The percentage of compa­nies focusing on global lead­er­ship has slowly been on the rise over the past decade. In 2010, 31% of large corpo­ra­tions imple­mented some form of global lead­er­ship devel­op­ment into their lead­er­ship training programs. 

That number jumped to 44% in 2014, and it has continued to increase since then. Creating leaders on a global scale is not merely a fleeting trend; there are many reasons that more compa­nies are investing in global lead­er­ship devel­op­ment. 

And top-level exec­u­tives agree, according to this 2018 survey, in which “devel­oping next gen leaders” was voted to the top of the list of chal­lenges for leaders’ action at 64%. Both large corpo­ra­tions and small busi­nesses are begin­ning to operate more frequently on a global scale, which means that lead­er­ship devel­op­ment must follow suit. Imple­menting a global lead­er­ship devel­op­ment (GLD) program is completely neces­sary, but unfor­tu­nately, it’s not an easy task.

There is no gener­al­ized program content that can be applied to all compa­nies who are looking to grow their ranks of global leaders. But we at eurac have devel­oped a process, based on 14 best prac­tice prin­ci­ples, to help compa­nies and orga­ni­za­tions set up their own in-house, customized global lead­er­ship devel­op­ment program. 

Number 5 of these best prac­tice prin­ci­ples is Partic­i­pa­tion Selec­tion, i.e. selecting who should take part in the program based on the over­ar­ching company goals. Sadly, not every­body is cut out to be a global leader, so an orga­ni­za­tion would simply be throwing away resources by choosing the wrong people to partic­i­pate in a GLD program. 

Read on to find out how you can select the right people for your GLD program. 

Can Anyone Become a Leader? 

One of the age-old debates on lead­er­ship is whether it is a quality that can be devel­oped over time, or whether it is some­thing an indi­vidual is born with. Some indi­vid­uals have a natural ability to lead, while others do not. That being said, anyone can become a leader because lead­er­ship comes in many forms. 

Leaders are tradi­tion­ally seen as stead­fast indi­vid­uals who exhibit courage, confi­dence, and the ability to give orders. But this is just one of the many forms of lead­er­ship. Some leaders possess a person­ality that can capti­vate a crowd of thou­sands. Others are humble and possess more subtle lead­er­ship skills, like the ability to listen. 

Even for those who feel that they are not born leaders, there’s good news. Anyone can become a leader by focusing on personal posi­tive traits, but also by putting in the work to develop key traits, atti­tudes, and skills of leadership. 

A common verdict is that lead­er­ship is ⅓ born and ⅔ made. No matter the indi­vidual in ques­tion, there’s a certain amount of educa­tion, training, and expe­ri­ence involved in becoming a true leader. 

What About a Global Leader?

Theo­ret­i­cally, all leaders should be able to perform on a global scale according to what was just mentioned above. But in prac­tical terms, we’re not all cut out to be global leaders. The key traits and qual­i­ties of a global leader are far more exten­sive than those needed for leading on a domestic level. 

Managing all of the different factors global lead­er­ship entails — culture, legality, economy — across a global scale is not easy. Experts agree that anyone can become a global leader — as long as they’re willing to work on self-improve­ment and ‑devel­op­ment, and possess a forward-to atti­tude. Seen from that perspec­tive, some indi­vid­uals are indeed cut out for global lead­er­ship, while others, quite frankly, just aren’t. The chal­lenge is differ­en­ti­ating between the two and selecting partic­i­pants who have what it takes. 

The Impor­tance of Selecting the Right Participants

The process of partic­i­pant selec­tion is a crucial step in deter­mining the success of a GLD program. Not only is it essen­tial for program success, but it is perti­nent in deter­mining the future success of the company. This program is about enhancing lead­er­ship abil­i­ties on a global level, but delving even deeper, it’s about achieving company goals in the long run. 

According to the best prac­tices prin­ci­ples for eurac’s GLD program, partic­i­pant selec­tion is high on the list of priorities: 

“We select who should take part in the program based on the overarching company goals. Not everybody is cut out for the job based on the pre-set goals, so we must choose only those who fit.”

So the real ques­tion is not whether or not partic­i­pant selec­tion is impor­tant, but rather, how do we go about choosing the ones who fit? To begin, there are two main factors that must be consid­ered before all else: program goals and lead­er­ship competencies. 

What Goals Is a GLD Program Meant to Achieve?

First, let’s start with goals. Estab­lishing and measuring goals for a GLD program is a major part of the partic­i­pant selec­tion phase. One company’s GLD program will look different from the next since each company has its own set of specific needs — and its own specific set of goals.

Before the program starts, there needs to be a goal-setting phase where the company leaders come together to focus on strengths, weak­nesses, needs, and missions. These goals should consider both the short and long-term plans for the company. 

By estab­lishing clear, measur­able goals, the process of selecting program partic­i­pants is simpli­fied. These goals should give company leaders a clearer picture of which employees are cut out for achieving them. 

During this goal-setting phase, you might consider sitting down with each poten­tial program candi­date to gauge whether their personal goals align with the company goals. A clear warning sign for a partic­i­pant who isn’t ready for GLD program partic­i­pa­tion is one who is not goal-oriented in the slightest, and who has no idea or concept of the company’s over­ar­ching goals. 

Core Compe­ten­cies of a Global Leader

After estab­lishing program goals, the next step is to consider the core compe­ten­cies that are required from every global leader. An indi­vidual who possesses these compe­ten­cies will be better able to accom­plish what was laid out in the goal-setting phase. 

There are three unique consid­er­a­tions for global lead­er­ship compe­tence: traits, atti­tudes, and skills. 

Traits of a Global Leader

As mentioned before, lead­er­ship is thought ⅓ born and ⅔ made, and here’s where that ⅓ portion comes into play. There are 5 key traits that every global leader should possess. 

These include 

• resilience, 
• integrity, 
• emotional intel­li­gence, 
• adapt­ability, and 
• the ability to inspire. 

The ability to inspire is a trait that not many people possess, but inspi­ra­tion is all about passion. When deciding on partic­i­pants, only consider those who possess a passion for both the company and the work at hand. 

Atti­tudes of a Global Leader

An individual’s atti­tudes play a key role in success. This doesn’t just apply to success within a company, but overall success in life. In terms of becoming a successful global leader, there’s not one but four must-have atti­tudes. These include:

• An atti­tude of passion
• An atti­tude of empowerment
• An atti­tude of bigger picture thinking
• An atti­tude of creativity and innovation

Skills of a Global Leader

Lastly, a global leader must possess the proper skills. The skillset of a general leader is not quite the same as the skills required by a global leader. 

There many global lead­er­ship skills that align with general lead­er­ship, like commu­ni­ca­tion, dele­gating tasks, networking, problem-solving, and team manage­ment. There is one skill, however, that specif­i­cally sets the global leaders apart. 

Cultural sensi­tivity and the ability to effec­tively commu­ni­cate through cultural differ­ences are an absolute must for exem­pli­fying true global lead­er­ship. We’re not even just refer­ring to cultural sensi­tivity across country borders, but also to remaining cultur­ally sensi­tive within the workplace. 

Even if all team members are located in one geograph­ical loca­tion, chances are the team is comprised of many cultural back­grounds. A true global leader never “turns off” or “turns on” his or her sensi­tivity to other cultures, so consider this when selecting program participants. 

More on Selecting the Right Participants

Focusing on program goals and core compe­ten­cies of a true leader should help in selecting partic­i­pants for global lead­er­ship devel­op­ment. But if these two factors are not enough, there are a few more consid­er­a­tions that can be made. 

Choose Only Those Who Express Interest

This goes without saying, but only partic­i­pants who are genuinely inter­ested in being a part of the global lead­er­ship devel­op­ment program should be selected. Even if you see an immense amount of poten­tial in an employee, there is no point in selecting that person for the program if the passion isn’t there. 

Seek Those Who Have Impact

All leaders have the ability to impact and influ­ence others in one way or another. Even if that impact is subtle, it needs to be there. In many cases, it is an indi­vid­u­al’s job title that deter­mines the impact. Try to leave job title out of the equa­tion and deter­mine if the person, rather than his or her title, has the innate poten­tial to posi­tively impact and influ­ence others in the workplace. 

Focus on Indi­vidual and Group Behaviors

A lot can be deter­mined about an employee through obser­va­tion of peer coaching sessions. If an employee doesn’t work well with others, then that indi­vidual should prob­ably not be consid­ered for the program. But if an employee brings some­thing new to the table in a group setting, it’s likely that he or she will bring posi­tive energy to the GLD program. 

Think Towards the Future

Setting future goals has already been covered, but the impor­tance of thinking towards the future needs to be reit­er­ated once again. The entire purpose of a GLD program is to develop global leaders who will posi­tively affect the future of the company. When deciding on candi­dates, always consider whether or not that person will play a lead­er­ship role in the compa­ny’s future. 

In Summary

Let’s recap: To select the right partic­i­pants for your GLD program, these are the things you should take into account: 

• Know your program’s goals.
• Match these goals with the neces­sary core compe­ten­cies global leaders will need to meet them, and filter partic­i­pants according to those traits, atti­tudes, and skills.
• Choose people who express interest.
• Seek people who have an impact.
• Focus on indi­vidual and group behaviors.
• Always keep the future in mind. 

How eurac Can Help You Select the Right Participants 

As a leader in the field of lead­er­ship devel­op­ment since 1995, the team at eurac can easily differ­en­tiate the employees with poten­tial from those who are not cut out to be global leaders. It is up to the company leaders to make the final deci­sion on who is involved in global lead­er­ship devel­op­ment, but eurac can provide helpful insight into the selec­tion process. 

If you’re curious about how to get started, get in touch with us here. For more ideas, infor­ma­tion and topical discus­sion on global lead­er­ship and its devel­op­ment in orga­ni­za­tions, sign up to our newsletter to get new weekly insights.