Friday, April 5, 2013

Be a Global Player


In the digital age, no leader should be satisfied with a business that is defined by national borders. All companies should think about reaching customers anywhere. But going from local to global can seem daunting. And so to those who are thinking of going global, I offer this set of first steps:

  • Get your news from the world. Branch out in your reading, your surfing, your discussions. Tap into international sources as well as local sources from far afield. Don’t be satisfied with the news as it is filtered through your regular sources. Reach out for new ones.
  • Encourage all employees in your company to consider themselves global employees, even if travel is not in their job descriptions. How can they do this? They should benchmark competitors in other countries. Be aware of innovations elsewhere in the world. Instead of attending the same conferences, go to events in other countries.
  • Create career paths that encourage a global experience. Make it possible – even preferable – for managers to work outside their country of origin.

Going global is a big transformation, but it can be started with small steps from your current location. When you open your mind to the world and its information, you are already on the global matrix. Thinking global is the first step to being there.

Credit: Hiroshi Mikitani - CEO, Rakuten Inc.

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