What traits make someone a great global leader in this day and age? What atti­tudes and skills sepa­rate those who are leaders of global busi­nesses? In this article, we give you a break­down of the traits, attrib­utes and skills that global leaders need to succeed. 

Do you ever feel under­qual­i­fied in your posi­tion as a global leader? Is it a posi­tion you haven’t reached yet but you’re not sure you’ve got what it takes? Why would people follow you over some­body else? 

What traits make someone a great global leader in this day and age? What atti­tudes and skills sepa­rate those who are leaders of global busi­nesses? Keep reading to find out the answer to the ques­tion about what you really need to become a world class leader.

First things first…

Global Leaders…Born or Raised?

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

John Quincy Adams

Now there’s a ques­tion. The truth is that it is both. Human beings are designed to lead. If not others, then them­selves. Lead­er­ship covers many things in work and in life and has many different expres­sions. The fact that you make deci­sions about your life shows lead­er­ship. This means that present within each and every human being is the capacity to maximise that intrinsic skillset.

Lead­er­ship itself is a skill. It’s like a sport; the more you prac­tice it, the better you become. Some people through neces­sity or desire extend lead­er­ship qual­i­ties beyond them­selves and their own lives, to lead and inspire others. This makes those people more visible, not more capable. So in short, global lead­er­ship is suit­able for everyone who is willing to be in a constant state of self-development.

With that said, there are certain attrib­utes and skills that will aid a person who seeks to become a global leader in a multi­na­tional enterprise. 

Key Traits for Global Leaders

A trait is defined as being “a distin­guishing quality or char­ac­ter­istic, typi­cally one belonging to a person.” Global leaders all seem to have these char­ac­ter­is­tics in common. Let’s look at the ones we believe will help you to be an excel­lent global leader.

Resilience

According to the Mayo Clinic,

“Resilience is your ability to adapt well and recover quickly after stress, adver­sity, trauma or tragedy. … If you’re less resilient, you’re more likely to dwell on prob­lems, feel over­whelmed, use unhealthy coping tactics to handle stress, and develop anxiety and depression.”

As a global leader, there will always be stres­sors that you need to deal with on a daily basis. An ability to bounce back from setbacks and chal­lenges is a huge part of global lead­er­ship. You need to culti­vate in your­self and then build it into your teams as well. Things very rarely go exactly as planned, but if this becomes an over­whelming source of stress, you’ll find your­self very quickly burning out because of the pressure. 

Integrity

Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral prin­ci­ples. Conducting your­self with integrity preserves your own repu­ta­tion as well as the repu­ta­tion of your company and your team. In a world where it’s tempting to do things the easy way, global leaders stand out when they decide to remain ethical in their busi­ness and manage­ment practices.

The Ability to Inspire

Leaders inspire.

A leader is someone that others are willing to follow and put their trust in. Global leaders generate action but not by manip­u­la­tion or coer­cion. Their passion for what they want the busi­ness to achieve, captures the imag­i­na­tion of others and they sign up to go on the adven­ture with them. In order to be inspi­ra­tional, you your­self need to be inspired. What makes you want to get out of bed in the morning? Is it seeing people succeed? Is it making the world a better place? If it gives you a fire in your belly, then others will catch that same passion.

Emotional Intel­li­gence

Emotional intel­li­gence is defined as “the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle inter­per­sonal rela­tion­ships judi­ciously and empa­thet­i­cally.” It is the mark of any great global leader. As a trait, it will serve you at every stage and in every sphere of your working and personal life. There are plenty of resources to help you develop in this area, so if you struggle with it, always remember that you can learn and grow.

Adapt­ability

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”

John Maxwell

Being able to adapt to the curve­balls life throws at you is some­thing global leaders need to become acquainted with. Ordi­narily, human beings have a strange rela­tion­ship with change; we can either be all for it, or set our minds against it, depending on how much we believe it makes sense. When you have a less posi­tive view of change however, it can become a barrier to your ability to adapt to situ­a­tions. Global leaders are prepared to make adjust­ments based on the facts in front of them and not continue along a course of action if it no longer makes sense to do so.

Humility

Humility is a trait that is often misun­der­stood. Being humble is about having an appro­priate view of who you are and what you are capable of without using it as a reason to be arro­gant and treat people poorly. Global leaders recog­nise the respon­si­bility that they have and use their authority to inspire the team and ulti­mately serve the team in their role. 

Key Atti­tudes for Global Leadership

Atti­tudes can be defined as “a settled way of thinking or feeling about some­thing.” Your atti­tudes play a key role in the life and success of any global leaders. Here’s a list of the atti­tudes that global leaders should really embody if they hope to be pioneers in their chosen fields.

An Atti­tude of Empowerment

Great global leaders believe that they should empower their teams as much as possible. Lead­er­ship is not about taking the whole weight of the vision on your shoul­ders. The idea is to lead people into a space of empow­er­ment, where they realise that their contri­bu­tion towards a common goal matters. Empow­ering your team leads to increased produc­tivity, creativity, and higher team morale. Global leaders under­stand this and culti­vate an atmos­phere of ownership.

An Atti­tude of Passion

Global leaders need to be passionate about what they are doing. Your area of exper­tise should excite you. If what you do makes you light up, you’re guar­an­teed to be inspiring to others. Really believe in what you’re doing — we spend so much of our lives investing in our careers, so make it count and pursue lead­er­ship in an area that brings the best out of you.

An Atti­tude of Bigger Picture Thinking

As a global leader, your atti­tude must allow you to see the bigger picture without neglecting the small details that’ll get you there. Under­standing the bigger picture of what you are trying to achieve makes you more deci­sive and confi­dent. Global leaders make sure that all projects under their juris­dic­tion continue to work together; you need to be able to make sense of the jigsaw puzzle. 

A Commit­ment to Creativity and Innovation

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Steve Jobs

This atti­tude will ensure that lead­er­ship remains exciting. Creativity and inno­va­tion is a funda­mental part of the human expe­ri­ence both at work and at play. Global leaders under­stand that their teams hold within them so many different ideas and it’s their joy to draw out all these different perspec­tives within the team. How well do you enjoy the input of others? Global leaders appre­ciate the creativity of their teams as the biggest asset that they have.

Key Skills for Global Leaders

A skill is defined as “the ability to do some­thing well; exper­tise.” The good news about skills is that if you don’t currently have them, or you aren’t great at it, you can acquire and you can develop. Here are some of the skills we think are a neces­sity for any global lead­er­ship position.

Commu­ni­ca­tion

First on the list of skills, because it is hugely impor­tant, is commu­ni­ca­tion. We’ve discussed the impor­tance of commu­ni­ca­tion in previous arti­cles and it will continue to be a central theme when discussing global lead­er­ship. Global leaders need to be able to commu­ni­cate clearly and effec­tively to a diverse audi­ence. It’s an essen­tial part of global lead­er­ship and will affect every aspect of your job role. 

A Note on Public Speaking

Global leaders need to be comfort­able holding the atten­tion of a room and deliv­ering presen­ta­tions. You don’t have to like it, but it’s a skill that you will need. The only way to get good at public speaking is to do it. If you aren’t in a global lead­er­ship posi­tion yet, take the time to find oppor­tu­ni­ties in your current role to give presen­ta­tions and get familiar using data analysis to explain your ideas. It’ll really boost your confi­dence as well — get a profes­sional coach if you feel you need it!

As commu­ni­ca­tion is listed as a skill, you can always be improving and refining your commu­ni­ca­tion style. Here’s a couple of resources that will help you do that and keep you sharp in this area.

• 14 Proven Ways To Improve Your Communication
• The 4 Secrets To Being A Powerful Communicator

Problem Solving

Problem-solving goes with the terri­tory of being a leader. If there’s a road­block or an unex­pected turn of events, the buck always stops with you. Your team will look to you for a plan when situ­a­tions change. If you’ve culti­vated an atmos­phere of collab­o­ra­tion, then it’ll be easier for every­body to work together to figure out a solution. 

But ulti­mately, global leaders need to be problem solvers or rather, they need to be solu­tions-focused. If that’s who you think, your team will follow suit, and will even­tu­ally start gener­ating solu­tions without too much prompting. The ideal situ­a­tion is that before you can suggest a solu­tion, your team has so much of your problem-solving ‘DNA’ that as you present a road­block, they’re already placed to provide a solution.

Self Manage­ment

As a global leader, it is imper­a­tive that you are able to manage your time and prior­i­tize effec­tively. This is a skill that is devel­oped at every stage of your career but the higher up the ladder you go, the less struc­ture you have in terms of your diary etc. 

Keep a sharp eye on what your time is being spent on and be disci­plined in making sure there’s enough room for you to achieve your aims and objec­tives. A lack of time manage­ment can also contribute to the dreaded burnout, so be sure that you find strate­gies to make sure your time is put to the best use.

Vision and Strategy

Global leaders have a mind for strategy. Defining the vision is one part of the story, but as a global leader, you’ve got to have some ideas around how you want the team to go about real­ising that vision. If you’ve been in project manage­ment before, adding the strategy part will be a lot easier. 

If you don’t have a lot of exper­tise in this area, get along­side a skilled project manager and see how they break­down their goals and objec­tives into time­lines, costs etc. Doing this will give you so much more confi­dence when you’re deliv­ering a vision because you can give your vision more substance.

Team Building and Team Management

When building a team, it’s imper­a­tive you have a good under­standing of your talent and the different person­al­i­ties you have. Think about how people will fit together; you need a variety so that you play to everybody’s strengths and weak areas are accounted for. Be mindful of the func­tions required to achieve the objec­tives you set up. If you have plans to change some­thing major within the company, choose your team wisely so that you get the best out of your­self and them. 

With regards to team manage­ment, global leaders need to be able to mobilise their teams and be a leader that people are happy to work for. Keep an eye on your team members and make sure that they are working with one another well and getting the best out of one another. Make sure that you aren’t so aloof from your team that you fail to empathise with what they are going through.

Dele­ga­tion

To preserve your own sanity and ensure that you use your time effec­tively, global leaders need to be able to dele­gate tasks. You’re the captain of the ship but it’s impos­sible for you to do every­thing your­self. Part of empow­ering your team is to trust them to get behind the vision and produce the work that will make it a reality. 

So if you currently struggle with asking people to help you, find a project you can manage and prac­tice dele­gating based on the team’s strengths.

Networking

Having a wide network as a global leader is a must. It helps keep you up to date with current trends in your industry and exposes you to new ideas and new ways of thinking. It’s also where all the best part­ner­ships start. For some people, they have a natural predis­po­si­tion to networking at work and in their wider lives. You might not be that person. However, it is possible to make networking a learned behav­iour.

To get started, you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and get used to striking up a conver­sa­tion with people you meet. Again, find someone who is excel­lent at networking and ask them to show you how they do it. Watch and learn how they start conver­sa­tions with people; often that’s the hardest bit. Then see what kind of ques­tions they ask to keep the conver­sa­tion flowing. It’s a skill that will always pay divi­dends for global leaders.

Cultural Sensi­tivity

We have lots of arti­cles about how to handle diver­sity as a global leader. Being cultur­ally sensi­tive is an absolute must in the current economic climate. Famil­iarise your­self with the key cultures that affect your team and your company and be aware of how all these different factors play a part in the health and produc­tivity of your team.

You’ll notice that all of these traits, atti­tudes and skills are all things that you can train your­self in. Lead­er­ship styles can be improved or changed and char­acter devel­op­ment is open to every­body. The only limi­ta­tion is what you believe about your capacity to embody all of these things.

So do you think you’ve got what it takes to be a global leader in today’s busi­ness climate? Just know that what­ever stage you’re at, you can always take your lead­er­ship skills to the next level and continue to inspire your team and your company to do great things. Just sign up for our weekly emails for your weekly arti­cles on every­thing about global leadership.