One thing I have always been good at is understanding people. During in after my first round of college I worked in retail sales selling footwear. I really enjoyed talking with people and helping them out and being a good salesman. I went into management in the same and learned not only how to sell better, but to also manage the people that worked for me. Flash forward 20+ years and I am in a completely different industry, but doing in essence the same job which is people. As I have ventured out into the world into our various places, I find that every project has its difficult person. At first I would work around them and not include them, but have really learned that I must embrace who they are and work with them. In order to reach the goal or complete a task my job is to lead and influence.
In a project that was located in Nigeria with a IT manger from Taiwan and a CFO from India it was a tough combination as they were two difficult people to work with. A good global leader is “aware of the cultural influences on the personalities, motivations, and values of their counterparts, skillful leaders are able to influence others, whether it is by giving orders and directions to individuals under their authority or by “influencing with authority.” Leaders know what they want to accomplish but how to achieve it and who are the key people they need to influence to succeed are routine unknowns” (Moran,2015). I have worked with both cultures and realized that arguing was not the answer so instead made sure they understood why we needed to go down a certain path and how it would help his bottom line and profits and keep her IT staff from working so hard. There were both people that had their own issue and people to manage, so by understanding the pressure on them, I was able to develop some ideas to make that a bit better. No one likes change unless it benefits them. They both looked to me to help them and their staff work with a more streamlined and ultimately easier process. The only real obstacle was the change. Not being at the same level as the CFO, I was able to use a combination of persuasive and reward power to achieve results. I used my people skills to understand them any get their cooperation that way and also there was a reward or incentive that helped push them further in the right direction (Moran, 2014). I often work with Managing directors and people in higher levels than myself, but it is important to speak with them rather than up too them. This is one of the skills it takes to influence and lead globally
Moran, Robert T.; Abramson, Neil R.; Moran, Sarah V.. Managing Cultural Differences (p. 288). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.