How to Improve Leadership

We are living in some very interesting times. We no longer are competing in a localized area for sales, resources and talent. Globalization has called for new traits of leaders in this new environment. Leadership will make all of the difference. Let us take a look at how one can improve leadership qualities and become an effective leader in today’s competitive environment. This means learning how to motivate team members, enhance cohesiveness and improve productivity.

Training Will Make that Important Difference

There have been numerous contemporary studies on what is needed to lead in this new global environment. Organizations must realize that it will take awareness and a proactive stance to stay competitive. To be able to imbibe these qualities and implement it, leaders need a quality training program steeped in research. It has been observed that corporations that implemented leadership training programs achieved a much greater competitive stance. Training programs would arm corporate leaders to gear up and learn behavior patterns that would help them to create a conducive and cohesive atmosphere within a diverse team. Leadership training help managers focus better on team challenges such as appreciating various cultures, values, norms, and communication styles. Effective programs aim at imparting cultural knowledge and teach methods of effective communication with multi-cultural employees. As a result, there is a usual boost the team morale, and achieve greater productivity.

Training on Cultural Diversity

During training, leaders are given an insight in to different cultures, customs and values of various diversity groups. The leaders are trained to respect the customs and values. For example, if you are working with an employee based in Gulf nations, you will need to understand and appreciate that team members cannot be working full-time during their holy month. Likewise, if you are working with an Indian team, you will have to appreciate that they come from far more conservative society as compared to the Western World. You will be made to understand that religion is never to be argued upon, no matter who is on your team. This awareness and openness towards people and their cultures foster better collaboration amongst all team members.

While leaders and organizational members are learning about different cultures, and their values, they will also get an insight about their spending habits. For example, if someone wanted to launch a new consumer product in India, the best time would be in October and November. For Gulf nations, it would be in August through September. While for European nations it would be before Christmas. These are the times when people are willing to open their wallets and shop! So, learning about cultures will not just bring cohesiveness and team spirit, it will also help leaders in making the right decisions at the right time.

Mentoring expatriates

It is often argued that there are not enough mentoring programs for the expatriate leaders to gear them to meet the global challenges. Many a times, a product or service does not take off as desired due to lack of effective leadership qualities in the expatriate employee. This anomaly can be overcome by providing a mentoring program in global leadership.

Employee Network Program

Trainings are best followed up with an employee network program done in intervals of at least every three months. Various cultural topics can be discussed at meetings or forums. Here, employees will gain an understanding about different cultures and global leadership from knowledgeable individuals.

These programs will ensure that all involved emerge as successful global leaders. Leadership is both an art and a science. The first step is realizing that effective leadership involves learning new ideas. The second step is taking action to gain the required training to create and sustain a competitive stance in this new global environment.