People talk about leadership a lot. When people think or talk about leadership, they often think of the powerful CEO’s and rich business men. Leadership is so much more than just earning a lot of money or having people working for you, but it is a gift and an ability that can be grown and fostered. Leaders can demonstrate their abilities in their job, their family, their friendships, and many other areas of life. Being a strong leader takes someone that is willing to make the hard decision and stand up for what they know is right. It requires someone that can see into the future and how things will play out.
So how do we become leaders in a world that exists in a global context? How do we interact with people that have different backgrounds, different cultures, and different experiences? Does leadership look different now that we are living in a global context?
While leadership can take place in many situations, this post is going to focus on the professional class. Being a leader in the world today takes a lot of political savvy. You have to be aware of how everyone, everywhere, is viewing and perceiving what you are doing. There are people from different backgrounds that change how they will view your leadership abilities. It has always been important to be aware of every team member and their perceptions, but now more than ever.
Interacting with people from different cultures means being aware of different cultures. We have to be focused on how different people will view our actions. My parents both work for an organization called International Teams. They have over 1,200 missionaries all throughout the world and have to provide direction and guidance to each and every one of them. Leading an organization such as this requires a broad understanding of different cultures and how they function.
Leadership isn’t ever going to be easy, but it has become more complex the more that societies merge into a more global context.
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