the corporation, does the individual, need to figure this thing out and be successful at that.

Don’t Stop Now! Click here learn about Javidan and Walker’s Nine Steps to Creating a Global Mindset in our August 2013 column, Tips for Entrepreneurs.

Mansour Javidan + Jennie Walker's 9 Steps for Thinking Globally

By Hope Katz Gibbs, Founder and Publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine

When it comes to thinking globally, Mansour Javidan gets right to the point in this YouTube video.

“Most people figure this can’t be rocket science; any good manager can figure it out,” he says, noting that it’s probably true. “But there’s a hard way, and an easy way. The hard way is by parachuting a manager into a global environment without any support or multicultural understanding.

“The manager may have the best technical skills, but if the manager’s level of global mindset is low, that person is going to go through a very painful, frustrating experience. And in fact it may jeopardize the company’s and the manager’s ability to work in that situation“—and result in the company losing business.

The easier way, he says, is to be proactive.

That’s the goal of his new book, which he wrote with colleague Jennie L. Walker, PhD: Developing Your Global Mindset: The Handbook for Successful Global Leaders.

This resource guide is a must-read for managers and leaders in global roles or who have global responsibilities.

The Purpose

In 2007, the Global Mindset Inventory (GMI) was first introduced to corporations and graduate business programs, Javidan explains.

“The purpose of this instrument is to do a global mindset assessment of a manager or a group of managers,” he shares. “By completing this Internet-based questionnaire, managers find out which areas are their strengths and where they need to further develop. While we have always provided development suggestions during GMI coaching sessions, this handbook takes the support we offer managers to the next level.”

The Research

In consultation with managers, executives, and some experienced international executive coaches, they offer advice and ideas on how a manager can improve on all elements of 35 scientifically defined capabilities within the Global Mindset Inventory.

“All of the ideas are very actionable and very specific, and they don’t usually take much time to implement,” Javidan explained in our podcast interview for the Inkandesent Radio Network. “The development tips may be used by individuals or for direct reports, coaches, and teams. In addition to a rich variety of development suggestions, there are engaging narratives throughout the book illustrating the various components of the Global Mindset in action.”

The Approach

The diverse international experiences of the contributing authors bring Global Mindset to life through the narratives as well as seven intriguing case studies at the end of the book.

The case studies transport the reader into complex, real-world scenarios that cross geographic and cultural borders, says Javidan.

“They push the boundaries of our current global leadership skills to identify ways to successfully influence diverse others while working within the complex and fast-paced world of global business,” he says, noting that the case studies may be used for individual development through self-reflection or in teams, where the discussions will no doubt be lively.

Nine Steps to Creating a Global Mindset

To develop GLOBAL INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL:

1. Build Your Global Business Savvy

Have knowledge of:
• Your industry from a global perspective
• Global competitive business and marketing strategies
• Ways to transact business and assess risks of doing business internationally
• Supplier options in other parts of the world

2. Take a Cosmopolitan Outlook

Develop your knowledge of:
• Cultures in different parts of the world
• The geography, history, and the important business, political, and pop culture icons in several countries
• Economic and political issues, concerns, and hot topics of major regions around the world
• Important world events—past and present

3. Expand Your Cognitive Complexity

Increase your ability to:
• Quickly grasp complex concepts
• Analyze and problem-solve
• Understand abstract ideas
• Take complex issues and explain the main points simply and understandably

To develop GLOBAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL:

4. Have a Passion for Diversity

Expand your enjoyment of:
• Exploring other parts of the world
• Getting to know people from other parts of the world
• Living in another country
• Traveling

5. Ramp Up Your Quest for Adventure

Develop an interest in:
• Dealing with challenging situations
• Taking risks
• Testing your abilities
• Dealing with unpredictable situations

6. Redefine Self-Assurance

Assess which, and how much, of these qualities you possess:
• Self-assurance
• Self-confidence
• Comfort in uncomfortable situations
• Wit in tough situations

To develop GLOBAL SOCIAL CAPITAL:

7. Embrace Intercultural Empathy

Assess your ability to:
• Work well with people from other parts of the world
• Understand nonverbal expressions of people from other cultures
• Emotionally connect with people from other cultures
• Engage people from other parts of the world to work together

8. Increase Your Interpersonal Impact

Develop your ability to:
• Negotiate contracts and agreements in other cultures
• Create strong networks with people from other cultures, and with influential people
• Define your reputation as a leader

9. Improve Your Diplomatic Skills

Determine the level of your ability to:
• Start a conversation with a stranger
• Integrate diverse perspectives into your worldview
• Listen to what others have to say
• Collaborate

And that’s just a taste of what is explained in depth in this 648-page book.