The management of difference

"A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world."
John le Carré

Along with globalization, management is becoming more and more international. As crossborder interdependences grow, managers have to deal more and more with diversity and difference.

Managers are therefore stuck with a dilemma. On one hand they have to become global creatures but in the other they have to understand, respect and take advantage (manage) of local strengths and specializations otherwise globalization won’t create value.

They know that effective leadership is not imposed but acquired when people observe leaders in action. This does not work at distance, does not work by email, leaders have to be physically around regularly. But “breaking free with geography” is not the main challenge, culture is! As the cofounder of Honda, Mr. Takeo Fujisawa put it: “Japanese and American management practices are 95% the same, and differ in all important respects.” This means that managers have to be able to inspire and lead people with very diverse cultures. And they cannot “educate” everyone to behave the same, because globalization brings extra value exactly because different people are complementary better at different things.

Therefore, “people skills” are an asset of growing importance for managers.

Globally Integrating companies must look - more than ever - for managers that love people.

Especially managers in leadership positions - as they have to lead other people into something that is not natural - must love people, love being with people, talking with people, interacting, being curious about differences, sensitive, etc.

“When we sit together as German, Swiss, Americans and Swedes, with many of us living, working, travelling in different places, the insights can be remarkable. But you have to force people into these situations. Mixing nationalities doesn’t just happen.” Percy Barnevik - CEO and President of ABB

Global integration demands out-of-the-box thinking by out-of-the-box people! The challenges are such and so diverse that companies should look for people with diverse and interesting life experiences. Companies must value people that not only have studied and worked all their lives in the same context but people that complement academic credentials with real world experiences. How much value added does a manager brings because he has travelled the world with a backpack? Or because he has been a Firefighter? Or because he spent a full year surfing and fishing in Australia? Or because he has spent a couple of years in Africa?

The world is changing. Companies are changing. Managers have to follow!

I am not advocating that companies should relax the requirements of a good education and a relevant professional background, but in today’s global world, proven ability to encompass the different and successfully deal with the unexpected should be a major plus.