unit6-assignment

MBA6026

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MBA6026

The life of modern day leaders is more demanding that it was in the past. This is because of the fact that it is largely influenced by current global trends. In addition there are those concerns that evidently face both current and future leaders not only our modern day but also in the near future. This treatise will look into the global leadership concern for the future, the current global trends that are driving a global leadership agenda which will on a large part be triggered by the emerging leadership theories. The study will also carry out a detailed plan on how to develop global leadership competencies. The study will culminate with an analysis on Gardner’s five mind level of competency and the global leadership competency.

Global leadership concerns for the future

The most common leadership concerns include the ability to develop managerial effectiveness, developing employees, managing internal politics and stakeholders, inspiring others, guiding change and leading a team (Barret & Beeson, 2002). To begin with, it has become more difficult to develop various critical skills such as decision-making, time management, getting up to speed with jobs, strategic thinking and prioritization.

Developing others through coaching and mentoring has also become difficult. In addition, inspiring and motivating others has also become more difficult. Many more leaders are also finding it difficult to develop a team, to build a team and to also manage a team. It has also become a herculean task for many leaders to lead change, to also manage, understand, mobilize and mitigate the impact of change, to overcome the resistance to change and to also deal with the employees reaction to change. It is also increasingly becoming a challenge for many leaders to manage relationships, politics and to also gain managerial support from other groups, departments or individuals.

The current global trends that are driving a global leadership agenda

High performing individuals and organizations are tackling the challenge of global leadership development through a deeper analysis, a broader thinking and also through higher expectations (Society for Human Resource Management, 2008). There are various global trends which are all an indication of the direction that these individuals and organizations are taking in order to develop the global leadership agenda.

The first trend is that there is a shift in the definition of a leader which has shifted from influence to role. The shift has therefore moved from their positions to their influence and performance. A majority of leaders have discovered the need for them to collaborate with other colleagues in order to share their expertise.

Another trend is that the strategic workforce planning is playing an important role in driving the content of the various development processes of leadership across the globe (Ulrich & Smallwood, 2007). Another important trend is buoyed by the fact that high performance organizations are allowing managers to involve themselves in the different leadership development programs around the globe.

The final trend is that business performance is slowly gaining prominence as one measure of development effectiveness in global leadership and this has been influenced on a large part by the question on how the effectiveness of global leadership development initiatives should be measured.

An effective plan for develop global leadership competencies

Leadership competencies are basically those skills in leadership that bring about the superior performance either in a company or an individual. By using the competency-based approach in leadership then both organizations and individuals will be able to identify and develop the next crop of leaders. The various competencies that are critical in leadership competencies. Nonetheless, there are various business attributes and strategies that can be used to drive the leadership attribute which can be different from those of the organization in order to create a competitive advantage.

It is essential to focus on the critical leadership competencies and also the various development skills since they promote better leadership. Nonetheless, these skills need to be harnessed at a particular position since they may change depending on the specific level in the organization. By using this approach, then the organizations can determine the positions and the various levels that require specific competencies.

There are various leadership competencies that are critical and consistent among organizations and individuals since they are the key drivers of a majority of organizations but this study will focus primarily on those that should be consistent in every global leader (Intagliata et al, 2000). This will consequently make it possible for the organization to lead the individual self and also others in the organization.

One of the key competencies that should be exhibited in every global leader or those that should enable an individual to become a global leader is exhibiting the leadership stature. In order to exhibit the leadership stature, leaders must be willing to work effectively and to also work for the good of themselves.

This goes a long to prove that leaders must be willing to exhibit behavioral levels that will ensure that they are both consistent as leaders and that they are all working for the improvement of their leadership skills and goals. It is therefore critical for leaders to ensure that their leadership stature is evident and palpable to all the other individuals since this is the only way that they will be recognized as leaders.

Another leadership competency that must be followed by all individuals in order to affirm that they are indeed leaders should be to display the purpose and the drive of their leadership goals. By displaying the above mentioned competencies, other individuals will be aware of their drive and their purpose and if it is evident then it will be easier for them to follow those traits and competencies. This therefore goes a long way to prove that displaying your purpose and your drive can go a long way in improving not only your leadership abilities but also your most critical factors that contribute to being a leader.

Another important factor or leadership trait that should be exhibited by every leader should be the demonstration of integrity and ethics since this is the only way that a leader will be better placed to inspire others to become leaders (Robinson et al, 2007). It is a palpable fact that leaders must exhibit the utmost qualities in terms of their abilities and their behaviors and by so doing they pass on the baton to those who view and look up to them.

This is also proven by the palpable fact that leader make it possible for others to follow them voluntarily and it is therefore crucial for them to exhibit utmost integrity and ethics in all their undertakings since this is the only way that other people will be able to learn from them. Integrity and ethics are some of the most fundamental aspects of leadership since nobody would like to be led by an individual with questionable characters.

It is therefore essential for leaders to ensure that they display only those characters that are geared towards instilling goodness and ethics in our society. Leadership competencies of integrity and ethics is therefore one of the most crucial way of ensuring that leaders are able to inspire others to become like them and to consequently change the society to become a better place.

Displaying utmost integrity and ethical behaviors is therefore one of the most effective ways of ensuring that the leader can easily lead and inspire others to become like him/her. The fact that these are some of the most important competencies in every leader goes a long way to prove that leaders are individuals who people look up-to in the society and they are therefore a blueprint to the society.

The society should therefore ensure that they are people who do not only instill good behaviors to the younger generations but also to the older generations. In addition, it is also crucial for all individuals to ensure that those individuals who are more inclined to making the world a better place to live in exhibit only those characters and behaviors that will go a long way in ensuring that the world is changed for the better and that they are also people who can be looked up to in the society and it is therefore crucial for them to act ethically in all their undertakings.

Another important leadership competency is managing oneself since it is the only way that individuals will ensure that they do the right thing at the right time and at the right place. The act of self-management is one of the most important ways of ensuring that leaders become competent in what they are doing (Menguc et al, 2007). Leaders must therefore plan amicably for what they do since it is the only way of ensuring that they act upon what they do and it also makes it easier for them to effectively manage everything they do in the most effective way.

Another important leadership competency is to increase the capacity to learn. Leaders as postulated by Caligiui (2006) are individuals who constantly strive to ensure that they are constantly learning and therefore increasing their capacity to learn goes a long way in ensuring that they are constantly learning new things and doing new things that will improve their general wellbeing. Knowledge is one of the most important traits that shape leaders and by constantly ensuring that they are learning. It equips them with the necessary knowledge that will improve them on a daily basis. It is therefore important to ensure that this capacity to learn is improved.

Developing adaptability is therefore one of the most effective ways of ensuring that leaders get the best output in their lives. Leaders must therefore ensure that they are able to adapt to different situations and events since this is the only way that they will be able to adapt to the different situations and events that may affect them in their lives. The process of constantly striving to adapt goes a long way in ensuring that they are able to acclimatize to different situations and that they are able to improve despite the situation or environment that they are in.

It is also important to increase our self-awareness since this is one of the most effective ways of ensuring that individuals are aware of the different situations and environments around them since it will go a long way in ensuring that they adapt to those situations and environments (Jerusalim & Haursdorf, 2007). This is one of the most important factors or competencies of every leader since it constantly enables the leader to adapt to the different situations and the different things around them and their character is therefore not affected by the changes in their environment or the changes in their situations.

While leading others it is important to exhibit the following competencies. One of the most critical competencies is the ability to communicate effectively since this is the only way that the individuals will be able to communicate their agenda and their goals to the other individuals. This is also one of the most effective ways of ensuring that leaders are able to articulate their vision and their mission to those around them and also to those who are ready to follow them since this is one of the most effective ways of ensuring that they are able to articulate their ideas effectively.

Another important competency that should be exhibited by every leader is the ability to value the differences and the diversity of others. The ability therefore of recognizing and accepting the diversity in other people therefore goes a long way in ensuring that they are able to deal and to work together with the other individuals and in so doing they are able to encourage others to follow their goals, vision and agendas. It is therefore critical to ensure that leaders have the ability to recognize these differences as it is one of the most effective ways of making it possible for them to live in harmony with others.

Another important factor or competency is to develop others. Leaders have the innate ability to develop others. This is proven by the fact that leaders do not only aim at inspiring others or encouraging others to follow them, they also have the ability to develop leadership in other people (Kets de Vries, 2001). This is made possible by the fact that leaders are able to inspire others to follow them voluntarily and this consequently makes it possible for them to develop leadership traits in other people and in so doing they are able to develop others.

Leaders also have the ability to manage effective teams and also work groups since this s one of the ms effective ways of ensuring that they work together with other groups or teams in order to effectively manage them to work together for the betterment of other people or groups which consequently inspires other groups to leadership.

Another important competency is the ability to build and maintain relationships. In building relationships, leaders are able to keep in touch with those people that are ready to listen to them and this therefore makes it possible for them to manage and inspire others to follow them or to share in their vision or goal.

One of the most effective plans of developing these leadership competencies should be to identify if and why global talent is important to the business strategy of the individual or organization. It is therefore crucial for an individual to develop development programs for managers and special learning programs since this is one the most effective ways of improving their potential.

Individuals therefore need to have a strategic clarity around the various capabilities and the various skills that should be developed and the reasons behind their development (Society for Human Resource Management, 2007). Another important question to ask should be whether or not global markets are a source of growth, lower production costs and new talents.

These questions should be answered by developing a plan that it tailored towards the development of a strategic multi-year development program that is aimed at addressing the talent requirements and the various drivers of growth. The tactical requirements should also be considered as a primary consideration since this will reveal the level of commitment regarding why senior executives have the driving leadership programs all of which are aimed at improving the drive strategy.

Another important plan should be to know what the competencies for the various individuals are and also the various behaviors that should be followed by the leaders in order to achieve the business outcomes. Individuals should begin by highlighting what the behaviors and the competencies are important for the global business strategy. The business strategies that are involved around the globe are therefore critical in ensuring that the individuals develop their most important competencies.

Another factor that should be considered in this plan is that there is a global behavioral model which covers the four critical areas of leadership which are leading others, leading self, leading results and leading change. All of these four areas should enable individuals to develop the most important critical competencies that should be followed in these areas.

One of the most important ways of ensuring that competencies are developed include the fact that leaders should ensure that the four areas of leadership have been considered since this is one of the most effective ways of building confidence and developing the behaviors and the skills that shape leaders (McCall & Hollenbeck, 2002). Individuals can also incorporate the use of competency models since they are some of the most effective ways of ensuring that results are achieved.

One of the most effective competency models that can be used to develop leadership competencies includes the global mindset inventory and the leadership inventory model. The global mindset inventory can act as a supplement for the main cores or purpose models which will make the development and assessment of competencies critical (Kramer, 2005). The GMI as the global mindset inventory is commonly known is an instrument that has been scientifically validated based on data from numerous executives who have worked in a number or organizations around the world.

Another effective plan is to choose the talent assessment and selection tools that are critical at providing a feedback and the necessary insight into the global developmental needs. In order to develop the critical competencies in leaders, it is essential to ensure that the potential leaders have an exposure to the global talent issues early in their careers since this is one of the most effective ways of ensuring that the global mindset becomes an important part of the leadership capability.

Another effective plan of developing leadership competencies is to target the use of executive coaching in order to achieve the various leadership objectives. Another plan should be to identify any additional support and training that is needed for the development of the leadership competencies.

Another effective plan should be to take advantage of the relevant developmental opportunities (Garonik et al, 2006). All of the abovementioned plans can go a long way in ensuring that the individuals are able to scale their leadership abilities by developing the most pertinent competencies that are important for their leadership development.

Gardner’s five mind levels of competency

The five minds of the future outline or layout the cognitive abilities that will be cultivated or sought by leaders in the future years. They include the synthesizing mind which basically implies the ability to integrate the ideas from different spheres or disciplines into a complete place that is easier to communicate and to also integrate it to the rest.

The other level of competency is the disciplinary mind which basically implies that it is the mastery of major schools of thought which can include mathematics, science and history and any other professional craft. Another mind level of competency is the respectful mind which basically implies the awareness of or the appreciation for the various differences among human beings and also different human groups.

Another level of competency is the creating mind which is the ability to clarify and to also uncover the new phenomena, questions and also problems. The final level of competency according to Gardner is the ethical mind which basically implies the fulfillment of an individual’s responsibility both as a citizen and also as a worker.

Gardner has borrowed on a large part from the examples that are particularly aimed at illuminating ideas, providing valuable insights, inspiring life-long learning for all those who have been mandated with the task of developing and training organizational leaders and it is therefore easier for them to put in place those ideas that important to them.

He has largely drawn from long years of study and research all of which have borrowed important examples from business, history, arts, science and business (Mumford et al, 2007). He particularly directs his study to the professional audience of politics, teachers, business leaders, parents and trainers all of whom have contributed to the cognitive skills.

Global leadership inventory

This is an in-depth tool of development that is mainly aimed at offering understanding and guidance on the leadership abilities and further outlines the steps that should be followed in order to improve. It usually consists of various questions that should be followed in order to measure the competency of leadership within 12 dimensions which are energizing, visioning, rewarding and feedback, empowering, team building, designing and aligning, resilience to stress, global mindset, outside orientation, life balance, tenacity and emotional intelligence.

It mainly incorporates a self-assessment tool together with a 3600 component which makes it easier for the leader to obtain a feedback from the subordinates, superiors and colleagues. After the assessment has been completed, the workbook from the participants makes it possible for the individual to develop a leadership development plan (Brownwell, 2006). It has largely been cited as one of the most effective tools of examining and assessing the leadership behavior roadblocks and further enabling an individual to take the necessary tools towards improvement.

This model ensures leaders to collect data from their own assessments and also from the assessments that have been collected that have been analyzed by other individuals. It takes into consideration the differences between the scores from different individuals in order to come up with a conclusive analysis. Its essence in our study and other studies of a similar nature is therefore critical.

References

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