Leading Across New Borders: How to Succeed as the Center Shifts

Chapter 3Global Mindset: Beyond CultureWhen Cultural Awareness Is Not Enough

Developing a Global Mindset

How can global talent be best positioned to succeed? It is worth stepping back from the breathless pace of fast-growth markets to consider the capabilities that are most essential for global leaders to fulfill their potential. Whether they come from west or east, north or south, current and future leaders like those depicted in earlier chapters must develop a global mindset that matches the geographical expansion of their employers.

Cultural competency is a vital ingredient for this type of mindset, and one of the master keys to unlocking global doors is a strong foundational capacity in this area. Acquiring a vital base of cultural knowledge and practical skills requires that leaders remain open to new learning, welcome a constant exchange of information and ideas, build a deep sense of common purpose with global counterparts, and embrace shared insights or “aha moments” that stimulate higher levels of performance.

Global mindset also entails looking beyond culture. For example, leaders must constantly assess economic, geopolitical, and technological changes as new and old powers compete in a rapidly transforming world. They need to find ways to anticipate and leverage fresh trends in order to innovate, inspire, and ultimately position their organizations to benefit as borders are redrawn and the epicenter of economic activity shifts. Ingrid the banker, for example, has ...