There are some things in life that don’t have a training course to help you excel at it. In my view, leadership is one of those things. You can’t really train someone to truly lead.
I came across this piece World Economic Forum written by Peter Vanham, in which he shares a conversation he had with Andrew Likierman, dean of London Business School.
In the conversation dean of the London Business School shares 4 skills you need to become a global leader.
They are:
- Make choices that give you flexibility
- Be aware that things don’t always go up
- Get as much exposure to other cultures as you can
- Understand the importance of communication
These are 4 skills – 4 bullet points, but they hold a lot of value in themselves.
Make choices that give you flexibility
This is something that I see missing in some really good people. They are good at what they do and they try and hold onto it. In my opinion, you should give yourself as much flexibility as possible whether that is your career or academic choices.
Be aware that things don’t always go up
How true is that? We notice this in everyday life, things are pretty rosy for a period of time but history is testimony that whatever goes up has to come down. As Andrew Likierman mentions
Everyone needs a financial crisis, preferably early, so you learn that cycles are pretty important. Click To Tweet“Everyone needs a financial crisis, preferably early, so you learn that cycles are pretty important. We’ve had them for the last 250 years, and they won’t go away now.”
Get as much exposure to other cultures as possible
As someone who came to the UK from another country, I can vouch for this first hand. It really is very important to get as much exposure to other cultures as possible. I’ve benefited from understanding the differences between working culture of the UK and Asian countries. Of course I still want to work and get exposure to different cultures, it helps in your development. In fact a trend I have seen in many leaders is that they have all had exposure to different cultures – through working in different countries.
Understand the importance of communication
It is really important to have good communication skills, whether that is verbal or written. The field of effective communication is so vast, it’s unbelievably how many things really play a part in good communication – but the foundation of any good communication is the ability to listen to the other persons.
Foundation of any good communication is the ability to listen to the other persons. Click To TweetRead the full conversation at The 4 skills you need to become a global leader via World Economic Forum.
