global leader essay

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Essay Competition

The Global Leadership English Challenge aims to drive meaningful youth engagement and to increase the work of young changemakers throughout the world. Thus, based on GLEC Scoring Criteria (Organization, Knowledge, Originality, Expression, and Style), any submissions including the creativity, the visibility of youth action, and research on SDGs will be highly rated.

What is the topic?

GLEC supports the United Nations Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

You can find your essay topics he ​ ​ re.

Rules and Guidelines The following rules and guidelines will help the participants understand the competition procedure. Participants who failed to follow this rule will be disqualified.

Preliminary Round

The preliminary round for the GLEC is open through the GLEC Online Platform where each registered applicant can log in and submit the entry files. Only fully admitted applicants can access the website, and all applicants are highly recommended for a comprehensive study on a given topic before submission based on the reference articles provided by the GLEC Secretariat.

Entry File Submission

(Nominated applicants can skip this step.)

If you are fully admitted for the GLEC competition, log in to the platform and complete your entry submission by directly typing the essay on the GLEC Online Platform. The platform does not allow you to copy and paste any text from internet resources or even a prepared essay on your computer. (Any essays should be less than 700 words.)

Only fully admitted applicants can access the platform with their personal information (Username, Date of Birth (yyyymmdd)). If any applicant encounters difficulties logging in to the platform, inquire GLEC Secretariat at [email protected] for login details.

Final Round

The final round of competition will be held online via the online conference platform Zoom , therefore participants should make sure that the supporting equipment and devices are completely available (Laptop/PC with functioning camera and speaker, microphone, and internet connection).

The final round date and time for each track will be announced after the final round registration period , including only those who have completed the registration fee payment. During the final round, finalists will be given new topics to complete the essay within 50 minutes.

Rules on Zoom

• The Essay competition format is identical to the TOEFL Writing Exam . The participants should write an essay based on a newly given topic within 50 minutes.
• As part of a monitoring and further examination, the entire contest procedure will be recorded. All participants are considered to consent to the video/audio recordings and the use of recordings being used by the GLEC Secretariat. The use of recordings may include: supervision, examination, edit, website post, etc.
• Every participant must make sure that their appearance during the competition can be seen and heard clearly by the judges. If you went out of the camera frame and are caught cheating in any form, the Secretariat is entitled to unilaterally decide to disqualify participants from the competition.
• We consider the following to be acts of dishonesty.
• Opening another webpage or browsing another website
• Using shortcuts or operating system functions (i.e. Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Alt+Del, Alt+Tab, Print Screen)
• Using notes, smartphones or other materials
• Talking on the phone or to other people
• Someone other than you taking any portion of the competition (i.e. Multiple Logins)
• Staying with someone else in the room during the competition
• Other dishonest acts

Largest and Premier UN-theme English Competition,

Compete Global, Grow Global

Get to know the crises our globe is facing, share your views on the agenda,

and offer your own creative solutions on earth!

10 Break-Out Sessions

• Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

India is undergoing its economic, technological and demographic transition simultaneously. An old country is becoming youthful and adventurous with the passage of time. Young Indians like OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal are quietly taking charge of Indian ethos by becoming icons of audacious aspirations and tangible proofs of its potential, spawning startups that are becoming most valuable and famous than many legacy companies. How can young revolutionaries find ways to carry the older generation of investors, regulators, workers and consumers with them and what can other economies and founders learn from India’s momentous transition?

For over 50 years teams of student have volunteered to organise the St. Gallen Symposium. They have written countless invitations, met thousands of partners, and welcomed some of the most important personalities of their time on stage. Together with former members of the ISC we will reflect on the St. Gallen Symposium experience of cross-generational dialogue and collaboration, the lessons they have learned for their lives and on how the symposium has evolved. This session is organised together with ISC Alumni.

As the need for innovation is growing, the routinisation of well-structured creative processes within organizations is key for concurrent value creation. Prof. Susan Goldsworthy of IMD, this year's St. Gallen Symposium artist Javiera Estrada and Light Artist Gerry Hofstetter will discuss the role of collaboration in the creative process. Together, and in conversation with the audience, they’ll explore the way collaboration can drive creativity in various organisational contexts, and, on the other hand, the role of introversion and lone contemplation in creating something new.

Many employee volunteering and giving programs are presented as an employee perk, similar to casual Fridays or a team-building event. But treating workplace giving and volunteering this way fails to fully capitalise on the great potential of such programs: to foster employee personal growth, and address key societal challenges. The panel will particularly explore the potential of skills-based volunteering, its benefits, and the unique challenges that arise when moving from merely transactional volunteering to something far more transformative.

The investment landscape over the next twenty years will be radically different from previous generations. While there appears to be greater access to capital, there also appears to be much more volatility and debt with no clear dominant financing mechanism. Entrepreneurs, VC, Private Equity, and banks will have to find new ways to work together to create growth and stimulate innovation. How can investors and entrepreneurs better collaborate and find mutually beneficial agreements that balance risk and return?

The fashion industry accounts for 10% of humanity’s annual carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. For long, the fashion and luxury watchmaking industry drove, together with the fashion media industry, unsustainable dynamics in the sector: generating more and more demand through an artificial cycle of new collections and seasonal trends. Businesses’ marketing, media as well as influencers thereby create a constant longing and demand for their products. How can designers, fashion houses and publishers exit this vicious cycle and, collaboratively, drive the transition towards more sustainable and ethical fashion and luxury watchmaking?

Media diversity, freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Europe are currently under threat. Journalists and independent media companies are increasingly joining forces across borders to respond to such challenges as well as to be able to continue to offer independent quality journalism in the future. This session will identify learnings from new media partnerships such as the Leading European Newspaper Alliance (LENA) and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) to identify how media can most effectively work together.

Technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are key drivers of the modern economy and social mobility. Given their importance, we should strive to improve accessibility to tech, education and entrepreneurship across all backgrounds. Creating open and inclusive communities, especially with tech is important to accomplishing this goal, but it is easier said that done. Simultaneously, a third iteration of the internet – Web3 – has the potential to radically transform the internet of things and reduce barriers to access. How can these forces be effectively harnessed and directed for the benefit of all people and move the world forward?

Over the past decades, the tech sector, especially the internet of things, has become a central component of modern economies. Trying to catch up with the exponential pace of technological development, the US, China, and Europe are crafting rules of the game on digital markets. What are the emerging characteristic differences between regulatory regimes of digital markets, in the US, Europe and beyond, and how do they balance innovation and regulation? In light of strategic competition over tech dominance between the US and China, what are the opportunities and challenges for Europe in particular?

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world of work forever. The fast and widespread adoption of remote work and an ever-increasing concern of employees with purpose and meaning on their job have intensified the war for talents. Reaching out to and concurrently engaging employees is key for businesses across sectors and regions. What learnings can be drawn from the pandemic as regards our approach to work? Has the world of work changed for the better? And what role does leadership culture and a new approach to hiring play going forward?

• A Demographic Revolution: Young India Takes Charge (with All India Management Association) 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Collaborative Advantage Across Generations: Reflecting on the SGS Experience (ISC Alumni) 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Collective Genius? Cultivating Creativity in the Arts and Beyond 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Connecting Business with Purpose: The Potential of Skills-Based Volunteering 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Financing the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs 10:00 am - 11:00 am
• Hacking the Fashion & Luxury Watchmaking Industry towards more Sustainability (with Condé Nast College) 10:00 am - 11:00 am
• M100 Sanssouci Colloquium@St. Gallen: Media’s New Power: More Impact Through Collaborative Journalism 10:00 am - 11:00 am
• Democratizing Access to the next Generation of Technology and Innovation: Communities and Radical Transformation 10:00 am - 11:00 am
• Varieties of Tech Capitalism: Europe's Approach to Innovation and Regulation in a Global Context 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
• Changed for Good? Engaging with the New World of Work 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

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Global Essay Competition

Compete in our Global Essay Competition and qualify for participation as a Leader of Tomorrow in the world’s premier opportunity for cross-generational debates: The St. Gallen Symposium.

Meet 300 of society’s brightest young minds. Present and debate your ideas with 600 senior leaders. Be inspired by some of the world’s most impressive speakers. Gain a unique and new perspective on this year’s topic. Become a member of a unique global community. Participate in the symposium with us. Win prize money of CHF 20,000 split amongst the three winners.

Topic Question

Striving for more or thriving with less – what pressing scarcity do you see, and how do you suggest to tackle it.

Scarcity generally refers to a situation where human needs exceed available resources . This year’s Global Essay Competition invites young leaders worldwide to focus on a specific contemporary or future challenge related to scarcity and propose an innovative way to address it.

Be creative in thinking about proposed solutions: do we need to strive for more and find ways to boost the availability of the resource in question? Or does it focus on ways to thrive with less and thus rethink our needs and demand?

Be free in choosing which scarce resource you focus on: examples include – but are NOT limited to – human labour, capital, natural resources, or intangibles like time, creativity, or care. Be bold and precise in describing a contemporary or future challenge of scarcity and the specific kind of resources you focus on, and offer a concrete and actionable idea of how we should confront it.

Registration window for the GEC for the 53rd St. Gallen Symposium is closed.

If problems occur during registration, please clear your cached images and files in your browsing history or consider using the browser Google Chrome. If you still cannot apply, use the following  link. For any unanswered questions please contact us via e-mail at  [email protected]

Prerequisites

Qualify with an excellent essay.

We expect a professional, creative and thought-provoking essay. Be bold, unconventional, and distinctive on the competition question.

For your contribution to be valid, the following criteria must be met

Check your eligibility and prepare documents, to be eligible, you must fulfill all of the following criteria:.

• Enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate programme (master level or higher) in any field of study at a regular university
• Born in 1994 or later

Make sure you can provide the following documents:

• Copy of passport or other identification (in English for non-Roman languages)
• Confirmation of matriculation/enrolment from your university which proves your enrollment in a graduate/postgraduate level programme as of 1 February 2024 (download sample document  here )
• Your contribution file with no indication of your name in the file name, the file metadata or the file itself

Meet us and ask your questions!

Meet our student representatives to learn how you can qualify for a participation in the 53 rd St. Gallen Symposium. We will have physical presentations at your university again as well as regular webinars to answer your questions!

Accompanying a Leader of Tomorrow

General questions, who can compete for a participation as a leader of tomorrow at the st. gallen symposium.

Students enrolled at a regular university, who are matriculated in a graduate or postgraduate programme.

What is the St. Gallen Global Essay Competition?

The St. Gallen Global Essay Competition is a global student essay competition, offering students who study at graduate or postgraduate level around the world the opportunity to apply for participation at the St. Gallen Symposium.

What is the Knowledge Pool?

The Knowledge Pool is a group of Leaders of Tomorrow with a strong affiliation to topics of relevance to the St. Gallen Symposium. They show outstanding track records in the particular fields they work or study. They are hand-selected by the International Students’ Committee. It is not possible to apply for membership in the Knowledge Pool.

How much does it cost to participate? 

The participation in the symposium is free for all Leaders of Tomorrow. Moreover, expenses for travel, board and lodging are covered by the ISC. However, we recommend bringing a small amount of pocket money for your convenience.

Essay Competition

Who is eligible for the 54 th  st. gallen symposium.

Students enrolled at a regular university, who are matriculated in a graduate or postgraduate programme as of 1 February 2025, from any field of study, born in 1995 or later.

What is a “regular university”?

In the context of the Global Essay Competition, a regular university is defined as an institution of higher education that also conducts research and offers at least one PhD programme. Exceptions are possible and are granted on a case-by-case basis.

Can Bachelor students participate?

Unfortunately, students on bachelor level do not fulfil the eligibility criteria and therefore cannot enter the competition. There is no other way to apply for participation and we, therefore, encourage all students to join the competition once they pursue with their studies at a graduate level. You may, however, be eligible if the level of study in your current year is equivalent to international graduate level which must be confirmed in writing by your university.

Can teams participate?

Only individual submissions are allowed as we can only grant participation to one contender per contribution.

How long should the contribution be? 

The maximum amount of words is 2,100 (excluding bibliography or graph descriptions and the like). There is no minimum word count. Please make sure to state the exact word count in your document. Also keep in mind that you must not state your name in the contribution.

Do I have to quote my sources?

All sources must be quoted and all essays are scanned for plagiarism. You must refer each source to the respective text passage. Please note that plagiarism is a serious offense and that we reserve the right to take further steps in case of deliberate fraud. Self-plagiarism will also result in disqualification, as the work has to be written exclusively for the Global Essay Competition of the St. Gallen Symposium.

Can I have a look at previous Winner Essays?

Yes, you can find winner essays as well as other publications from the Global Essay Competition here .

What file formats are accepted?

Please make sure to hand in your essay in either a doc, docx or pdf format. The document must allow to copy the text easily (no document protections).

What documents do I need to submit?

In addition to your contribution, make sure to upload

• a copy of your passport (or any other official government ID but no driver’s license) to verify your age
• a confirmation of matriculation from your university confirming your graduate or postgraduate student status as of February 2023
• a short abstract (200–300 words) which can be entered in the registration form directly

in the applicable field of the registration form.

What happens after I submitted my application?

The ISC will verify your eligibility and check all submitted documents for completeness and readability. Due to the large amount of essays we receive, our response may take some time, so thank you for your patience. If the jury selects your essay in the top 100 , you qualify as a Leader of Tomorrow for an expenses-paid participation in the 52 nd St. Gallen Symposium (4-5 May 2023). The results will be announced via e-mail by mid-March 2023. The jury selects the three awardees based on the quality of the idea on paper. The award is endowed with a total prize money of CHF 20,000. In addition, there will be a chance for the very best competitors (including the awardees) to present their ideas on the big stage at the symposium. For this, the students will be asked to pitch their idea on video beforehand.

Who’s in the jury?

The Award Jury consists of leading executives, journalists and professors from all around the world. The Academic Jury is composed of young top academics from the University of St. Gallen and the ETH Zurich.

When will the results be announced?

The jury’s decision will be announced by mid-March at the latest.

Participation

How do the travel arrangements work.

The organizing committee will get in touch with you prior to the symposium to discuss your itinerary and to book your travel.

Can the organising committee help me get a visa?

All Leaders of Tomorrow are self-responsible to get a visa. However, we will inform the applicable Swiss embassy about the invitation and will provide you with the necessary documents. Should a problem arise anyway, we are happy to help. Expenses for visa application are borne by the Leaders of Tomorrow themselves.

Where am I accommodated during the symposium?

All Leaders of Tomorrow are accommodated at private student flats across the city. Please give us an early notice should you have any special requirements (e.g. female flatmates only).

What transport is provided?

We book flights or train tickets and provide shuttle service from and to the airport. Furthermore, all Leaders of Tomorrow receive a free ticket for the public transport in St. Gallen during the week of the symposium.

How much money do I need? 

We recommend bringing some pocket money (CHF 100–200) for your convenience. Please note that depending on your time of arrival and departure, some meals might not be covered.

Can disabled people participate as well? 

Yes, of course. Most of the symposium sites are wheelchair-accessible and we are more than happy to help where we can. Although our ability to provide personal assistance is very limited, we do our best to provide the necessary services.

Is there any touristic programme and do I have time for sightseeing?

During the symposium there will be no time for sightseeing. However, we may offer selected touristic programmes a day before or after the symposium. These days can, of course, also be used for individual sightseeing. Nearby sites include the old town of St. Gallen, the lake Constance and the mountain Säntis.

Can I extend my stay in Switzerland?

Yes, upon request we can move your return flight to a date of your choice. If the new flight is more expensive, we may ask you to cover the price difference. Please note that we are unable to provide any services such as accommodation or transportation after the end of the symposium week.

Can I bring a spouse?

Unfortunately, we cannot provide any services such as travel, room, board or symposium access to any additional person.

Past Winners & Essay Reviews

Out of approx. 1,000 annual contributions submitted by graduate and post-graduate students from all around the globe, the jury selects three winner essays every year. Meet our competition’s past winners and read their contributions.

2023 – A New Generational Contract

Elliot gunn, gaurav kamath, megan murphy, essay question:.

The best or worst legacy from previous generations: How to preserve or replace it?

A great deal of our lives is influenced by when we were born. As those currently alive, we have inherited the world which previous and older generations have built. We owe a great deal to the efforts of our forebears, but we also inherit problematic legacies.

2022 – Collaborative Advantage

Sophie lara neuber, anton meier, bryan kwang shing tan.

Collaborative Advantage: what should be written into a new intergenerational contract?

 The idea of a “generational contract” embodies the principles that younger and older generations rely on each other to provide mutual support across different stages of their lives. Inclusive education systems, sustainable welfare states and meaningful environmental action are some of many challenges requiring a cross-generational collaborative effort. Yet, with the climate crisis, rapid technological change and societal aging in many countries, the generational contract and notions of intergenerational fairness have been challenged. Members of the younger generation are raising their voices as they reflect on how their futures are being compromised by current decision-makers.

 What’s your specific and actionable idea that should be written into a new generational contract? Choose an area where you see evidence that intergenerational fairness is – or, going forward, will be – challenged and where the generational contract needs to be rewritten. Potential areas include, but are not limited to, business strategy and the economy, inclusive governance and education, the welfare state and health care, environmental sustainability, or the world of work. Describe your problem and offer concrete and practical proposals how inter-generational fairness can be restored or reinvented. Explain your idea’s impact for the future.

2021 – Trust Matters

Janz irvin chiang.

1st place – Peking University

Joan  Nyangena

2nd place – York University

Karl Michael Braun

3rd place – Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

A Matter of Trust: How Can Trust be Repaired When It’s Lost?

In recent years, we have seen many reports about “trust crises” in the realms of politics, health, business, technology, science, and media. Political and corporate scandals, mass protests, and deteriorating trust indicators in global perception surveys support this diagnosis. As a result, senior leaders in many of these sectors publicly aspire to “rebuild trust” in their decisions, products, or institutions. What would be your advice to them?

Choose an area in one of the above-mentioned sectors where you see evidence that citizens’, consumers’, regulators’, employees’ or other stakeholders’ trust has been lost. Describe your example of an apparent loss of trust; offer concrete and practical proposals on repairing damaged trust. Describe your idea’s impact for the future.

2020 – Freedom Revisited

Symposium  postponed.

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the final review and communication of the results of the contributions to the Global Essay Competition was stopped prematurely.

Freedom Revisited: Which aspects of freedom need to be defended, or recalibrated, to meet the challenges of our time?

Domestically and on the international stage, values of individual, economic, and political freedom are subject to critical inquiry or outright attack. Diverse phenomena such as populism, global power shifts, climate change, the digital revolution, and global migration call for a reflection on the value of freedom for the way we live, do business, and organize politically in the years ahead. While some call for a defence of established freedoms, others call for recalibration of our concept of freedom, or the balance we strike between freedom and other values, such as equality, sustainability, and security. Where do you stand in this debate? Choose one of the following positions as you develop your essay:

In defence of freedom: Choose an area in the realm of business, economics, politics, or civil society where current concepts of freedom are under pressure and where they need to be defended. Describe the problem and offer a concrete and practical proposition of how established concepts of freedom should – and can be – defended. Describe its impact for the future.

In defence of recalibrating freedom: Choose an area in the realms of business, economics, politics or civil society where current concepts of freedom are unsuitable for the challenges we face and where they need to be recalibrated. Describe the problem and offer a concrete and practical proposition of how established concepts of freedom should and can be recalibrated. Describe its impact for the future.

2019 – Capital for Purpose

Reuben muhindi wambui (ke).

1st place – The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Natalie Hei Tung Lau (HK)

2nd place – University of Pennsylvania

Toan Do (VN)

3rd place – Yale University

Is it as good as it gets? – What approach would you suggest to change the current purpose of capital?

Political volatility, environmental issues, precarious labour markets, technological monopolies, managerial and investment short-termism are only a few challenges we face. The time has come to counter excessive short-termism and start doing business as unusual. Think about the status quo and its implications. What would be an idea to change it? Develop projects or actions you would trust in to bring new and expanded purposes to capital and aim for a long-term positive impact. In your essay you should consider how the use of capital (financial, human, social,…) can solve complex challenges and address substantial changes, be it by individuals, civil society, businesses or governments. Your idea must inspire leaders worldwide to take on responsibility and put it into practice. Be bold and develop a truly impactful concept to win our prestigious award.

2009 – 2018

2018  – beyond the end of work, nat ware (au).

1st place – University of Oxford

Janis Goldschmidt (DE)

João abreu (br).

3rd place – Harvard University

Robots are coming for your job. How do you augment yourself to stay economically relevant?

Author Yuval Noah Harari claims that the rapid progress of artificial intelligence technology will render the human species economically useless within decades. Imagine a world in which humans fight back, harnessing AI and other technologies to stay economically indispensable – and, ultimately, competitive against the computers. Describe the job you aspire to in the future, how it will potentially be influenced by AI, and how you would augment yourself technologically if necessary to prevail in your chosen career.

2017  – The dilemma of disruption

1st Place – University of Oxford

Benjamin Hofmann (DE)

2nd Place – University of St. Gallen

Sigin Ojulu (SS)

3rd Place – University of Southern California

Breaking the status quo – What’s YOUR disruptive idea?

The notion of disruption captures today’s innovation zeitgeist. Nowadays, it seems everyone claims to be a disruptor – particularly young people with an entrepreneurial mindset. Let’s think beyond disruptive innovation in management and look at disruption more generally as something that breaks the status quo – be it in business, politics, science, or society. Pick the one of these four fields you are most passionate about, identify a problem of greater magnitude and come up with a disruptive idea to solve it. Your idea must aspire to inspire top-notch leaders worldwide. Do not free ride on the buzzword “disruption” but rather be bold and develop a truly novel and radical concept to win our prestigious award.

2016  – Growth – the good, the bad, and the ugly

Schima labitsch (at).

1st place – Fordham University

Alexandra Ettlin (CH)

2nd place – University of St.Gallen

Colin Miller (US)

3rd place – New York University

What are alternatives to economic growth?

2015  – Proudly Small

Laya maheshwari (in).

1st place – London School of Economic

Leon Schreiber (ZA)

2nd place – Freie Universität Berlin

Katharina Schramm (DE)

3rd place – University of St.Gallen

Essay Questions:

• What is the next small BIG thing?

Think about unconventional ideas, undiscovered trends or peripheral signals that may turn into ground-breaking changes for societies. Present one idea which is not on the radar of current leaders yet but will change the game in business, politics or civil society – the best ones will be put to the test by the global audience of the St. Gallen Symposium.

• Collaborative Small State Initiative

Although small states lead the global rankings in international benchmark studies on competitiveness, innovation and wealth, they are often politically marginalised. Explore a common agenda for small and prosperous countries and identify one joint project that would increase the relevance of small states on the global stage. Go beyond politics and diplomacy by also including economic and civil players.

• Elites: small but superior groups rule the world – at what price?

Human history shows that the world has been ruled by tiny but superior groups of people. It is the elites who have been controlling societies and the allocation of resources. Given the rise of inequality, a devastating level of famine that still exists, ubiquitous corrupt systems of government, limited access to education for the underprivileged, to name just a few of the world’s greatest problems, elites are challenged to redefine their roles and agenda settings. Share your thoughts on how elites are supposed to emerge and transform in the 21st century.

2014  – The Clash of Generations

Ashwinikumar singh (in).

1st place – University of Mumbai

Martin Seneviratne (AU)

2nd place – University of Sydney

Set Ying Ting (MY)

3rd place – National University of Singapore

• Balancing Generational Claims

The presumption of an altruistic relation between generations and its positive effect on the economic well-being of societies is illusionary. Welfare states have widened fiscal gaps to an irreparable extent for the next generations. When aspiring to a sustainable welfare system, how should intergenerational claims balance without having to rely on selflessness?

• A Double-Edged Legacy

Let’s be frank: The generational contract has failed everywhere – but for different reasons. Exuberant public debts, zooming healthcare costs, unequal distribution of wealth, loss of ethical and moral anchors, loss of trust in existing institutions: each state is facing a unique set of problems. Briefly describe the situation in your country and propose a generational contract defining mutual responsibilities on an economic and social level.

• A Prospect for the Young

Highly educated and ambitious, yet unemployed. A whole generation of young is entering the labour market with little prospect of success. The implications go way beyond individual tragedies as economies with lasting high levels of youth unemployment risk social instability. Present new solutions on how we can overcome this crisis.

• Business between Generations

Slogans like “rent is the new own” or Botsmann and Rogers’s “what’s mine is yours” (HarperBusiness, 2010) mark the trend of shared economy. Although not a new economic phenomenon per se, particularly the Millennials are embracing this attitude towards doing business where they value access over ownership. The trend is gaining global mainstream acceptance which is resulting in a lasting impact on economic performance. Discuss the future of shared economy, its overall implications and the dynamics between supply and demand.

2013 – Rewarding Courage

Kilian semmelmann (de).

1st place – Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Dragov Radoslav (BG)

2nd place – Rotterdam School of Management

Bree Romuld (AU)

3rd place – University of St.Gallen (HSG)

The competitors must choose from one of four competition questions, which refer to the four topic clusters “Putting incentives right”, “Coping with institutions”, “Against the current – courageous people” and “Management of excellence”

• Putting incentives right

How come that both in the corporate world and in politics, responsible courage (e.g. whistleblowing, courage to disagree with current paradigms, etc.) is hardly ever rewarded? Where the big decisions for the future are taken, anxiety, conformity and despondence prevail. How can this be changed?

• Coping with institutions

Institutions of all kinds shape our behaviour – be it economic, political or social behaviour. How should institutions be designed in order to foster a sustainable economic and social development?

• Against the current – courageous people

Observers lament that younger generations, as individualistic as they are, tend to settle for a highly streamlined social and economic world that does not ask for big decisions or unconventional thinking. Please share your opinion on this observation and explain why you agree or disagree. Please use examples that support your arguments.

• Management of excellence

New insights can only flourish within a culture of dialogue in different opinions. No assumptions should be taken for granted nor should there be any unquestioned truth. However, most people (decision makers, managers, students, etc.) often fail to deal constructively with conflicting opinions. How can companies encourage their employees to build a healthy attitude towards unconventional thinking and acting?

2012 – Facing Risk

Rodrigues caren (in).

1st place – St. Joseph’s Institute of Management

Jennifer Miksch (DE)

2nd place – Geneva Graduate Institute

Jelena Petrovic (SR)

3rd place – King’s College London

Detecting Risks

• The methodological tools that allow early detection of what will shape future trends are pivotal. While risks are emerging faster, these tools still need fostered advancement. What is the role of scenario planning and forecasting methods and who is or should be responsible for these aspects in the organisation? How should the detection of risks be addressed in an increasingly complex and interconnected global landscape?

Risk Aversion

• In wealthy societies, most people tend to suppress risk taking. Given this increasing trend of risk aversion in saturated societies, what are the long term consequences for economy and society? What are the long term consequences of a high level of risk aversion?

Emerging Risks

• There are tremendous risks facing the global community and many people have not yet become aware of their potential consequences (e.g. public debt burden). What are the societal, economic and/or political risks your generation of decision makers will be facing in the future? How could you convert these risks into opportunities?

Managing Risk

• There is often a disconnect between taking risks and bearing the burden of the consequences of doing so (e.g. risk taking in investment banking). Who should bear the consequences of negligent risk taking and why? How can healthy risk taking be fostered in wealthy societies?

2011 – Just Power

Marcelo ber (ar).

1st place – New York University

Dhru Kanan Amal (IN)

2nd place – London School of Economics

Maria de los Angeles Lasa (AR)

3rd place – Università di Camerino

• Justice and Power
• Rethinking Leadership
• Public Goods and Values

We asked you to contribute visions and ideas to the theme “Just Power” – Power in the sense of its use in various areas of politics and economics. We expected a professional work which could be an essay, a scenario, a project report or proposal, a multi- media presentation or an entrepreneurial concept. It should be constructive, provocative or instructive, inspiring thoughts and actions as well as introucing new approaches and unconventional ideas. Within the framework of the theme you may choose between three subtopics for your contribution.

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Shofwan al-banna choiruzzad (id), jason george (us), aris trantidis (gr), 1999 – 2008, 2008  – global capitalism – local values, guillaume darier (ch), jacobus cilliers (za), feerasta aniqa (nz), christoph matthias paret (de), 2007  – the power of natural resources, benjamin block (us), gustav borgefalk (se), kevin chua (ph), 2006  – inspiring europe, maximilian freier (de), chen yesh (sg), elidor mëhilli (al), william english (us), 2005  – liberty, trust and responsibility, christian h. harding (de), luana badiu (ro), norbert jungmichel (de), fabien curto millet (es /fr), 2004  – the challenges to growth and prosperity, ravi rauniyar (np), peter g. kirchschläger (at / ch), xin dong (cn), 2003 – seeking responses in times of uncertainty, stefanie klein (de), rosita shivacheva (bg), 2002 – pushing limits – questioning goals, constantine (dino) asproloupos (ca / gr), manita jitngarmkusol (th), 2001 – new balance of power, marion mühlberger (at), uwe seibel (de), moses ekra (ci / ca), gerald tan (my), 2000 – time, martin von brocke (de), pei-fu hsieh (tw), tzvetelina tzvetkova (bg), 1999 – new markets, new technologies, new skills, peter doralt (fr), valérie feldmann (de), rajen makhijani (in).

“Partaking in the competition was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not only was I able to come to St. Gallen and meet incredible young entrepreneurs and leaders who I’m still in contact with, but it provided me the opportunity to develop and share ideas with key decision-makers. The main idea I submitted was for a new way to finance retraining and healthcare at no cost to individuals or governments. Given the COVID- 19 pandemic, this idea is needed now more than ever, so I’m currently implementing the idea through a new organization I’ve established called FORTE ( Financing Of Return To Employment ).” NAT WARE , Founder & CEO of FORTE, Leader of Tomorrow at the 47th and 48th St. Gallen Symposium

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In Search of Global Leaders

• Stephen Green,
• Fred Hassan,
• Jeffrey Immelt,
• Michael Marks,
• Daniel Meiland

A global manager is set apart by more than a worn suitcase and a dog-eared passport. Five top executives describe what global leadership takes and how they look for it.

Reprint: R0308B

For all the talk about global organizations and executives, there’s no definitive answer to the question of what we really mean by “global.” A presence in multiple countries? Cultural adaptability? A multilingual top team? We asked four CEOs and the head of an international recruiting agency—HSBC’s Stephen Green, Schering-Plough’s Fred Hassan, GE’s Jeffrey Immelt, Flextronics’s Michael Marks, and Egon Zehnder’s Daniel Meiland—to tell us what they think.

They share some common ground. They all agree, for example, that the shift from a local to a global marketplace is irreversible and gaining momentum. “We’re losing sight of the reality of globalization. But we should pay attention, because national barriers are quickly coming down,” Daniel Meiland says. “If you look ahead five or ten years, the people with the top jobs in large corporations…will be those who have lived in several cultures and who can converse in at least two languages.”

But the CEOs also disagree on many issues—on the importance of overseas assignments, for instance, and on the degree to which you need to adhere to local cultural norms. Some believe strongly that the global leader should, as a prerequisite to the job, live and work in other countries. As Stephen Green put it, “If you look at the executives currently running [HSBC’s] largest businesses, all of them have worked in more than one, and nearly all in more than two, major country markets.” Others downplay the importance of overseas assignments. “Putting people in foreign settings doesn’t automatically imbue new attitudes, and it is attitudes rather than experiences that make a culture global,” says Fred Hassan.

The executives’ essays capture views that are as diverse and multidimensional as the companies they lead.

For all the talk about global organizations and executives, there’s no definitive answer to the question of what, exactly, we mean by “global.” A presence in multiple countries? Cultural adaptability? A multilingual executive team? We asked four CEOs and the head of an international recruiting agency—all leaders of companies that would by any definition be characterized as global—to contribute their thoughts.

• Fred Hassan is a managing director at the private equity firm Warburg Pincus and previously served as CEO of Schering-Plough, Pharmacia, and Pharmacia & Upjohn. He is the author of the book Reinvent: A Leader’s Playbook for Serial Success .

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Developing Global Leaders pp 7–28 Cite as

Global Leadership: Key Concepts and Frameworks

• Helen Spencer-Oatey 6  
• First Online: 28 December 2019

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in African Leadership ((PSAL))

This chapter provides an overview of key concepts and frameworks relating to global leadership. Spencer-Oatey starts by considering a range of definitions of leadership and then, drawing on those various definitions, argues that the enactment of leadership is a multiplex involving four key elements: leader, followers, purpose, and context. She explores each of these facets in turn, illustrating how they interact dynamically. She draws particular attention to the leader-follower relational dynamic and explains how Redeker et al.’s ( European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23 (3), 435–455, 2014) leadership circumplex, which was used in case study data collection, can offer helpful insights. The chapter ends by considering the notion of global leadership and by touching on the various routes that people can take to develop into a global leader.

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Spencer-Oatey, H. (2020). Global Leadership: Key Concepts and Frameworks. In: Developing Global Leaders. Palgrave Studies in African Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14606-1_2

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Global Leadership and Business Management Essay

Introduction.

In the wake of modern globalization processes, the value of the business and its capabilities to adapt and revise the approaches cannot be underestimated. After all, the role of cross-cultural interaction and cooperation has been one of the factors enhancing the development of a globalized economy. Hence, the cultural side of international business appears as a significant asset to the establishment of the global business network. This essay will discuss the past and the present of international business, the importance of global leadership for the economy, and the supposed characteristics of a successful international manager.

In the second half of the 20th century, countries like Germany and Japan demonstrated rapid economic growth during the post-war reconstruction. The cultural aspects of their economies were not the last on the list of reasons for success. Therefore, as Bird and Mendenhall (2016) note, foreign businessmen have begun to borrow their behavioral models, for example, “kaizen, kamban, and just-in-time” from Japan (p. 2). However, closer to the end of the 20th century, globalization tendencies required not only borrowing but also adapting to the intensively growing global market. For this task, it has been necessary to consider the views of both the common public and the specific nations. As Bjørge (2014) notes, the cosmopolitan view is the most fitting cultural phenomenon for the process. After all, the organizations have had to both effectively deploy workers of various cultural backgrounds and adjust to the culture of consumers worldwide. Hence, international cooperation became inseparable from the cosmopolitan ideals of cultural diversity.

As a result, the said transformations inevitably affected the structure of global economics and the economies of separate countries. Moreover, they created a demand for international leadership, which would transcend the boundaries of national culture and economics. Such a phenomenon has been able to open new possibilities for management growth. As Meyer and Peng (2016) mention, global leadership tactics have allowed the Rolls-Royce company to expand its markets and cooperate with the USA and Germany in engine modernization. Similarly, the impact of leadership has managed to overlap with several other modernization trends. According to The global information technology report of Baller, Dutta, and Lanvin (2016), the digitalization of modern economics has remained both the object and the subject of influence for global leadership strategies. In other words, leadership in the context of globalization actively interacts and influences more of the contemporary tendencies.

However, one cannot forget that the specifics of the culture should be carefully considered for leadership management. For example, according to Tuleja (2014), dealings in China are affected by the language barrier and resulting in misunderstandings. Thus, it is a complex task to consider all the risks and overcome the obstacles coming from the local features. A thriving global leader must pay attention to such a tendency. As Bird and Mendel (2016) state, the leader should not only grasp the strategies and practices of foreign business but also develop universal qualities befitting international management. These features include but are not limited to exceptional proficiency in the field, an open-minded worldview, and the ability to adapt to the changing situation. That kind of a manager would possess a set of qualities that can serve them in the effective and efficient performance of their duties.

To sum up, the cultural aspect of the business is a valuable part of international cooperation and management. The local business traditions set several standards in the second half of the 20th century, while globalization created a requirement for both universal and adaptive strategies. The cosmopolitan worldview became the most fitting ideal to expand the cultural boundaries of the business. In turn, global leadership has caused a notable development of organizations in global economies and interaction with other trends. However, the changes are frequently determined by the national specifics and barriers. For efficient international management, it is necessary both to deploy the knowledge of these and develop an open-minded worldview, along with professional skills.

Baller, S., Dutta, S., & Lanvin, B. (Eds.). (2016). The global information technology report 2016 . Web.

Bird, A., & Mendenhall, M. E. (2016). From cross-cultural management to global leadership: Evolution and adaptation. Journal of World Business, 51 (1), 115-126.

Bjørge, A. K. (2014). Discourse strategies for cross-cultural communication. In B. Gehrke & M.-T. Claes (Eds.), Global leadership practices: A cross-cultural management perspective (pp. 67-84) . Web.

Meyer, K., & Peng, M. W. (2016). International business (2nd ed.). Web.

Tuleja, E. A. (2014). Developing cultural intelligence for global leadership through mindfulness. Journal of Teaching in International Business, 25 (1), 5-24.

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Covid-19 and the Unfolding of Global Leadership

As Covid-19 unfolded, it became quite clear that leaders in all countries had to face and cope with a globally interconnected health crisis. This global crisis demands committed global leadership, which however has greatly varied in approaches, styles and actions, as all of us could experience and witness. Driven by our curiosity of what we could collectively learn from the current experience, my colleagues Mark Mendenhall, Betina Szkudlarek Joyce Osland and I (2020) published a collection of reflections written by global leaders, practitioners, and global leadership scholars. Here, I would like to highlight some of the overarching themes and notions that featured prominently among these reflections.  

First of all, this complex and dangerous crisis challenges the way we conceptualize and think about global leadership and its critical competencies and skills. For example, such a powerful attribute as humility could become more relevant in how we conceive global leadership. As Nancy Adler put it in her essay, effective action in the face of great ambiguity requires courage to embrace humility by openly admitting that ‘We don’t know’. Existing research supports the positive notions of humility, linking it to inquisitiveness and openness towards learning and being taught by others. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the European scientific revolution of the 16 th century, if it were not for the bold realization and willingness to admit our ignorance, and hence the fact that we don’t know everything. Likewise, given the current complex issues we need to deal with, such as health, migration or climate change, it is difficult to envision global leaders without such a drive to know more and understand better. Yet, looking at some of the global leaders today, it seems that overconfidence, deliberate ignorance and gaslighting prevail. Back in February President Trump was certain that the virus will disappear as it gets warmer, and only recently after catching the virus himself, he compared it to the flu and claimed to discover the ‘miracle cure’… Needless to say, such lack of truthful validation of reality can easily undermine health and safety of all of us. Echoing the notion of a learning mindset, Adler continues that global leaders should follow up on their truthful admission of ‘We don’t know’ with a ‘yet’, that is, an action plan on how ti explore more, research the phenomenon at hand, and collect more information.

Apart from the need for humility, our contributors highlighted the importance of integrity, resilience, self-reflection, anticipation, empathy, creativity and shared purpose. These competencies are crucial not just in light of the Covid crisis, but also more generally in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (aka VUCA) environments that global leaders need to increasingly navigate. Unfortunately, our contributors also identified a current lack of such competencies among many global leaders.

Secondly, various reflections emphasized on the shift in attention from an individual “hero” toward global leadership as a collective and collaborative effort. In other words, there is little of “Batman” in global leadership. The Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated the idea explicitly, as no leader alone can battle the crisis without the collective effort to physically distance, wear masks, take responsible decisions, and seek collaborative efforts to develop treatments, save small businesses and adapt to virtual realities. Indeed, during the spring lockdowns we witnessed heart-warming moments of unified communities, be it Italians singing from their balconies or flash mobs and rituals that supported frontline workers in different countries. Yet, as the Covid crisis continued we also witnessed big discrepancies in global leaders’ perceptions of the situation, a politicization of responses to the pandemic, a zero-sum game approach to the vaccine, and public backlashes towards governmental decisions.

As several contributors highlighted, collective enactment of global leadership requires empowering people at the local level, while sustaining shared sensemaking of the situation and a feeling of unity at a global scale. This challenge compels leaders to delegate decision authority to local governments, which can only function when paired with alignment and accountability. The challenge also compels global and local leaders to unite people towards coherent action by creating a common understanding and a shared identity, which can bridge national, cultural, political or conditional differences. Pondering global leaders’ qualities, competencies and the strategies they used, it is interesting to reflect on how these challenges were met in different countries. For example, why did New Zealand show unity across party lines and the entire nation while the US experiences such stark division and tug-of-war between prominent leaders?

Finally, taken together the collection of essays acknowledged that global leadership is also about balancing a number of competing tensions, such as unity vs distinctiveness, individual rights vs common good, global collaboration vs local protection, and a long-term vs a short-term perspective. For instance, although the Covid crisis calls for unity and personal sacrifices for the common good, we cannot ignore the fact that there are great discrepancies in experienced hardship and available resources, both within and between countries. As discussed in one of my previous blog posts , joblessness and economic hardship related to Covid have hit certain segments of the population harder than others. So how can global leaders achieve unity while acknowledging and validating distinctiveness? One set of implications concerns how global leaders frame and build narratives around a given issue or situation, namely, how they communicate. Careful to navigate the pitfalls of ignorance, hypocrisy or amplified contrasting, global leaders may need to use rich and redundant communication to transmit accurate messages, while revealing care and compassion for these messages to be heard.

Naturally, such tensions or dualities sometimes raise questions of ethics and responsibility. Consider the tension between economic survival and health in respect to Covid measures, or economic advantage and nature preservation in respect to climate change issues, or the protection of local interests vs support for global refugees in addressing migration. How would responsible global leader act upon such tensions? My colleague Yih-Teen Lee sees potential in the concept of dynamic balancing, which ‘refers to the ever-evolving and ongoing process of attending competing demands and formulating one’s response to address multiple logics simultaneously’. In other words, faced with such a duality it might not be about choosing one side, but rather about integrating both sides, because we ought to acknowledge that any system in itself is incomplete.  

We have not overcome the pandemic yet, thus drawing any clear conclusions on the rights and wrongs, or the most and least effective global leaders might be premature. Yet, as the battle continues we can surely reflect on and learn from how global leadership has unfolded thus far. Moreover, we can identify important questions to be examined, so that in the future we will know a little better.

Further reading:

Reiche, B.S., Mendenhall, M.E., Szkudlarek, B. and Osland, J.S. (2020), “At the Heart and Beyond: What Can Global Leadership Researchers Learn from Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic?”, Osland, J.S., Szkudlarek, B., Mendenhall, M.E. and Reiche, B.S. (Ed.) Advances in Global Leadership, Vol. 13, pp. 261-282. Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1535-120320200000013010

Osland, J.S., Mendenhall, M.E., Reiche, B.S., Szkudlarek, B., Bolden, R., Courtice, P., Vaiman, V., Vaiman, M., Lyndgaard, D., Nielsen, K., Terrell, S., Taylor, S., Lee, Y., Stahl, G., Boyacigiller, N., Huesing, T., Miska, C., Zilinskaite, M., Ruiz, L., Shi, H., Bird, A., Soutphommasane, T., Girola, A., Pless, N., Maak, T., Neeley, T., Levy, O., Adler, N. and Maznevski, M. (2020), “Perspectives on Global Leadership and the COVID-19 Crisis”, Osland, J.S., Szkudlarek, B., Mendenhall, M.E. & Reiche, B.S. (Eds.) Advances in Global Leadership, Vol. 13, pp. 3-56. Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1535-120320200000013001

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One thought on “ Covid-19 and the Unfolding of Global Leadership ”

It is truly said that- A nation is known by its leaders. This year has really been very tough on everyone all over the world. I hope people are taking good care of their health.

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Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior

Introduction, process of global leadership, issues related with global leadership.

The article which has been selected for this particular topic is titled Global leaders are team players written by Dr. Martha L. Maznevski & Joseph J. DiStefano.

Martha L. Maznevski is an Assistant Professor of Commerce at the McIntire School.

Of Commerce, University of Virginia, where she teaches Organizational Behavior and Joseph J. Distefano is Professor of Organizational Behavior and International Management at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

The article’s main theme relates the significance of global teams and how they play their part in this global business environment. It also throws light on how global leaders emerge in the limelight and how they can make a huge difference in the organization’s goal achievement.

Today is the era of globalization and intensified competition the concept of global teams has emerged. Global teams are teams of managers from different departments of the organization working together to achieve some specific goals that are assigned to them which are global in capacity.

As the global environment keep on changing, the global leaders must develop a strong set of conceptual, technical and analytical skills for managing the most complex situations that the team can face. The global team provides an ideal platform in which organizations’ future leaders get a chance of developing themselves and their skills also get improve (Maznevski & DiStefano, 2000).

The authors have identified three steps that are needed to be followed by the global leadership for team effectiveness includes Mapping, Bridging & Integrating.

The first step which is needed to be followed in this regard is the development of the global environment knowledge. This also includes the learning about different cultures, their economical and political situation. Mapping is all about learning and adapting to the current situation. The reason why this step is very crucial is that learning to communicate effectively with peers from other part of the world cultures provides a strong foundation of team building. The second step is bridging this requires frequent information exchange among members. Bridging also helps in developing skills in managing uncertainty. This is the third and final step in which the team is more comfortable with each other in sharing ideas and communicating with each other, which eventually leads to better performance and achievement of goals.

Apart from that the biggest problem that arises is that, the global teams are expensive in nature as compared to the local teams. They are difficult to manage because of the diversity in backgrounds of all the team members.

DiStefano believes that the most essential feature which needs to be identified to maximize both the team performance and global leadership are that all the leaders must have extensive knowledge about the business; also they must have strong functional knowledge in other areas as well apart from their own specialized area.

Secondly the global leaders must focus on some key areas that are identified as adapting to the current situation, maintaining relationships and managing ambiguity. These areas become more important for the global leaders because the global environment is very dynamic and requires quick thinking and decision making. Finally conceptual skills must be very strong for the leaders to deal with the complexities and ambiguities that come in the way.

Agreeing to the facts that are presented by the authors it could be analyzed that despite all the issues that are faced by the global team, research shows that the global team’s success is difficult but not impossible. If proper measures are taken and the team is lead in a good way the desired results can be achieved.

According to the author proper training facilities should be provided to the team members who are lacking in certain areas. As global team members are coming from different backgrounds with different skill set, in the initial stages it is difficult for them to gel in and perform accordingly, but with the passage of time things start to get better and better.

In this regard the communication process is very important. This is one area which can make or break the whole situation. If the communication process is progressive in nature chances are that most of the hurdles that comes in the way would be eliminated through communication.

Overall the article presents the importance of global leadership in an organization. Also as a matter of fact most of the multinationals’ organizations have designed such teams and they rely on them to make important strategic decisions on behalf of the organization. But on the same side there are some issues regarding the global teams which are mainly identified as expensive, time consuming and difficult to manage. But on the larger run if one can foresee the outcome that are generated by these teams then the issues wont remain issues.

Maznevski, M., & DiStefano, J. (2000). Global Leaders & Team Players Developing Leaders. Human Resource Management , 195-208.

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Essay: An excellent global leader

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1. How would you describe an excellent global leader?

An excellent global leader is a leader who is able to influence the success of an organization. There are many different qualities that can help to achieve this. For a global leader it’s important to make the right decisions to determine and successfully execute strategy. Most of these decisions are not easy, so the leader must understand the business and the environment they are working in. An excellent global leader is also charismatic and has personal characteristics that inspire and motivate other people.

2. What do you think are the differences between global leaders and general leaders?

A global leader is someone who is not bound to a certain country, industry or part of an organization. He has good knowledge of different cultures and is able to connect people from all over the world. It could be in business as CEO of a global company, but when I think of a global leader it could also be in politics or other areas. In business, global leaders are aware of developments in the world and some also have a great vision of the future that could make a difference. They are creative in thinking ahead about what is necessary for global success. Sometimes it seems like luck or if they can predict the future, but they have an intuition that enables them to make the best decisions or choose the right options. I see a general leader as someone who is an expert and, for example, a leader in a certain area. For that reason, it is mostly related to competences, while as a global leader personal characteristics are more important.

3. What is the current focus on developing leaders in this organization?

They should understand the company and know what is necessary to develop people and executive the company’s strategy. For example, Nomura is originally a Japanese company but has global operations so it’s important for the leaders to transfer the company’s values and work in different environments and with people from different cultures. The leaders should have good knowledge of operations and must be able to transfer this to their employees.

4 What are the current approaches being used that you think are the most effective?

In the current approach, we have a standardized learning program for different levels within the company from analysist to managing director, with for example technical skills training and soft skills training. There is also a special leadership program for which you can be selected. If you are mid-level you can already enter this program so it’s really effective to start developing leaders early in their career and the program is tailored to personal development needs.

5. What do you think we should be doing more of in terms of developing leaders?

Coaching by senior people. It’s very good to use leaders to develop leaders. If they are involved you can learn for their experience and get support if necessary.

6. What should we be doing less or stop doing?

The traditional way of rewarding people for performance is often focused on short term and individual goals. If you want to develop leaders, who think about was is best for a company, collaboration to achieve results should be stimulated more. New or innovative solutions to performance is an important step for this development.

7. Where do you see the future of leadership development headed?

In the future, leadership development will be even more focused on personal skills instead of knowledge. Knowledge will be easier available to everyone, due to digitalization. Next to that, leaders should be able to quickly react to global trends and keep up with faster changing technical developments. They should also have an international orientation, because competition is global.

8. What trends do you see in global leadership programs?

Many people are ambitious and switch jobs very fast. They want to get good opportunities and feel they are valued. So there are high investments in leadership programs, because it is recognized that this stimulates people to stay with the company.

9. How did you became a leader?

In my culture it’s common that you work very hard and try to achieve the best. I’ve started already early with planning my career and building a network. In addition, I learned a lot about the market from experience and now I’m able to share that valuable knowledge with my team and clients.

10. Do you consider yourself being a global leader?

Maybe a beginning global leader in my field. I’m working internationally and regularly share my thoughts and ideas, which is highly valued. Next to that, I’m trying to help other people in their development. In my normal work, but also in my free time by coaching students on how to make the right steps and reach their full potential.

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CFGL Young Leaders Essay Contest

Summer 2023.

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The Center for Future Global Leaders, in partnership with Elite Educational Institute, invites students to exercise their leadership potential by using their written voices to say something meaningful.

Essay Topic

The essay topic for summer 2023 is:

Leadership can be defined in many ways. Choose a trait (or multiple if you wish) from the list below and explain why you think it exemplifies leadership. How have you experienced or incorporated this trait in your own life?

Accountability

Collaboration

Communication

Decisiveness

Emotional intelligence

Self-awareness

Transparency

Not on this list? Select your own trait!

Upload deadline (EXTENDED!): September 30, 2023, 11:59pm Pacific Time.

Who is eligible

All students in grades 9-12 who have been or are currently enrolled in a program at Elite Prep. Students must submit original work.

award REcognition

Winners of the CFGL Young Leaders Essay Contest will receive the following scholarship awards:

First Place: $300 scholarship

Second Place: $200 scholarship

Third Place: $100 scholarship

The essay should be 400-600 words. Entries must have a title and be typed and double-spaced.

Entries must be submitted as a PDF or Microsoft Word document using the form below. There is no cost to enter the competition.

Winners will be announced by October 16, 2023. Individual winners will be notified via email. Winning proposals may be published on  cfgltoday.org  and on our partner organizations' websites (e.g.  eliteprep.com ).

The 2023 contest is now closed. Winners will be announced soon!

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• Knowledge Base
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Global Leadership Essay

• Author Kimberly Ball
• Category General Essays

Disclaimer: This paper has been submitted by a student. This is not a sample of the work written by professional academic writers.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of StudySaurus.

Introduction

Over the past two decades, global leadership has been a significant phenomenon. Global leadership has lacked an established definition because it is a field of research that has limited methodological sophistication. However, today, global leaders can be defined as individuals who achieve significant positive changes in any organization by constructing partnerships with communities through developing trust and organizing organizational processes, and structures in an environment relating to multiple cross-boundary stakeholders, cultural and geographical complexities.

Validly of Production

Leadership is a collective and an ongoing process, which is aided by an organization’s support and capacity. A leader’s development occurs at an individual level, which is comparable to personal development while leadership enhancement occurs in an organizational level, where leaders have to make meaningful connections with the stockholders, assets and organizational operations. Therefore, leadership has effects on the competitive and economic advantages an organization has over its competitors. According to Jaramillo, Bande & Varela (2015), differences in global leadership normally falls back to the competencies and outlining characteristics exhibited by individual leaders globally.

Warrick (2016) concluded that authentic leaders are those who are aware of their values. They act on their instincts on what is real inside and true in the team, organization and the real world level. Authentic leaders are optimistic, resilient, hopeful and confident individuals who are aware of their behavior. Such leaders display high levels of commitment and integrity (Kiersch & Peters, 2017). On the other hand, servant leadership is inclined into serving. Such leaders make conscious decisions to serve others rather than acquiring power and material possessions. They do so through empathy, listening, awareness, conceptualization, stewardship, foresight, persuasion, and commitment into building communities and human resource development projects. Ethical leaders, on the other hand ethical leadership refers to personal integrity. This includes honesty, altruistic, fair and trustworthy.

This paper compares the emerging forms of the current positive theories that emphasize on authentic, servant and ethical leadership behaviors. While there is a rise in interest in these subjects, little direction or support has been provided. However, these value-based leadership methods have been an addition into the leadership models that are environmentally friendly and positive globally.

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As a rising global power, what is India’s vision for the world?

India has the opportunity to put in place a new framework for its own security and growth, and that of developing countries around the world. Image:  REUTERS

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Seventy-one years ago – on 15 August 1947 – India gained independence. Over the subsequent decades, the country has managed its evolution in an international system largely created and guided by the United States and its partners. While it was not easy for India to pursue independent domestic and foreign policies within this system, the American-led order was preferable to the British Empire from which New Delhi had liberated itself.

Today, this global system is under serious threat. Washington, along with capital cities across the European Union, finds itself caught in a polarizing debate on the social contracts of its society – questions of domestic inequality and identity have left the US and its allies incapable of effectively championing the values of the international order. Simultaneously, the balance of global economic power has once again tipped in favour of Asia.

Within this shifting global landscape, India has the opportunity to put in place a new framework for its own security, growth and development, and that of developing countries around the world. As a rising global power, this must be India’s principle endeavor in the coming decades.

The changing international order

The extraordinary rise of countries in Asia has spawned at least two new dynamics. First, political boundaries – many of them colonial legacies – are steadily becoming more porous through economic cooperation. Markets are converging across the Eurasian landmass as well as facilitating the geo-economic “union” of the Indian and Pacific oceans. This has resulted in new integrative dynamics; as cultures, markets and communities aspire for development and new opportunities. Second, even though territorial considerations acknowledge economic linkages, political differences are still being reasserted – not just to contest the consensus of the past, but to shape a new order altogether.

Asia is coming together economically but is also threatening to grow apart politically; market-driven growth in the region sits uneasily with a diverse array of political systems.

China is, in large part, responsible for both. While offering a political vision that stands in sharp contrast to the “liberal international order”, China has been equally assertive about advancing free trade, raising new development finance, and offering a new model for development and global governance. The prospect of China using its economic clout to advance its own norms is worrying for India.

A consensus to shape a new order

Given the velocity of change underway, the challenge for India on its Independence Day is to shape an inclusive and equitable international order by the centenary of its independence. To achieve this, India must prepare to act according to its capabilities: by mid-century it must build the necessary state capacity, industrial and economic heft and strategic culture that would befit its status as a leading power. The country could present this as a model for much of the developing world to emulate, and anchor faith in the liberalism and internationalism of the world order.

India, then, requires a “consensus” – a new proposition that will not only guide its own trajectory for the better part of the 21st century, but one that appeals to communities around the world.

What then are the tenets of a “New Delhi Consensus”?

First, India must sustain and strengthen its own trajectory of rapid economic growth, and show to the world that it is capable of realizing its development goals within the rubric of liberal democracy. No argument for the New Delhi Consensus can be more powerful and alluring than the economic success of India. By IMF estimates, India already accounts for 15% of global growth. Even though nearly 40% of its population live in various shades of poverty and barely a third are connected to the internet, India is still able to proportionately shoulder the world’s economic burden. Imagine the possibilities for global growth if India can meet, and even exceed, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

States in the developing world yearn for replicable templates of growth, yet they find themselves with a binary choice between Western democracy, which is ill suited for deeply plural and socially stratified societies, and autocratic systems that have little room for individual freedom.

India, on the other hand has “emerged as a bridge between the many extremes of the world”, as former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once remarked . India’s plural and composite culture, he said, was “living proof of the possibility of a confluence of civilizations”. The global 2030 development agenda, for the most part, may as well be a story of India’s domestic economic transformation and of its defence of diversity and democracy.

Second and flowing from the above, Delhi must claim leadership over the global development agenda. It is worth pointing out that India sits at the intersection of the world’s two most dynamics regions, Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific. The largest bulk of development finance will emerge from, and be invested in, these regions. It is incumbent on India to ensure that this is not a new means to maximize political interference, but a moment to offer unfettered opportunities.

In his recent address to the Ugandan Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed that “India’s development partnership will be guided by [African] priorities” – a position that contrasts sharply with the West’s evangelical focus on governance reforms and China’s economic policies in the region. India’s recipient-led partnership framework will allow states to secure development pathways that are economically sustainable and politically acceptable. India now needs to articulate its intentions and the principles that will shape international development cooperation in the days ahead.

Third, Delhi must create and protect the space for equitable and inclusive global governance. For too long, leadership in the international system was considered a free pass to monopolize the global commons. India has always bucked this trend, emerging as a leading power that has never tempered its idealism of “having an interest in peace, and a tradition of friendliness to all”, as one official put it. Whether it is on free trade, climate change or international security, India’s non-interventionist and multilateral approach is well suited to support and sustain global governance in a multipolar world: the new reality of this century.

Finally, India must incubate a new social contract between its own state, industry and civil society. At the turn of the century, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee lamented that India’s democratic growth was held back by three failures: of the government to heed industry voices, of industry to appreciate the objectives of government, and of both in their commitment to the common individual.

Nearly two decades later, the imperative for India to correct these failures is even greater. The spread of information communication technologies and global supply chains implies that businesses and civil society must be made equal stakeholders if India is to develop its own unique consensus. Not only will this add greater legitimacy to India’s proposition, it will also create natural and grassroots champions for the country around the world.

For the first time since the end of the Second World War, a nation state that is wary of hegemonic tendencies and identifies itself with the equitable governance of the global commons is in a position to shape the international order. India is home to one-sixth of the global population and has sustained a unique democratic ethos and a foreign policy that is defined not only by national interest but also by solidarity with the developing world.

As a leading power, India must look beyond raw indexes of economic, political and military might, and craft a consensus that is consistent with its ancient and historic view of the world.

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Why India is the next global leader?

In the 20th century entire world considered USA, Russia, Japan and some of the European countries As the global leaders. But in the 21st century two more countries from Asia emerged as the global leader that is India and China. Now the question is who is a global leader? Though there is no clear cut definition, a global leader is one who can a play major role in world affairs, work for maintaining peace and tranquillity and can extend all type of help in preventing global crisis such as climate change, food insecurity, hunger, poverty etc.

As mentioned above India emerged as a global leader in the 21th century due to it's all round development. She got freedom from British government in 1947.From there on she never looked back and made rapid progress in the growth trajectory. First of all entire credit goes to her founding fathers and constitution writers. They did not left any loophole in the constitution .They established a responsible legislative body to make law and new policy, an executive body to execute various policy enacted by legislation and an independent judiciary to safe guard the constitution and the fundamental rights of each citizens. No individual or politician in India can take the power and law into his own hand at will, like what is happening in African countries, even in Pakistan .Pakistan is a country got freedom with India but the military power there has the power to topple the civilian government creating instability. But this is not the case with India, her founding father made a system by amalgamating the best features of other democratic countries. That is why India is known as one of the stable country of the world.

Since independence India became part of all important international organisations and plays a significant rule in creation of non-aligned movement during the Russian USA cold war period. Now India is member of major international organisation such as UNO, WORLD BANK, IMF, UNESCO, UNICEF, ILO, WTO, FATF etc. Currently India is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for two years for which the election was held this year. In that election she got a record 189 votes, only four countries voted against its membership. This shows her popularity throughout the world.

In the first three to four decade after independence India could not play any major role in international affairs due to her fragile economic condition and involvement in three major wars, two with Pakistan and one with China, she was mostly dependent on foreign aid for it's socio economic and infrastructure development, but after 1991 economic liberalisation she has become a major contributor of aid to the third world countries. In 2008 India achieved a remarkable feat by becoming a trillion dollar economy. Currently India is at the cynosure of the world leader for it's contribution to each and every continent of the globe.

Currently India is engaged with various countries for their infrastructure development, capacity building, and socio economic development. Being a part of south Asia India always take the leading role in promoting peace, financial stability, and facilitating free trade among the south Asian countries under the SAARC umbrella. She is helping Srilanka by providing financial and technical assistance in the construction of railway line, road, housing for displaced Tamils during LTTE war, renovating a Kankasanthurai harbour. She has provided $1 billion grant in aid to Bangladesh for their infrastructure development at the interest rate of .75%. India has allowed Bhutan and Nepal to use it's land to do trade with Bangladesh and to import or export goods using Bangladesh port. Due to India's sincere effort the relation with Pakistan is also improving.

India formed south south co-operation with Brazil and South Africa to provide financial help to the least developed countries which were earlier dependent only on the north for aid. India started an India Africa e-network project to connect all the 53 countries of Africa through fibre optic connection. This network will also be connected with some of the reputed technical institutions and famous medical colleges to provide e-education and telemedicine services to African people. Apart from this some of the other Indian project in Africa got international acclamation like construction of railway line linking Ethiopia and Djibouti, setting up of 80 institutions for capacity building in various sectors such as food processing, agriculture, textile, weather forecasting and rural development.

India has the observer status of SCO and also planning to join CSTO. She is working closely with the SCO member countries in maintaining peace and stability and preventing terrorism, drug trafficking from central and south Asia. She is also planning to extend help in construction of nuclear reactors for some of the central Asia countries like Kazakistan.She is the world's 6th largest contributor to the Afghanistan infrastructure project and also providing training to Afghanistan security forces so that they can protect their country after Americas pull out from 2014.Along with this India has taken the responsibility of giving training to Afghan Gov. employees through VV Giri National labour institute , constructing road from delaram to Zarang and building power plants to meet its energy need.

With the grouping like BIMSTEC, Mekong Ganga co-operation, India ASEAN summit, East Asia summit India is maintaining cordial relations with all the south east asean countries. India has promised to promote culture by protecting all important historic monuments through ASI of India. She has proposed to build a highway which will connect Myanmar, Thailand , Laos ,Vietnam and Cambodia to facilitate free movement of goods and spur economic development in that region. India also establishing training institutions to provide vocational training to the students as a part of Indian ITEC (Indian technical and economic co-operation) program. She is also providing grant in aid to these countries. Recently Indian P.M Dr Manmohan Singh offered 500 million grant in aid to Myanmar. As a peace loving nation India wants peace to prevail in the west Asia and North Africa. She wants an amicable resolution of outstanding issues between Israel and Palestine and India is one among the few countries who recognised Palestine as an independent state. As a larger democracy of the world she promotes democratic government instead of autocratic Government throughout world.

Above all India has developed strong institutional capabilities that will benefit the world community. Indian election commission providing all necessary assistance to the countries which want a strong impartial election process in their system. Recently Indian election commission extend help to Egypt for their election reform. India also providing it's wonder machine EVC(electronic voting machine) to Nepal, Mexico, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Afghanistan etc. for conduction of their election. Indian CAG (Controller and auditor general) which is another example of a unique institution in the field of audit appointed as the external auditor of two major UN organisations: IAEA and world intellectual property right.

India has one of the largest and advanced security forces in the world. She has a strong navy, army and air force which is not only protecting our countries but also engaged in UN's peace keeping process weather it is in Srilanka, Somalia , Afghanistan or any other countries. She has also engaged in the Indian Ocean's international transit corridor to protect the merchant vessel from the Somalia pirates which has become a sanctuary for them. Till now India escorted more the 1000 vessels including some Indian vessels. India has a well develop space research centres (ISRO) which is regularly launching satellites for itself and for other countries. The types of satellites include communication satellite, weather forecasting, remote sensing etc. Recently ISRO launched a satellite called meghatropics with collaboration with France which will benefit all tropical countries. This will provide real time data regarding rainfall pattern in tropical region thereby helping farmers in agriculture and ensure food security. India is World's first country to identify presence of water on Moon surface through her Chandrayan-I mission and planning for Chandrayan-II mission to send humans on to the moon surface.

21st century belongs to the country leading in food production and having large work force and India has both the above factor. India's food production is increasing year by year to feed the world And she has one of the largest work forces of the world which is a boon for her. The contribution India will make to the global society is prefigured by the upsurge in the national mood which is marked by ambition, optimism and the spirit to accept the challenge of innovation and accomplishment. There is no doubt that India is a present leader. The world leaders should acknowledge it by providing unequivocal support for its quest as a permanent member in UN's reformed Security Council. Then only her efforts and contribution towards the world will be rewarded.

- Biswaranjan Sahoo

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Essay on Global Leadership

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic was being compared to a war, most political leaders were in denial about its seriousness during the early assault of the disease (Shao, 2020). But some leaders were pragmatic and modest, recognized the disease’s severity, and took it seriously. They acted fast and effectively in their communication with the public. Therefore, they successfully regulated the spread of the coronavirus, generating a unique synergy between government leaders and citizens in the process (Newton, 2020). For many leaders, the COVID-1pandemic is a crisis incomparable with any other in recent times. This paper examines Donald Trump and Narendra Modi’s Leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the perspective of COVID-19, America represents a case failure. Ex-President Donald Trump failed miserably in his attempts to handle the situation, hold people accountable, and provide accurate information about the virus. On several occasions, Trump claimed that the US government had it totally under control, and things would be fine (Shao, 2020). This is a sign of an overconfident leader. A brief examination of Trump’s remarks during the outbreak demonstrates that he significantly underestimated the magnitude of the crisis (Newton, 2020). In terms of attitude and leadership style, he resembles a self-centred populist and an authoritarian whose actions were driven more by personality than strategic considerations (Mendenhall et al., 2013). He pretended to be a wartime president, although he did not act in that role to bring the country together throughout the war. On the contrary, Trump’s actions and statements split governors, states, and citizens, downplayed the gravity of the pandemic, dismissed advice from experts, hence failing to inspire public confidence and trust in his administration.

Trump urged followers to stage massive rallies to “liberate” states (headed by Democratic governors) from stay-at-home directives. His campaigns became super-spreader events, where few attendees maintained physical distance or wore masks. Trump took nine days to impose a travel restriction on Chinese nationals. However, the measure was likely ineffectual due to Americans and British exempting from the condition (Shao, 2020). In addition, Bill Gates advocated for a statewide shutdown of the internet. The president not only disregarded such advice, but he also made potentially hazardous remarks, such as urging the use of untested pharmaceuticals and the use of cleaning agents to combat the virus, making the situation much worse.

India’s situation parallels that of the United States in that both leaders demonstrated ineptitude, making the populace incapable of trusting them. Numerous Indians place the burden for the country’s catastrophe squarely on the shoulders of one man: Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At a global summit in January 2021, Modi stated that India had saved civilization by restricting the corona enough. Health Minister Jeffrey et al. (2021) declared in March that the virus was reaching its “endgame.” However, his government did little to prepare for the possibility of a much more dangerous and contagious strain of Covid-19 spreading across India and beyond.

Leaders engage others through teamwork, personal influence, and communication (Jeffrey et al., 2021), but this was not the case with Modi, as his Covid-19 task force did not meet for several months. He also did not bother to consult experts with high and extensive knowledge. To a significant extent, I believe Mr Modi’s arrogance and autocratic leadership style are to blame for the current state of affairs. At one time, authorities ignored scientific warnings that the Indians remained susceptible and lacked “herd immunity.”

Through looking at Donald Trump and Narendra Modi’s Leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, I recommend that the public be educated on the importance of choosing a leader who can reliably deliver. Despite many obstacles, the most influential leaders assume personal responsibility in a crisis (Mendenhall et al., 2013). They align the team’s emphasis, build new measures to track success, and foster a culture of accountability. Besides, I also recommend that as a leader, one should constantly listen to other people both in leadership and at lower levels. An unwillingness to listen to other people and professionals made Trump and Modi one of the worst leaders during the coronavirus pandemic. We can constantly listen to others around us, particularly those who work directly for us. Effective listening provides information and perspectives that strengthen your leadership potential (Mendenhall et al., 2013). Allowing yourself to be receptive to criticism and new ideas from your team can assist you in making decisions that are good for you and the people you lead.

In addition, leaders, even those in political positions, need to start practising evidence-based decision-making. Rather than rumours or myths, facts should be the rule of law in our world. As we have seen in the response of some governments to the COVID-19 crisis, decisions made in the absence of facts can have far-reaching consequences for the economy and society as a whole.

In conclusion, both Trump and Modi failed to show proper leadership in leading their country to tackle the pandemic. Both America and India reported high cases of COVID-19 and moderate mortality rates due to the poor behaviour of leaders. The case of these two countries would be different if these leaders demonstrated responsible leadership in crisis management. Similarly, the analysis of the leadership of the two leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that overconfidence and unwillingness to listen led to a leadership crisis.

Jeffrey Gettleman, Hari Kumar, Karan Deep Singh, and Sameer Yasir. 2021. India’s Covid-19 Crisis Shakes Modi’s Image of Strength. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/world/asia/india-covid19-modi.html

Mendenhall, M. E., Osland, J. S., Bird, A., Oddou, G. R., Maznevski, M. L., Stevens, M. J., & Stahl, G. K. (2013). Global leadership. New York: Routledge.

Newton, K. (2020). Government communications, political trust, and compliant social behavior: the politics of Covid‐19 in Britain. The Political Quarterly, 91(3), 502-513.

Shao, W., & Hao, F. (2020). Confidence in political leaders can slant risk perceptions of COVID–19 in a highly polarized environment. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 261, 113235.

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Global Leadership essay

The paper will focus on cross cultural for Global leaders. Specifically, with regard to global organizations, the paper will also attempt to reconcile the imbalance between global and local concerns by proposing a framework that merges a new understanding of culture with a classical leadership approach. The paper objective is to achieve more effective cross cultural practice.

The paper should show the effectiveness of great leaders when they have good communicate skills. This is actually one of the most challenging course a leader will face. Knowing how to communicate will take away the fear of culture shock. Culturally intelligent leaders must understand that the way they communicate is critical to their success. As a global leader, you need to use clear language, which may also determine how much information will need to be imparted in order to achieve the required goal and what the consequences and/or rewards are for the followers. The leader must always learn how to adjust their communication style to adjust or transition from one culture to the next.

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