The so-called "soft" skills are often the hardest for many managers to utilize. This article from Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge offers a good summary.
"While top performance usually is what gets global managers their international assignments,
soft skills may be more important."
3 comments:
I very much agree with the statement highlighted above, as I believe soft skills are incredibly important in today's global economy. Top performance domestically does not really count for much if one is not able to master the "soft" skills, as failure to master these is unlikely to lead to success elsewhere. If these managers are to prosper in these international assignments, then they will need to be aware of the cultural differences, open to new ideas, shed the headquartered mindset, have patience and be able to balance the quantitative and people side of business. If they are able to follow these guidelines, then they will have a strong chance of success in these assignments as the people in their new environment are likely to accept them as people, in addition to being receptive towards their ideas and beliefs. This in turn will lead to happiness for most involved as most will be on the same page, meaning that the assignment is likely to end in joy rather than despair.
I also agree with statement above and the theme of the article. Even in my limited personal experience, managers who have had better communication and people skills generally produce better quantitative results. The skills that a manager needs at home could be completely different than the one's he/she needs abroad though, and I really liked the concept of giving the employee a chance to test the waters on a foreign project before actually going abroad that was mentioned near the end of the article. I think extensive orientation programs used to train people about the region they will be going to could help the success rates of managers abroad.
I think this article addresses the cultural issues very well. Of the characteristics mentioned, I think "a belief that differences matter" is the most important component of successful global management. Even if the manager can recognize and adjust to cultural diffferences, if he or she cannot embrace these differences and genuinely appreciate how they affect interactions, an open mind will not be enough to manage effectively.
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