With more than 60% of CEB member companies surveyed planning on significantly increasing their global presence over the next 3 years, how are you positioning your Research leaders to drive global growth? CEB analyzed the business performance of more than 12,000 executives and more than 90 companies to determine what it takes to make great global leaders.
Finding great leaders is a perennial challenge for organizations. It is made harder by the need to find leaders equipped to handle the complexity of managing growth in new markets. This is something we hear often from Heads of Research, as managing the function is all the more complex at a global scale (MREB members, check out our guidance for Supporting Global Business Needs and Managing Dispersed or Virtual Research Teams.)
Here are some findings from CEB’s analysis of the work characteristics of global leaders which I found interesting. When compared to their peers, global leaders:
- Work with 17% more people they do not directly manage
- Are 32% less likely to have accurate market information
- Have a 74% broader span of responsibilities
- Work with 160% more stakeholders
And here are four things not required for great global leadership:
- Prior international experience
- Local language fluency
- Deep knowledge of local cultures
- Organizational tenure
Surprised?
So, what does it take to build Great Global Leaders? Take these four steps to develop globally-minded Research leaders on your team:
- Demonstrate Career Advancement Opportunities
- Use Relocation Alternatives
- Use Stretch Roles to Build Influence
- Build Global Peer Networksto Support Leaders
To learn more, download CEB Executive Guidance today or read the online version. MREB members, also check out our Global Management resources listed below.
Related member resources:
- Supporting Global Business Needs
- Managing Dispersed or Virtual Research Teams
- Reckitt Benckiser’s Global Alignment Toolkit
- DuPont’s Global Research Capability Forecasting Tool
- Alticor’s Global Investment Framework
- Reader’s Digest’s Global Research Outposts
- Unilever’s “Plug-and-Play” Resource Network
- Global Variation in Research Methodologies
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