Banter Without Borders

Sometimes Leadership is imposed

Sports figures are often forced into a leadership role they do not want, nor can fulfill.  I have heard some basketball players even make the statement, "I am not a role model.  People shouldn't follow me."  I can't remember who exactly made that statement, but I often think of business leaders, managers and current golfers who neither fit the role nor know how to maintain their leadership. 

Recently, Bob Moffat, a former executive in IBM was arrested for insider trading and, having personally met him, I found him to be approachable, to have seemingly high values and to be driven.  I guess the real question is, what does someone with high values look like?  Is it a visual?  Not hardly.  Maybe that's it, he was so driven there was a fear of falling short of expectations.  Maybe with the pressures of success, or the pressures of not failing were too much.  Maybe it was simply greed and ego.  Ego, its a funny dynamic which enters into everyone's life from time to time. 

Once you start comparing yourself to others, you are either behind or ahead.  I'm not sure at what time or age you reach a point where you are happy with you.  I am sure Maslow identified it as self-actualization.  However, it seems that today's mediocre leaders find excuses to blame everyone but themselves.  Its always been somebody in their lives who caused them to do whatever it was.  I remember a series on TV where "the devil made me do it."  Guess what, its no excuse. 

There is no excuse for harming others.  There is no excuse for poor leadership.  There is no excuse for not taking responsibility and not motivating others to excel.  There is no excuse for letting people go because you could not identify the unique skills they had and capitalizing on that strength. 

Leaders need to be able to synthesize the differences, turn it into an innovative driving force and then getting out of the way enabling those who are empowered to excel. 

True global leadership is unique because it recognizes even some of the deep seated cultural differences which have existed and then turns it into a knowledge base driving excellence.  Leadership is not easy.  Nobody said it would be. 

Globalization's Tribulations: Old (Cultural) Habits Die Hard

One of the consequences of the recent economic downturn is that more and more companies realize they can no longer continue to grow their businesses successfully on domestic turf alone. In writing of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry, a recent Financial Times* article states: “With diminishing prospects at home…companies have little option but to scour the globe for richer pickings.”  While I do find the notion of Japan manufacturing ‘fat-busting’ products for its rotund Western customers a bit tongue-in-(plump) cheek, it is nevertheless a compelling sign of this trend in action. Whether through shrinking populations, as in Japan’s case, or shrinking earnings figures and GDPs, companies from Bentonville to Bangalore are, more than ever, “[taking] the fight abroad.” For those of us in the global coaching and consulting industry, it signals cultural challenges and tough times ahead.

As businesses expand their operations through various means (M & A activity, joint ventures and the like), they must resist the temptation to fixate solely on the financial picture.  Although this seems obvious, the spate of recent articles on the lack of global mindset and proper attention to cultural context and human capital factors would have us believe otherwise.  In the Harvard Business Review*, Rosabeth Moss Kanter discusses successful mergers, and outlines the importance of attending to the cultural and emotional facets of a transaction in order to “create real value.” In her eyes, “a deal is never a bargain” when these all-important factors are shortchanged.

Similarly, the title of an editorial in last week’s Nikkei Weekly*, “What Good is Globalization without Global Perspectives?”, effectively describes the many frustrations of UK companies who have been operating in Japan, stymied in their attempts to reach across the cultural divide. It is a striking example of how, even when the aforementioned factors are taken into account, and even with thorough due diligence  – and who better for assiduous information gathering than the Japanese – putting globalization into practice is far easier said than done. Old cultural habits die hard.

From the unfolding Kraft and Cadbury drama, where the merging of two major US and UK business cultures is at stake, to the countless discussions as to whether the cultural differences of East and West Germany have been reconciled successfully since the fall of the Berlin Wall, signs of the difficulty in managing cultural interactions are nearly impossible to ignore. With the world’s economic future still uncertain, and companies ramping up their overseas efforts, we can at least be sure of plenty of intercultural activity on the horizon.

* http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/72688fb8-c9ab-11de-a071-00144feabdc0.html  

* http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2009/10/mergers-that-stick/ar/1

* http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/cf/fr/tnw/weekly_index.cfm?Keisai_dt=20091026

Global Relocation: Executive Challenges

Contrary to Thomas Friedman's mantra of yore, the world is not flat. In fact, as the Financial Times commented in an August 28th editorial entitled “Rough and Smooth,”* “reality is more messy. Recent history is littered with tales of CEOs from one culture who, for whatever reason, have not stayed the course when put in charge of a company with deep roots in another.” Stuart Chambers aptly phrased it when he resigned as head of Nippon Glass: “I have learned I am not Japanese.”  

What executives must grasp is that the behaviors and attitudes that got them to the top in one culture would not necessarily translate when they assumed control of a company in another country. Culture does matter, and on several levels. For executives to succeed in crossing cultures, they must realize that the greatest attribute they bring to the table is not their previous successes or reputation; in fact, these can hinder their effectiveness in a new market. Their greatest strength in moving to a company in a different country is their ability to be nimble and adaptible, open to events as they unfold. As the Financial Times article concludes, “…there is no template for how to run an Asian business – or, for that matter, a British, French, or Russian one. Running any business requires political savvy and managerial flexibility, going outside one’s comfort zone simply requires a double dose. Different business cultures are there to be navigated, not flattened into mush.”

Every culture has its own set of values that govern not only management styles, but all aspects of business, from advertising & marketing to sales to R&D. And, the range of stakeholders, their attitudes and their issues may be quite different from anything the executive had previously encountered. Laws and regulations, investor relations, unions, employee behaviors, and corporate structures are seldom identical from one culture to another, and they seldom exhibit any degree of flexibility in the short term. So, it falls to the executive to be able to adapt to a very different environment if he or she hopes to achieve any degree of success in a foreign company.

Often, however, it is not the above-mentioned workplace related challenges, but the family issues that force an executive either to refuse a lucrative overseas position or to abort it. Family relocation issues can, for example, undermine the effectiveness of an executive when his loyalties and time are split between his family in one country and the company in another. The Japanese media often attacks Sir Howard Stringer for not spending enough time in Sony’s head office. Indeed, the importance of the family's success in managing the overseas move was given top billing in a recent Harvard Business Review* article on the subject. Simply put, "You can't be successful in your new role if your home life is in chaos." So obvious, yet so often overlooked.

Corporate boards of directors are surprised again and again by the failure of CEOs who have not succeeded in running a foreign corporation. The onus is on them, the board members, to be diligent in their search for the right executive, one who has not only the name recognition (the “his PR precedes him” syndrome) or the technical skills, but also an attitude of openness and flexibility, a satisfactory family situation, and a willingness to learn about new cultures. While that may seem an overwhelming task for a board, the consequences of not doing the requisite due diligence in their search can be even more daunting. However, finding the right executive for the right job with the right skills for a particular company and culture can send the company to new levels of success.

*http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/673ce6aa-9406-11de-9c57-00144feabdc0.html

*http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2009/10/three-keys-to-getting-an-overseas-assignment-right/ar/1

Cupcakes and Cashmere: Stalking Cultural Preferences

Whether it’s cupcakes in Doha or sushi in Warsaw, following cultural trends and ever-evolving cultural preferences will forever be one of my favorite pastimes.  Such inclinations are of interest as reflections of their surroundings, economic and otherwise. Although not ‘big ticket’ items, the sudden appearance of cupcakes in the Middle East, sushi in Eastern Europe and fine chocolates in China are new tokens of luxury in select burgeoning economies and segments thereof.  What is of greater significance to me, though, is what has happened to the luxury market in Japan, and how this has affected both consumer thinking and its cultural manifestations.

 Much has been written about changing consumer spending habits in Japan (see Carrefour post below), as the country’s collective belt has been tightening for a considerable period of time.  The early proliferation of ¥100 stores in the post-bubble 1990s was perhaps an early indicator of an emerging trend in shopping, which until then had generally eschewed bargain hunting as a cultural sport.  Now, such shops with names like Seria, Watts and Don Quixote are as ubiquitous in Tokyo as tea vendors, and cheap chic is now not only acceptable, it’s downright trendy.  The country’s ailing luxury sector, meanwhile, has been steadily eroding, evidenced by plummeting department store sales, and punctuated by Versace’s complete withdrawal from the Japan market last week.

This is all music to the ears of companies like Fast Retailing (of Uniqlo fame), H & M, and Forever 21.  They, like many others, have been ‘recession ready,’ and are now all battling for supremacy on Japan’s legendary fashion battleground, with jeans at $10.00 and cashmere sweaters of decent quality at eye-popping prices. For even as the country’s luxury market suffers, and one can conjure up a picture of austerity and restraint in a culture known for embracing stability and resisting change, Japan is at the same time one of the most cutting edge trend-driven places on earth. Thus, its new economic realities have simply presented new challenges for its trendmeisters, whether in food, fashion or tech devices and beyond.

As buying on the cheap continues to evolve from ‘hazukashii’ (embarrassing) to virtuous and even cool, it will be exciting to monitor the manifestations of this cultural trend in Japan, along with others across the globe. Now if only flying to foreign cultures were as inexpensive as those Uniqlo jeans………