Running Header: PHILOSOPHY OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

Philosophy of Global Leadership

Stephanie M. Ericson
DePaul University

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Abstract
Being an effective global leader requires strong characteristics
including integrity, critical thinking skills, ethics, the ability to communicate
clearly across cultures, and the ability to influence your followers and their
society and culture even outside of the work place. These characteristics
help to build my global leadership philosophy and the values that guide my
actions and behaviors in the role of being a global leader.
My global leader philosophy is based around leading ethically and with
integrity, with fairness and the best interest of all stakeholders in mind. A
global leader like this leaves a lasting impact, and fills gaps in this rapidly
changing world left by governments and policy makers. With the support of
peer reviewed articles exploring these characteristics, and establishing a
deeper understanding of the global need for strong leaders, I will develop my
global leadership philosophy as one that is based around ethics and
operating with integrity.

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Introduction
This is an interesting time in the world when we are seeing a leap in
globalization, a surge in technological advances, and the blending of cultures
through easier and faster communication, and the boom of worldwide
corporations. With the world getting smaller in the sense that globalization
of organizations and economies converging, it is becoming clear that
openness, cooperation, and co-creation between nations is a prerequisite for
dealing with global challenges (Jones & Miller, 2010, p. 1). These trends are
expected to continue and will increase the world economy (Buller et al.,
1991, p. 767), and therein the need for global leaders.
An effective global leaders is someone who possesses strong
characteristics such as integrity, flexibility, and adaptability, and has the
ability to communicate clearly across cultures, operate ethically, think
critically, and can be decisive while seeing things from the perspective of all
stake holders involved.
Globalization has forced stakeholders to readdress global leadership
competencies and reassess decision making (Jenkins, 2012, p. 97). Decision
making during crisis situations requires decisiveness and can be defining
moments for organizations and their leaders. Leaders need to be able to
think both critically and flexibly, and take into account the implications of his
or her decision on themselves, their organization, and on other stakeholders.
This paper will further explore these characteristics and core values
that make an effective global leader. With the support of peer reviewed

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articles exploring these characteristics, and establishing a deeper

understanding of the global need for strong leaders, I will develop my global
leadership philosophy as one that is based around ethics and operating with
integrity.
Global Leadership Core Values
I believe the core values that make an effective global leader include
integrity, ethics, critical thinking skills, self-regulation, well-rounded, and
flexibility. Leaders should be active, intelligent, enterprising, and take astute
initiative to help their agency to achieve its goals today and create a new
capacity to achieve goals for the future (Fairholm, 2004, p. 578).
Integrity is the bedrock of character and is essential in sustainable
global leadership. Without integrity, managers will never engender the
goodwill and trust of the organization, both essential for effective leadership
(Morrison, 2001, p. 65). Global leaders confront ethical issues on a consistent
basis. Due to the consistency and complexity of these issues, global leaders
need a unique set of competencies in order to maintain their personal
integrity and build a consistent set of values for the global organization
(Morrison, 2001, p. 65).
A global leader must lead ethically and with integrity. Ethical behavior
is critical to a leaders credibility and his or her ability to have meaningful
influence (Piccolo et al., 2010, p. 260-261). Morrison (2001) defines integrity
as having and demonstrating a strong commitment to personal morals and
company standards. This definition reflects the need for both absolute

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standards (personal morals) that are independent of company context, and

relative standards (company policies and norms) (p. 66). Morrison does note
that moral integrity can be difficult to define because duty to others is often
valued differently depending on the culture which someone is from.
Regardless, effective global leaders maintain their integrity by confronting
ethical dilemmas frequently and quickly (Morrison, 2001, p. 73).
Integrity in a leader also brings out the most in employees and
promotes trust. Much research has been done to show the positive
correlation between trust and employee contribution (Morrison, 2001, p. 72).
Global leaders are also good observers, and the ability to interpret
behaviors in order to better understand different perspectives to anticipate
ethical problems and diminish risk. This also shows a higher interest in
people, thus growing trust (Miller, 2001, p. 73).
Buller et al. (1991) define ethics as the application of moral value or
codes to complex problems using a rational decision making process. The
outcome of this process is usually a behavior or set of behaviors (p. 768).
People may have the same moral values, but due to cultural differences, may
behave differently when faced with similar situations because of the way
they apply their value codes.
The ethics of individuals are influenced by societal and corporate
ethics. Corporate or organizational ethics are largely a function of societal
ethics but are shaped in part by the ethics of organization members. Global

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ethics are influenced primarily by societal and corporate ethics (Buller et al.,
1991, p. 768).
A global leader must be a critical thinker, and a flexible one who can
adapt to rapidly changing environments. As Jenkins (2012) calls out, the
context of global leadership requires global critical thinking and even more
so, global critical leadership (p. 95). Because of this, global leaders must
possess strong critical thinking skills that can be applied in global situations.
Jenkins defines global critical thinking as any attempt to develop concepts
and tools that can be used across disciplines, subjects, or domains (2012, p.
95). Critical thinking at the global level is comprehensive and multi-logical,
and requires situations and assumptions to be examined from different
cultural norms.
According to Jenkins (2012), leading critically is defined as applying
critical thinking skills to decisions about leadership actions in different
situations and is a challenge for leaders and followers (p. 95).
To develop global critical thinking skills, students need to understand
perspectives and develop a global mindset by appreciating cultural diversity
(Jenkins, 2012, p. 98). Time must also be taken to understand strengths and
weaknesses of those working around the leader and the cultural limitations
(p. 99). Jenkins furthered this point by quoting Stigall (2010), A large
component of developing cultural understanding is accepting that we often
do not fully understand (p. 99).

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When workers are implanted in the global economy, there are

expectation of the, especially that he or she should be a critical thinker and
understand the cultural implications of their decisions. Be sensitive to
cultural contexts before trying to implement creative ideas or new
technologies.
Voegtlin et al. (2012) enforces this point of understanding implications
of decisions on all stakeholders and the activation of ethics by saying leaders
should think of the consequences of their conduct for all consequences of
their conduct for all constituencies that could be affected, that they
recognize the legitimate claims of the affected stakeholders, and that they
use their influence to initiate active stakeholder dialogues where the
involved parties can come to balanced and fair decisions (p. 3).
Jenkins (2012) presents a plan for global leadership development that
will help facilitate global leadership critical thinking skills. Encouraging
reflective situations in the classroom where students are forced to make
decisions in unfamiliar environments will allow for practice of these
competencies. Global leaders can also be introduced, former and current, to
present case studies to challenge cultural norms and environmental contexts
in their leadership decision making. This will help challenge current
perceptions of global context (p. 99-100).
A global leader must possess the ability to self-regulate. Nicholson
(2012) defines self-regulation as the adaptive process by which an individual
is able to control their responses to the world and adjust their goals

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accordingly (p. 400). Self-regulation may include emotional management,

control of impulses, and planning for future events.
Nicholson (2012) offers a self-regulation model with a checklist of
remedies and strategies for effective leadership:
1. Know yourself gather and pay attention to feedback so your selfconcept incorporates realistic and flexible appraisal of your qualities
and capabilities;
2. Know your situation enact strategies that circumvent people who
would reinforce your worldview so you can be aware of threats
changes, and opportunities;
3. Review your goals use the intelligence you derive from the first two
strategies to interrogate and revise your goals, earing if necessary
short-term deprivation for longer-term achievement;
4. Enlarge your action strategies find partners and create systems that
prevent your leadership from relying excessively on your personal
capabilities and knowledge;
5. Protect your Ego enact routines and disciplines that ensure you face
your challenges with awareness, energy, and commitment. (p. 407)
Global Leadership Assumptions
Voegtlin (2012) points out that due to increased globalization, national
state systems to moderate the outcomes of the economic, political, and
social systems. This leads to governance gaps and insufficient service to the
publics interests in areas like enforcing labor standards, protecting human
rights, protecting the environment, and fighting corruption (p. 3).

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This globalization leaves not only these gaps but the issue of
legitimacy, trustful stakeholder relations, social capital, internal and external
organizational environments, ethical environment, and perceived corporate
social responsibility all as issues for global leaders to take on. It is my
assumptions that global leaders will assume this responsibility readily as part
of their job. As a leader, your role does is not to lead only in the work place,
but to be there for your employees and as an example always.
In a time when it has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible,
to delineate systematic outcomes and individual responsibilities, ethics and
morality have once again become front page news. As a consequence,
theory and practice are struggling with the task of re-conceptualizing the role
of corporations and their leaders in society, in order to address the surge of
public concerns (Voegtlin et al., 2012, p. 2).
Truly effective global leaders continue to influence people long after
they have left work or even after they are out of power.
Morrison (2001) defines a global leader as someone who successfully
impacts the actions and beliefs of others on a worldwide basis (p. 65).
A global leader, according to Jones and Miller (2010), should be open to
alternative values and views, and be able to integrate long-term
considerations and interests from many stakeholders into their strategic
choices, all based on a transparent and stable moral compass (p. 2). This
compass needs to be globally valid and require an ethical leader. Going back

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to the core values that I believe make an effective leader, these are things
that will influence a society and a culture, not just a work place.
I believe that leadership is best understood by studying individual
leaders and their qualities, behaviors, and situational responses. Leadership
is what leaders are or do, and therefore the meaning of leadership derives
from the work of the leader: Leaders define leadership (Fairholm, 2004 p.
579).
Personal Global Leadership Beliefs
Who and what exactly makes a good leader? Nicholson (2012) argues
that leadership skills are an evolved capacity, and that leaders are key
agents in social evolution, by influencing the parameters of selection and
socialization that shape cultures at all levels (p. 399). But what is key in an
effective leader is self-regulation. Nicholson believes that this is a critical
component of leaders shaping of society.
Nicholson (2012) points out that it is well established that a principal
cause of leaders failure is an inability or unwillingness to adapt to changing
circumstances: in short, a lace of versatility (p. 406). In other words, an
inflexible leader has no hope of ever succeeding. However, as Nicholson
goes on to explain, adaptation does not consist solely of response flexibility,
but also in the leaders ability to encourage change.
This ability to encourage change early in a leaders tenure can often be
called shaping, and it is a key strategy for leaders to build their power base.
This power base can then reinforce the leaders style and culture formation,

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making the shaping process one of the most important sources of their
impact (Nicholson, 2012, p. 406). This is an extremely effective way for
leaders to gain credibility.
Fairholm presents five distinct leadership mind sets that have emerged
from the past 100 years of experience and literature: leadership as scientific
management, leadership as excellence management, leadership as a valuesdisplacement activity, leadership in a trust culture, and whole-soul
leadership.
The whole-soul leadership allows for leaders and co-workers to work
toward objectives through shared values, and focuses on maintaining a
culture of trust, and it focuses on the whole-soul nature of both the
individual leader and each follower. This perspective assumes that people
only have one self and one spirit in both work and personal lives, so the
leadership that they engage with at work will be influencing these workers to
their core. This idea of spiritual leader is a different way of stating emotional
intelligence, which Fairholm (2004) notes is related to social intelligence, and
are both very necessary in human relations and the ability to guide ones
thinking and actions (p. 580-581).
Whole-soul (spiritual) leadership integrates the components of work
and personal life into a comprehensive system that fosters continuous
growth, improvement, self-awareness, and self-leadership in such a way that
leaders see others as whole persons with a variety of emotions, skills,
knowledge, and abilities that go beyond the narrow confines of job needs.

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Spiritual leadership is essentially the linking of our interior world of moral

reflection with our outer world of work and social relationships. (Fairholm,
2004, p. 581)
Effective global leaders can play a larger role and can essentially
establish rights for employees throughout an organization. The objectives
are to embed employee rights in the organizational culture and to create
behavioral norms that govern the behavior of all employees (Morrison,
2001, p. 71). These norms commonly include worker safety, equality in
hiring, equality of opportunity for assignments, promotions and
compensations, and freedom of expression.
A leader should also infuse the organization with values. These values,
then, are allocated into society, much like was explained in Buller et al.
(1991).Voegtlin et al. (2012) explains that responsible leaders are leaders
that exert influence by fostering an active stakeholder dialogue. They
estimate consequences of their actions and try to weigh and balance
difference stakeholder claims, in order to achieve mutual beneficial solutions
for all involved parties. Such leadership behavior can have an effect on the
quality (and quantity) of stakeholder relations as well as on follower attitudes
and other important organizational factors (p. 6).
To be a good leader, though, one needs practical and intellectual skills,
but also practical and intellectual understanding of what leadership actually
is (Fairholm, 2004, p. 577). Leadership is like beauty. You know it when you

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see it. Or, there are as many definitions of leadership as there are persons
who have attempted to define the concept. (Fairholm, 2004, p. 579).
According to Fairholm (2004), a persons leadership perspective
defines what he or she means when they say leadership and shapes how
they view successful leaders in themselves and others (p. 580).

Conclusion
I agree with a statement in Nicholsons article (2012), that the
relevance or leadership is evident (p. 400). With the world getting smaller,
more connected, more populated, and moving faster every day, we need
leaders who can guide us through the challenges that face us today, and who
can anticipate the challenges that are yet to come. I believe that my global
leadership philosophy can be summed up by a quote from Morrison (2001),
effective global leaders have a level of individual integrity that surpasses
the norms of the organization. The high integrity of global leaders is required
to unite the organization across cultures (p. 73).
This Morrison quote hits very close to home for me. I remember when I
was a general manager of a clothing store during my years in undergrad and
I had a very close-knit team working for me. We had worked hard to build our
culture, and being a leader among my peers, I had worked tirelessly to gain
my teams trust and respect.
One day, directions came to all store managers from corporate that
there would no longer be part-time associate managers; any person holding

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an associate manager title with part-time hours would be demoted with a cut
in pay, or they would have to upgrade to full-time status. Being the manager
of a store in a college town, we were all students, and my associate
managers were both part-time due to being full-time students, and they had
turned down the offer to be full-time previously. My associate managers were
both amazing, loyal, hard-working employees, and I was sick to my stomach
and angry at the thought that I had to demote them and tell them that their
pay had been cut due to no fault of their own. It didnt seem fair, and I
immediately communicated my concerns to my superiors and stated my
case. In the end, I had to demote my associate managers, but I believe the
fact that I immediately defended them and defended what I thought was
right helped to keep us together as a team. That is where my global
leadership philosophy started to form, when I realized that being a leader
came with way more responsibility than what the job description says.
Global leaders need to not only shape the working environment and
working culture of those they lead, but also need to shape society and
culture outside of the work environment. I hope that the ethical decisions I
have made in front of the people I have led will influence the decisions they
make throughout their lives in a positive way, and potentially help to fill in
the gaps left by the government and elected officials to change the world for
the better. If effective global leaders are truly leading with integrity and
ethics, than being leaders beyond the workspace will be a natural transition.

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References
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Business Ethics, 10, 10, 767-775.
Fairholm, M. R. (September 01, 2004). Different Perspectives on the Practice of
Leadership. Public Administration Review, 64, 5, 577-590.
Jenkins, D. (2012). Global critical leadership: Educating global leaders with critical leadership
competencies. Journal of Leadership Studies, 6, 2, 95-101.
Jones, M. T., & Millar, C. C. J. M. (2010). About Global Leadership and Global Ethics, and a
Possible Moral Compass: an Introduction to the Special Issue. Journal of Business
Ethics, 93, 1, 1-8.
Morrison, A. (2001). Integrity and global leadership. Journal of Business
Ethics, 31.1, 65-76.
Nicholson, N. (December 01, 2011). The Evolved Self, Self-regulation, and the Co-evolution of
Leadership. Biological Theory, 6, 4, 399-412.
Piccolo, R. F., Greenbaum, R., Hartog, D. N., & Folger, R. (2010). The relationship between
ethical leadership and core job characteristics. Journal of Organizational
Behavior, 31, 259-278.
Voegtlin, C., Patzer, M., & Scherer, A. G. (2012). Responsible Leadership in Global Business: A
New Approach to Leadership and Its Multi-Level Outcomes. Journal of Business
Ethics, 105, 1, 1-16.