A senior leader is judged to be effective when she/he is able to communicate with impact, make sound and strategic decisions, drive results, and influence internal and external stakeholders.
In today’s global job market, it is the leader’s core expertise
In other words, the capabilities and skills that may initially help to get the foot in the door are not sufficient to help grow careers and continue to be promoted to higher roles. A whole new set of “softer skills” and capabilities is required to advance and succeed at executive level. Oftentimes it is not a matter of “is” or “isn’t” but “to what degree”. The same career requirements apply to the foreign-born leaders who came to the US at some point during their careers.
In my work with the US as well as with the foreign-born high potential leaders and executives, I see this dynamic play out frequently with leaders in technology. Technology-based fields, which have traditionally attracted men and women with deep knowledge and expertise in sciences and technology today also require strong knowledge of the business (both day-to-day operational knowledge as well as the knowledge of the marketplace) and a degree of leadership presence and communication quality to succeed in a highly competitive and complex marketplace.
Leaders’ awareness and motivation to exert the necessary effort to develop these capabilities may very well be the determining factor in their ability to reach high level roles and advance their careers. Companies that choose to invest in technical leaders benefit from return on their investment on their leadership development by enjoying more robust succession pipelines, better performance and productivity, and excellent employer reputation that attracts the best global talent.
This post is the first in a leadership series ~ Re-defining and Harnessing Diversity for Business Results >>
