Global Leadership: How to Lead Multicultural Teams Effectively?

Global leadership is a buzz word in today’s business world. It is not clearly defined however who global leaders are: Do they work abroad or with people from different nationalities? Are they themselves living abroad or having a cross-cultural background? Are they leading virtual or non-virtual teams? Do global leaders exist or is not every leader a global leader in today’s world? The following article gives a definition of global leadership and compares it with other leadership profiles: local, expat and glocal leadership. Another challenge about global leadership are the expectations towards this group of people: their expertise, skills and personality. Global leaders seem to be the answer to many questions of our globalised world. This paper describes the challenges global leaders encounter and the competencies they are supposed to dispose of. Interviews with global leaders and their teams show the way they deal with those challenges in practice. Finally, the results of the interviews help the leader discovering new opportunities to develop himself towards an inspiring global leader.