How can future global leaders successfully collaborate with, motivate and lead people in international settings and from different cultures?
In a world that has become more globalized than ever, leaders need to possess the knowledge and the skills to tackle the complexities of globalization. As Meyer recently concluded in her article, «although you may have been a very successful leader in your own culture, if you hope to motivate and engage people around the globe, you will need a multifaceted approach. Today it’s no longer enough to know how to lead the Dutch way or the Mexican way, the American way or the Chinese way. You must be informed enough and flexible enough to choose which style will work best in which cultural context and then deliberately decide how to adapt (or not) to get the results you need" (Erin Meyer, Being the boss in Brussels, Boston, and Beijing, Harvard Business Review, 2017).
In this course, we examine three main topics that are relevant to future responsible global leaders:
1. The challenges of working in and leading global teams. Working with people from different cultural backgrounds has become common, as well as working in virtual teams. What are the main challenges of leading geographically dispersed teams? How can a leader make sense of and deal with cultural differences? What strategies can be used to create an effective environment for collaborations to succeed?
2. The challenges for global leaders related to language and communication: In international companies, people are often required to communicate in a language that is not their mother tongue and may strive to get the right message across. What issues related to language management do leaders face? Further, leaders need to communicate internally and externally in an organization: they need to convince, inspire, and show empathy: What makes them competent communicators (or not)?
3. The challenges for global leaders related to ethics and corruption across cultures: International companies establish in countries that may have different values and sets of acceptable behavior than at headquarters. How do global leaders tackle ambiguous situations related to ethics and corruption? What skills do they need to possess to make sense of and tackle such situations?
The course is based on recent research and insights from several disciplines such as global leadership, cross-cultural management and applied linguistics. It has an international dimension and is business focused. The sessions draw on multicultural teamwork, on the analysis of case studies, and on interventions of academic experts and of business executives.
Further, the course is designed for the students to apply their knowledge and develop skills that are necessary to become responsible global leaders. It is therefore in line with the core CEMS values of educating students to become responsible leaders who can contribute to a more open, sustainable and inclusive world.