Week 14: Career Success in Global Leadership
Discussion Overview
This week, we discussed several articles concerned with career success. Chapter 11 in “Build your Cultural Agility” illustrates important “trip wires” to avoid and highlights best practices to make a global career work. Setiya (2019) discusses how mid-career professionals often face a crisis of satisfaction and purpose, exploring the reasons behind this dip in contentment and offering philosophical strategies to cope with the sense of futility and regret that may arise. And Christensen (2010) emphasizes the importance of applying strategic thinking not just to ones career, but also to ones personal life, advocating for a life lived with deliberate purpose.
Questions & Instructions
- Reflecting on this week’s content, what strategies or actions do you find effective for a fulfilling (global) leadership career? Please feel free to share any other “best practices” that you found useful beyond what the three main readings mentioned.
Examples:
I think that a fulfilling and successful global leadership career comes down to a few different strategies. For me, I believe that focusing on continuous learning and cultural humility are vital for a truly fulfilling global career. Someone who is focused solely on advancement and compensation may overlook fulfilling opportunities to find purpose, build relationships, and find opportunities for growth. Build Your Cultural Agility states that strong global leadership is about adapting your leadership style across different contexts and cultures. Cultural agility is improved through continuous learning and the desire to learn and improve. Caligiuri speaks about trip wires in global leadership: experience, technology, and similarity. It is important to remain humble and not become overconfident based on prior international experience alone. Cultural agility does not improve just because of experience. Even as technology makes many meetings that used to be in person now occur virtually, it is important to recognize potential cultural differences in text, email, and video-call communication. As similarity across global businesspeople has increased in terms of clothing, style, tastes, and English usage, it is important to look past these similarities and remain aware of underlying cultural differences.
The article from Clayton Christensen about applying strategy to personal like stood out to me because I try to use the same frame of thinking in my life. I believe professional decisions need to be aligned with personal values to ensure long-term fulfillment and satisfaction. Chasing something for status or compensation will not bring fulfillment or enjoyment on a day-to-day basis. Having a life of deliberate purpose and applying strategic thinking to personal relationships and everyday life will create a consistent and clear mindset. This approach will allow for better long-term decisions that lead to more fulfillment and happiness.
I found the article by Kieran Setiya very meaningful, and it brings significant insight towards career progression and limiting burnout. I think that success and advancement are important, but they are not the most important things in life. Security and the ability to experience new opportunities are important, but focusing too much on accomplishments can create dissatisfaction. It is incredibly important to be able to find meaning in work and everyday experiences to ensure long-term fulfillment in ones career and life. A fulfilling global career is not only about advancement, compensation, and new opportunities, but about fostering strong relationships, continuous growth, and making decisions that line up with purpose, meaning, and fulfillment.
Examples 2:
- Reflecting on this week’s content, what strategies or actions do you find effective for a fulfilling (global) leadership career? Please feel free to share any other “best practices” that you found useful beyond what the three main readings mentioned.
One strategy I find effective, aligned with Caligiuri’s discussion in Chapter 11 on high-quality interactions, is making time and space to engage with my colleagues. This includes both inperson interactions with those in my office and virtual conversations with overseas colleagues. I try to ensure these conversations are not solely focused on work deliverables but also allow space to learn about one anothers communication styles, backgrounds, and perspectives. By connecting on a more personal level, we build a foundation of trust and mutual understanding that strengthens professional collaboration. I have found great joy in getting to know the people I work with and better understanding individual work styles, which allows me to support others more effectively. Regardless of where we are from, each person brings unique strengths, preferences, and characteristics that enrich team dynamics.
Another action I find particularly effective relates to Setiyas idea of embracing atelic activities, or those that are valuable in themselves rather than as a means to an endpoint. For me, this has taken the form of seeking learning and mentoring opportunities. While these activities may not directly lead to career advancement, the intrinsic value of connecting, building relationships, growing, and giving back makes them deeply fulfilling. Along similar lines, I have made a conscious effort to become more reflective. Practices such as peer dialogue, coaching, and brainstorming, encouraged by my current manager, have been transformational in my role. Reflection has helped me make greater sense of my experiences and sustain a sense of purpose over time, as it reinforces the feeling of growth and increasing leadership effectiveness. Moreover, reflection acts as a mechanism for strategic alignment, directly addressing Christensens argument that professionals often fail to apply deliberate strategy to their life choices.
References
Caligiuri, P. (2021). Build your cultural agility: The nine competencies of successful global professionals. Kogan Page.
Christensen, C. M. 2010. How will you measure your life? Harvard Business Review, 88(7/8): 4651.
Setiya, K. (2019). Facing your mid-career crisis. Harvard Business Review, 97(2), 135139.
Examples 3:
The strategies I believe will be the most effective for a fulfilling global career are having high quality interactions and understanding limitations in a different cultural context. As discussed in chapter 11 of Build Your Cultural Agility, it is not about the quantity of interactions you have within a different cultural context, but the quality of those interactions. It is not enough to only put yourself in different cultural environments, you must also be present and aware, paying attention to what you are gaining. Without this awareness, its likely your cultural agility skills will develop very slowly, if at all.
I also think understanding your limitations of your own skills and ability is crucial to being a fulfilled global leader because this is necessary for growth. One must have an awareness of what they lack and need to work on in order to place themselves in settings that will help them improve their cultural agility skills and abilities. This would also be very useful in not getting discouraged when things get difficult in your practice and could even motivate you to want to continue.
One other strategy that has stuck with me that I think is important for a fulfilling leadership career is tolerance of ambiguity. The journey to becoming a (global) leader will come with many challenges and unknowns. In order to grow and find fulfillment in your work, you must be ready to face adversity, and not allow it to discourage you. This can go hand in hand with knowing your limitations as tolerance of ambiguity requires awareness of the environment and your capabilities. Being able to power through adversity and find ways to adjust is a useful tool for any global leader that will likely be used throughout your entire career.
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