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LEADERSHIP FOR

GLOBAL BUSINESS An Excerpt

SUMMARY Wisdom is the new strategic advantage in

organizations. This transformation in

communications and interactions calls for new

models of leadership. Any effective model needs to

nurture our core human capacities for abundance

and excellence. This model converts knowledge to

wisdom and brings goodwill into our interactions. It

generates a new breed of global leaders who are

more dynamic, efficient, and fully able to meet the

challenges of the modern world.

Laura L. Brown, M.S. Founder, World Ambassadors

Copyright © 2015 World Ambassadors

W h y G l o b a l B u s i n e s s N e e d s

N e w L e a d e r s h i p

Service in a global economy requires us to open

to our spontaneous, genius selves.

Around the world, people are experiencing powerful shifts in their abilities to communicate

with one another. These shifts directly affect the traditional ways we approach decision-

making, strategic planning, and work processes at all levels of business.

Although in the past organizations considered knowledge a major strategic advantage, it is no

longer the case. A new style of communication—rooted in wisdom —is bringing

tremendous changes to the way people interact on a daily basis in boardrooms and meeting

rooms everywhere.

Moreover, these shifts are profoundly changing our perceptions of core issues such as:

profitability

productivity

employee participation

relationships with customers, and

relationships with shareholders.

Within this context of new communication and interaction, we are quickly

acknowledging the interdependence of commerce. The distinctions of: local boundaries,

national boundaries, and international boundaries have ceased to be as relevant as they

once were. The actions of one person in one location can have profound consequences

across many marketplaces.

We recognize that our work is more complex. Our sense of time is accelerating, and

we find ourselves quickly including more diverse factors in our action plans. This creates

an environment ripe for rapid, spontaneous decision-making.

Excerpt: Leadership for Global Business 2


To meet these challenges:

Strategies need to incorporate more wisdom to ensure that they are sustainable over time

Processes need to begin to flow from multi-dimensional perspectives, and

Interactions need to release new energy that brings us into stronger levels of service.

This millennium brings with it great opportunities to change the way we think about our

work and how we interact with one another. For example:

What would it mean if we tried to make every interaction in our work lives an

opportunity to foster a new mind-set: one of goodwill ? Goodwill is the union

of two potent qualities: Abundance and excellence. Imagine if every interaction that

you are involved in at work expressed this mind-set of abundance and excellence.

How can we bring abundance and excellence into the workplace? What would our

work look like if we expressed more abundance and excellence?

How would the mind-set of abundance and excellence foster better interactions with

our co-workers, managers, customers, and shareholders?

How can a mind-set of abundance and excellence help our companies to grow and

increase profits?

If the aspiration of “goodwill in every interaction” seems too much of a stretch for you right

now, then image what our lives would be like if we each pledged to foster abundance and

excellence in just one single interaction today.

What if we focused on the possibilities and positive events around us, rather than

negative situations. What if we took all opportunities of communication to promote harmony

and peace, to promote a message of understanding and compassion—fully and deeply— with

others?

What if, using goodwill and coming from this perspective of abundant opportunity, we

could:

create businesses that can respond more fluently to global market shifts

build and dissolve teams of people based on the needs of the moment

tap into a source of sustainable financial support that would allow us to create



what we need when we need it, and

form truer partnerships with our customers that express a stronger sense of purpose

about the products and services we produce.

The mind-set of goodwill holds the promise of supporting these outcomes, and more.

Why Traditional Practices of Leadership Don't Work Most traditional practices of leadership are based on dominance, exclusion and, ultimately,

fear. This form of leadership expresses a limited perspective. It is not sustainable. It is

certainly not a source of renewable energy for workers. Over time, it leads to the

destruction of people's hearts and minds.

When authority is perceived as an external source that is absolute—and held by one person

or a small group—we each as individuals give up our internal power to contribute more

fully to the process of creating our work and manifesting a viable business.

In addition to an overreliance on dominance and control, traditional forms of

leadership use analysis and logic as a primary tool for decision-making and the design of

workflow. Again, this perspective only incorporates part of a larger, dynamic whole.

Creativity and intuition are often downplayed. Trust is viewed as a win/lose proposition. It

is either totally withheld or completely extended.

This perspective often leaves people frustrated, as others never seem to live up to individual

expectations. Likewise, conflict is viewed from a win/lose perspective. This leads to struggles

for power and control and, at times, outright warfare against others.

Equally important, traditional leadership tends to impose structure on situations to

achieve predetermined standards or results. Ultimately, this form of structure is rigid and

static. It blocks continuous creative expression. Rigid structure builds first from an external

source and reacts slowly to changes in the environment.

All of these perspectives lead to tremendous turmoil within our organizations. A survey of

managers and executives revealed the following questions and issues that we all cope with in

some shape or form on a daily basis.

These are typical comments from managers and executives. They come from people who



work at small companies to large companies. They come from people with high school

educations, college educations, and people with PhDs. They come from people with extensive

business experience, from entrepreneurs, and from people just starting out in business.

My company is merging. I'm in a holding pattern. I don't know what the new

structure will be.

How do we trust the customer?

I don't know where I fit into the organization.

I don't know who I report to within the organization.

How do we tie a community of people together?

We live in a society of short-cuts. This results in lying and

manipulation.

The pace I work at is: Paris for breakfast, Amsterdam for lunch, and

London for dinner. I have amazing demands on my time. .

Things are weird in my company. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be staying.

I want to grow, but I don't know how.

What are we doing to our planet?

I interviewed for a job, and they immediately started testing my analytical skills. They

never asked me about who I am and what my work experience has been.

I like my job, but I just feel like I can do more. What's my true north?

How do these issues play out? The same survey showed how our inner conflicts can

become major problems within organizations. They affect overall productivity,

profitability, employee participation, and our relationships with customers.

The following examples show how managers and executives deal—often

unsuccessfully—with the conflicts that exist each and every moment of our work lives.

We've been waiting months for a [foreign company] to pay up on their invoice. We've

talked to them, and we just can't seem to get through to them. It's putting us in a financial

bind.

Just humor him for now and go along with what he's asking for. I know it's not the right

thing to do, but it's the easiest for now.

Can you believe the term sheet they sent us? It's an insult.

He won't deal with [person A] because [person A] beat him out on another deal, and now

he's jealous.



She’s got “an edge” to her, and we’re not sure we can work with her.

I ended my business partnership with him because of the trail of lies and loss of integrity.

He's driving me crazy. Why can't he just do the work himself?

I told him I couldn't work on the report Friday. Why does he keep calling and asking

me to finish it?

He's arrogant and not respectful of my position. I'm not going to work with him anymore.

I've been more responsible with my finances. Therefore, I deserve a larger share

of stock than my partners. They should take care of the debt problem, not me.

Oh, we'll just get a bunch of immigrants to work for minimum wage. They work hard,

and you don't have to pay them much.

They told me I was too old for the job. They're looking for “fresh ideas.”

The Italian partners wouldn't pay me what I think I'm worth. So I told them,

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

The vendor who was managing all our PR came in-house and took over my job. I met

with my CEO and said, “Give me a one-month severance, and let's call it even.” I'll

never trust a vendor again.

We're doing all the upfront work for free. The CEO wants to pay us for

performance only.

How do we see our way through these situations? Communication offers a new perspective on them and gives us tools to create better outcomes.

New Forms of Leadership New forms of leadership need to emerge to help navigate all of these shifts and changes. In

fact, organizations are recognizing that leadership is one of the critical challenges facing them

today. Nothing short of total transformation is necessary. And this transformation

needs to begin first within each of us—as customers, employees, managers, and executives.

Any new model of leadership needs to recognize that everyone has the capacity to be a

leader. It is no longer feasible for leadership to reside in a few people. To meet this

challenge, we need to integrate four important elements to achieve true success:

Our sense of personal responsibility needs to increase.

We need to use—in coordination—both the intelligence found in our right-brain and the



intelligence found in our left-brain.

We need to frame conflict in a new perspective that allows truer harmony—with all its

diversity—to emerge.

Finally, as we master these first three elements, we will begin to work in truer partnership

with each other.

Traditional models of leadership assume that a leader articulates a vision and everyone

else follows. Success or failure rests on the shoulders of the leader. Emerging models see

leadership as a dynamic give and take. Leadership is transformed into a process of

shining light on a particular issue, having others agree that the issue merits effort to

improve, and then everyone works together toward the common goal. Success or failure

rests on everyone's shoulders.

In fact, the partnership model has replaced the executive-as-leader model. We now

know that leadership results from the interaction within a relationship. Dialogue replaces

discussion, and conflict is held in a way that promotes the best for everyone involved.

In short, we are realizing that all of us have the capacity to be leaders. All of us have unique

spirits with something of high value to contribute to our friends and families, our

organizations, and the world. Managers and executives can assume a leadership role by

helping individual employees cultivate this uniqueness through dialogue so that the individual and the organization benefit. However, each partner is responsible for maintaining

faith, hope, and spirit.

Equal partners support one another in becoming the best each individual can be. This gets to

the heart of authentic interpersonal and interpersonal communication. Spirit is the wellspring

of thoughts and actions. It taps into our deepest knowing of others and ourselves. The more

deeply managers engage employees in spirit-filled dialogue at work, the more wisdom

and compassion can arise to support the best performance in everyone within a company.

The main issue is that true partnership brings about greater freedom. This freedom relies on

the amount of personal responsibility that every individual assumes for the success or failure

of a project. As personal responsibility increases within an organization, true alignment of

individual, manager, and organizational purpose(s) can be achieved.

Learning how to nurture this form of leadership is a major task before us. How can we

formalize this new understanding within corporations? How can this form of leadership be

recognized and rewarded as a necessary and vital aspect within all companies?

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