And they “practiced what they preached” for their fortunate followers! These exceptional leaders cultivate “followership” among their staff, have high levels of job performance, help employees develop their potential to the fullest, and develop creativity among their followers. Further, supportive relationships and generalized trust among staff are overwhelmingly constructed in organizations led by these international leaders. Furthermore, with leadership comes followership.
The results from this study unambiguously underscore that international and local executives find the demonstrated behaviors of these leaders culturally intelligent as their preferred choice, thus affirming the value of cultural intelligence in global business.
Defining the skills of an international leader is a thorny issue. In today’s hyper-competitive business climate, global executives scramble to develop these skills that appear to be in high demand. According to a Forbes report, executives lag majorly in cross-cultural communication, creating a borderless team spirit, acquiring up-close cultural understanding, and focusing too much on the absolutes of a particular individual culture.
However, staff and their supervisors report that international leadership exists. Across companies located on five continents with access to a pool of almost six thousand individuals who nominate their superiors, 86 percent of respondents indicate that influential international leaders exist.