Answering The Question, What is Global Leadership? Discover the Seven Dimensions with Yael Zofi
What is global leadership? This is the topic for our final cliff note from the WatchIT TV managing global teams recordings with project management global expert, Yael Zofi. Here Zofi explains the expanded role of the leader in our intensely competitive, hyper-connected business environment.
What does it take today (and tomorrow) to position your organization for success? Long interested in this key area of people management, Yael researched this topic and published her findings several years ago in the “GlobaLeader Survey Report.” This report includes information from a survey AIM Strategies® developed, based on over decade of research on key leadership issues in managing global teams. Now, this unique GlobaLeadership™ (GL) model is available at no cost to our readers and visitors. The heart of this model is the concept of the Agent of Connection, surrounded by seven critical dimensions for effective virtual team leadership. So what is global leadership?
1. VISTA-LEADERSHIP
2. INNOVA-LEADERSHIP
3. ADAPTA-LEADERSHIP
4. DIVERSA-LEADERSHIP
5. COMMUNI-LEADERSHIP
6. COLLABO-LEADERSHIP
7. EDU-LEADERSHIP
In Cliff Note #9 Yael answers the question of “What is global leadership?” within the context of these seven dimensions. As she often notes, “Out of sight does not mean out of mind,” which places leadership squarely at the center of a strong virtual presence, with the all-important responsibility of connecting team members with each other. Equally important, she believes, is that one individual cannot embody the key dimensions of success in today’s world; however, it is possible for a visionary leader to pull together a team in which all seven dimensions are represented. That task is on the plate of every leader that is managing global teams, whether she or he knows it or not.
Video Transcript:
“So what is global leadership? I call it global leadership where the “L” is shared between the global and the leadership because I think that whether you’re local or you’re global it doesn’t matter. In fact there’s a term called “glocal.” So, we’re all in that world together and there are seven characteristics that I think are going to be very important, not just for the leader but for the leadership team because it’s a shared process, it’s a shared capability within the team. So, no one person has to have all seven characteristics but it’s very important that the team as a team shares those characteristics.
The first is Vista Leadership, the ability to see beyond the vista, beyond the horizon, almost like thinking of things or see them before they happen.
The second is Innova Leadership. It is innovating and anticipating the needs of the customers or the needs of the business even before they occur. So this is always asking to step up a bit the leadership capability and be beyond the horizon, beyond what is currently going on and reinventing it a little bit.
The third is Adapta Leadership. Adapta Leadership is not just traditional change management but is more adapting to things that come up and that may mean moving sideways, moving backwards, moving up, moving down. It’s not always incremental. So Adapta Leadership has that capability of movement wherever it’s necessary.
The fourth is Diversa Leadership, and it’s beyond diversity. It’s the cross cultural communications, it’s understanding people as people and thinking beyond what they look like and what they do, but actually what else do they bring to the table what else is the potential.
The fifth is Communi Leadership. Communi Leadership has to do with not just establishing the communication but developing the mechanisms for real interaction, for real engagement in creative ways just like we just discuss and even more, building the next level for that.
And the sixth one is Collabo Leadership, and Collabo has to do with bringing everybody together. Whether virtually in person or truly in person, I call it the virtual reality. Bringing everybody together and findings ways to connect and to bring your team and make it bond and make it real. So it’s Collabo Leadership.
And there’s the seventh, I call the Seven Dimensions of Leadership, is Edu Leadership, and Edu has to do more than just education. It has to do with talent management, talent transfer, finding the right talent wherever it is, anywhere it is, not just outsourcing but finding tasks that are necessary, finding freelancers, e-lancers. There’s all these creative ways of tapping into a world of wisdom out there.
So, these are the seven dimensions that I think are critical to any leadership team of the future, virtual or not and it’s a shared role. They answer the question “What is global leadership?” So, as the leader or as the manager if you are a virtual manager, think about this seven elements and think about whom on my team has these capabilities and how do we integrate that as a full team together.
I truly believe that your role as a virtual manager is to build the presence, to create a bond with your team and out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind. So finding ways to connect your team members, finding ways to connect them to you and to each other and building the mechanisms that you would build with any team but now using this space whether we call it “Cloud,” “Global Super Highway,” “Virtual Reality” build the space for people to connect in this new work environment.
