The Character of Global Leaders

Getting global leadership right is a huge challenge for companies. Having the right leaders has an impact on not only employee attitudes towards globalization but also their engagement levels and approach to working with colleagues across borders. Because of physical distance, language, and cultural differences global leaders face a huge challenge of generating and maintaining trust throughout the organization. The keystone of trust is the character of global leaders. In this chapter, we discuss our research on the role of character in global leadership. In particular we address the challenges of demonstrating character with a particular emphasis on maintaining integrity and connecting with people with different cultural norms and expectations.