Professor Ramon (Ray) Henson
is an organization and management consultant with over 25 years of global
experience working in senior positions with various Fortune 500 companies,
including Merck & Co., Avon Products, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup. He
currently heads Henson Consulting International, is a Consulting Partner with
Organisation Solutions (Singapore), and is a member of the
consulting team of the Center for Organizational Design (United
States).
At Rutgers Business School, Professor Henson teaches both undergraduate
and graduate courses in Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management,
Executive Leadership, Cross-Cultural Management, Team Development,
International Business, Global Management Strategy, and Strategic Management.
He is also on the faculty of the RBS International Executive MBA Program, where
he travels overseas (China, Singapore) to teach.
Not only is Professor Henson a dedicated teacher, but he is also
an avid blogger. His blog was
recently ranked by OnlineMBA.com as
one of the top 50 business blogs by business professors.
Advice on Developing a Global Mindset
So you have heard
that many multinational firms today want their new hires and managers to have a
global mindset. Yes, you say to
yourself, that makes sense, since many firms today do business around the
world, sell products globally, and have employees from different regions.
But you are not sure
what having a global mindset means.
You have a passport, and you have traveled overseas. Perhaps you are a second-generation
American, whose parents immigrated to the United States. Or perhaps you came from overseas to
study at RBS. You have taken
courses in international business and global strategy, and you have friends
from different parts of the world.
You are familiar with the business issues that multinationals face when
they do business in different countries, and you are aware of some of the
cross-cultural challenges that these businesses face when they try to implement
their policies and practices in different countries. Does that mean that you have a global mindset?
There are two words
that I have converted to acronyms that I’d like you to remember. The first is FACE. Global mindset is a mental attitude, an
inclination. It is not a behavior,
but it should predict behavior. In
my own experience and interviews with executives and students, I would say
there are four components to global mindset you can easily remember with the
acronym FACE: Flexibility, Acceptance/Openness,
Curiosity, and Cross-Cultural
Empathy. So having a global mindset means that
when you interact or work with people from different cultures, you need to: be
flexible; learn to accept different points of view and to be open about them; be
curious about other cultures; and develop empathy by trying to put yourself in
the other person’s shoes.
If these are the four
orientations to having a global mindset, what can you do practically to develop
it? The second word I’d like you
to remember is the acronym ROPE, which stands for Reading, Observing,
Practicing, and Experiencing.
First, reading. Yes, you can read randomly and surf the
internet to learn about other cultures and global issues, but it’s better to be
focused. Pick a country or two you
are interested in (for example, countries of the colleagues or customers you
are interacting with), and spend at least 15 minutes daily learning more about
that country – its politics, its business environment, its history, its people,
what consumers in that country are like, and what it’s like to do business in
that country.
Second, observe. No, you don’t have to be a voyeur or an
eavesdropper. But when you are
watching a foreign movie, or are observing people from other cultures talk or
interact, step back and pay attention especially to the non-verbals – their
body language, their use of personal space, the tone and manner of speech. Another suggestion is to observe the
interactions during meetings with global teams or with people from different
cultures. Find someone to help you
“de-brief” these meetings, especially around the group dynamics and
interactions, to get a better understanding of how people communicate
cross-culturally.
Third, practice. Here’s a suggestion. When you enter a classroom for a new course,
do you tend to look for a familiar face and then instantly sit down beside that
person? Next time, look for a
person you don’t know, even someone who you think may be from another culture,
and introduce yourself. After
establishing rapport and gauging the person’s comfort level, ask questions about
his or her country in a general way (e.g., “What’s the weather like this time
of year?”). More often than not,
that person will appreciate your interest and you will be able to make a
connection and build a relationship.
Fourth, experience. Break up your routine and get out of
your comfort zone once in a while.
There are a lot of different ways you can do this. For example, when at a restaurant,
order a dish that you have never had before. Or better still, go to places that offer a different type of
food than what you are used to. Once
in a while, take a different route in your commute. Once a week, leave your mobile phone at home. The point of these small changes to
your habits will be to help you expand the range of your comfort zone so you
can become more adept at “going with the flow” in the future.
The bottom line - global
mindset is about having an attitude of eagerness, curiosity, learning and openness
about different cultures and the people from those cultures. Of course it helps if you are well
traveled. But I know people who
travel to different countries and only stay at American hotels, eat only
American food, and hang out only with other Americans (you can replace
“American” with whatever your nationality or cultural identity might be).
As it turns out, your
RBS colleagues have an intuitive idea of global mindset, as you probably do
also. From my classes, here are
some of their replies to the question of what global
mindset means to them:
“Global mindset means that you are aware
of your environment, of others and the impact of ideas and events in your
business, strategy or position.”
“Taking
a more macro look at things … understanding that things won’t work the same all
over the world, and taking that into account.”
“Having
an understanding that countries have different cultures, and going into each
country, one must always be aware and sensitive to that country’s cultural
ways.”
“Someone who understands or has an open
mind to understand different cultures and how these affect the outcomes of
decisions.”
“Putting
yourself in the other culture’s shoes.”
“Listening
and resisting reflexive judgments.”
“Your
way is not always the right way.”
“Understanding
that different countries/cultures have different ways of doing things. They value certain things differently. A global mindset has to take all of
that into consideration and be open-minded and willing to compromise.”
For further reading,
here are five highly recommended books:
 |
| Charan, R. (2013) Global Tilt. Crown Business. |
 |
| Gundling, E. (2003) Working GlobeSmart. Nicholas Brearley Publishing. |
 |
| Nisbett, R. (2004) The Geography of Thought. The Free Press. |
 |
| Reid, T. R. (2000) Confucius Lives Next Door. Vintage. |
 |
| Morrison, T. and Conaway, W. (2006) Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands. Adams Media. |
For more wisdom on Global Management, visit Professor Henson’s blog:
