Pope Francis, Angela Merkiel, Warren Buffet, Dalai Lama, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Geoffery Canada, Christine Largarde, Paul Polman, Angelina Jolie, Malala Yousafzai, Strive Masiyiwa Joko Widodo.. What do these names have in common? - GLOBAL LEADERSHIP. These great men and women make up the list of the 50 greatest leaders in the world according to the 2014 March edition of Forbes Magazine. Some are famous, others little know but all have found a way of influencing their followers and making the world a better place.  

There are generally three categories of global leaders.
The most obvious set are those leaders with as a global mandate. For instance, Ban Ki Mon, the Secretary General of the United Nations.
Leaders with global impact make up the second category. Names of big business mavericks such as Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Larry page of google quickly come to mind. CEO’s of fortune 500 business are also in this pack.
The other group of global leaders are those that exhibit certain universal qualities or traits, such as moral integrity, clarity of vision, strength of purpose, courage of one’s convictions and even if their mandate and impact are not necessarily global in scope. Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Golda Meir of Israel and others make up this list.

A Global leader according to Lee Seung-Joo “is someone with a global perspective who is engaged in tasks beyond their national boundaries and responsible for delivering results in different national, cultural and institutional environments.” Lee, Seung-Joo is a Professor at KDI School of Public Policy and Management (Corporate Strategy), former McKinsey & Co., Consultant and Director of Research.

What are the key competences tomorrow’s global leader must exhibit?

In today’s fast paced world, where a product idea is conceived in the Silicon Valley,  programmed by software engineers in Pune, India, manufactured in Shenzhen, China and sold in Brazil, tomorrow’s global leaders requires new skills sets to be successful.

A research project, “The Evolving Role of Executive Leadership” conducted by Anderson Consulting and assisted by Keilty, Goldsmith & Company, came out with fourteen (14) essential skill categories that define global leaders. They Include; thinks globally, anticipates opportunity, creates a shared vision, develops and empowers people, appreciates cultural diversity, builds teamwork and partnerships, embraces change, shows technological savvy, encourages constructive challenges, ensures customer satisfaction, achieves competitive advantage, demonstrates personal mastery, shares leadership and lives the values. The project was based on the experience of more than one hundred twenty leaders around the world

Lee, Seung-Joo summarized the four critical competences a global leader should exhibit.

Global mindset
A global leader must have the ability to think globally beyond his/her national boundary, understand global trends and forces at work in their industry. The Global leader should be able to see the similarities and differences across national cultures.

Ability to communicate across boundaries
The ability to build relationships, networks, collaborations, partnerships and working effectively with people require effective communication skills. Every global leader should be able to speak at least one language outside their national language.

Appreciating cultural diversity
According to a research by Center for Creative leadership, “respect for differences in people” is one of the most important qualities of a successful leader. Cultures vary on economic, legal, social and behavioral difference. Religion also plays a significant difference among people. The global leader must appreciate these limitations and go beyond them. Motivation varies across the religions and cultures. One key success factor a global leader requires is the ability to motivate and inspire people with different mindset and culture to work to their optimal. An understanding of the diversity in culture will help leaders in understanding timeliness, gifts, ethical perceptions and more.

Demonstrating Technology Savviness
Being technology savvy does not mean global leaders have to be computer geeks or engineers. They need an in-depth knowledge in managing, investing into new technologies, recruiting and overseeing highly competent technical people in the organization. The days where a leader only knows how to check their e-mails are over. In the future, every leader must understand the need and use of technology tools that will help their organization. A leader that demonstrates the use of technology is an inspiration to his workers.

How should global leaders be nurtured?

Intensive training

Even though the argument over whether leaders are born or made has not been concluded, it is an open secret that no potential leader, however naturally gifted he or she maybe, can become fully realized without a tremendous amount of nurturing.  Even Dalai Lama had to undergo lengthy preparation for his role as the spiritual leader of Tibet. Education and training of global leaders can be achieved through lectures on leadership, ethics and case studies on global leaders.

On-the-Job training

“People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.” ― Paulo Coelho.
In nurturing global leaders, experience is the best teacher. Internships in key fields, working with different nationalities create the best platform for them to acquire and apply leadership skills.

Finally, good role models, coaching and mentoring are also very essential in nurturing the next global leaders.

What role is KDIS playing in developing global leaders?

As part of its mandate, KDI School of Public Policy Management is taking the lead role in developing the next generation of global leaders. The School offers an innovative educational program focusing on policy and international issues and aims to transform mid-career professionals into global leaders of their respective fields by equipping them with new knowledge, vision and a global perspective.  KDI School stresses on communication skills to make students effective communicators across boundaries and has created a unique international work environment. Since its inception in 1997, KDI School boasts of an alumni base of over 1,000 international students from 109 different countries around the world.

By Brian Dzansi (2014 MDP, Ghana)