International leadership culture

Objective

I describe later in this section the challenges faced in thinking about international business development (see International strategy) and managing colleagues overseas (see Team members in other countries). Underpinning the entire enterprise of leading international teams in a robust strategic direction across territorial borders is the creation of a shared leadership culture which rises above and spans those very borders. This shared leadership is about those common values which all leaders in an organisation exhibit, irrespective of location and local jurisdiction; values which bring them together more than their local-market differences and cultures set them apart; and values, indeed, which celebrate difference as part of a shared experience.

A core goal for the effective leader is to shape an international team with shared values.

Context

The effective leader plays a key role in shaping a culture which is at once respectful of borders and borderless. Setting to one side the nuance of values which could be said to be specific to different types of business, no international development is likely to succeed without, as a minimum, a vision for the organisation which defines its reason for being in a manner which has register across borders. While such a vision will necessarily be succinct to be communicable to all employees (see Setting and selling a vision in Part 2), it must be underpinned by a correspondingly deep set of shared values in order for the vision to stand a chance of being achieved. For, as I make clear through all sections of this book, it is people who are the difference between success and failure, and it is their leaders who can enable them to deliver extraordinary achievement. Since a cohort of international leaders will be working in different jurisdictions with different regulations and customs, and with different mixes of opportunities, it is common values which will unite these leaders to deliver a vision internationally.

Challenge

There are three main challenges to creating shared values like this.

The first, from people you might call business relativists, is that values can only be determined within a specific ‘vision’ and that any generic list is therefore irrelevant. Truly I hope this is not so: would anyone seriously choose to work in an organisation which regarded values as so flexible? Would anyone seriously argue that there are not common values which are a force for progressive, people-based development?

More substantially, perhaps, is the second riposte that even if you buy into the premise of creating common values, it is impossible across any kind of international organisation to embed such common values in a systematic manner, and that you are more likely to create or end up with a loose federation of allied rather than ‘like-minded’ managers. Perhaps, but in the end it is a matter of commitment and stamina: commitment from the most senior management, reinforced through the stamina of relentlessly repeated and interlocking actions.

The third core challenge is that to operate successfully across a range of international markets with a shared set of values is nigh on impossible because business practices in certain markets require a flexibility (i.e. a willingness to accept ‘lower-value’ behaviour) which undermines the very concept of shared values. This is a view to be rejected wholeheartedly. Tough and determined leadership will refuse to operate in certain markets (or engage in specific deals) if agreed common values cannot be sustained. In any event, the increasing effectiveness of legislation like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (USA 1997) and the Bribery Act (UK 2010) demands adherence to values presupposing honesty and integrity.

Success

Key shared values will include:

• Respect for the individual – recognition that all employees, whatever their background, creed, colour or class, whatever their apparent skills and knowledge, always have a right to be heard, always have an opinion that counts, and always have the capability to deliver the unexpected.
• Acceptance of difference – never assume that what you know, what you are familiar with, is the norm; always anticipate that others, from whatever culture, may have a different perspective, a different opinion, a different way of working, and that these different ‘norms’ are as valid as yours.
• Tolerance – in an international environment you will be confronted by many opinions; refrain from any tendency to be judgemental simply where you disagree, but instead encourage a constructive engagement which combines respect with an expectation of difference to accommodate a diversity of opinions in a non-confrontational climate.
• Fairness – be seen to take decisions in a manner which is transparent, consistent and evidential; be seen to be free of prejudices, free of assumptions; be ready to be challenged and capable of changing opinions when reasonably persuaded.
• Honesty – tell things as you see them, and expect others to do the same; grasp bad news with the same confidence as good, and treat the ‘truth’ as a reality to be embraced not an obstacle to be avoided; make sure colleagues know that the messenger never takes the rap for the message.
• Value in learning – create a culture where learning is a means not an end, where it is understood not to be a point that you reach but a continuous journey you take; be unembarrassed in admitting what you don’t know and open in sharing what you do; encourage colleagues to see learning as give-and-take – we can all learn from each other.

The leader’s role is to represent these values across the organisation, or within their part of the organisation; and make no mistake, this is demanding, continuous, relentless, challenging and even unsettling:

• demanding, because it requires a committed assertion of will and belief;
• continuous, because the vision and values need to be seen to underpin a myriad of other actions;
• relentless, because vision and values are only believed when they are repeated;
• challenging, as the commitments will be made in the face of some scepticism, at least initially;
• unsettling, since a leader’s resolve will always be tested.

And the gain of an international leadership culture? The tantalising but enrichening prospect of creating an international cadre of like-minded leaders delivering a consistent shared vision.

Pitfalls

There are two main pitfalls when it comes to developing and sustaining culture and values in any organisation:

• not saying what you mean – the greatest risk is simply not espousing and repeating your value set regularly and clearly enough for it to be credible; this will mean that irregular and/or infrequent statements about value get lost in the fog of everyday activity;
• not meaning what you say – as great a risk is setting out a stall of values but not living by them, being seen to bend in the face of adversity or opportunity, and thus undermining the integrity of any values statement.

Leaders’ checklist

• If you are involved in an international business, be aware that you set the tone – including culture – from the outset (see First days in the job in Part 1).
• Be bold and relentless in expounding your vision.
• Be equally bold and relentless in stating your values and taking actions to support them.
• Be aware that a key element of the evaluation of your staff is their ability to share and promulgate corporate vision and values.
• Be seen to be international: put in the time and effort to visit your key markets!