What is Global Leadership

The primary definitional question leadership researchers wrestle with is, quite simply identifying a common lexicon for global leadership. “What is a global leader?” More importantly, “What is the mindset of a global leader?” Research revealed that, as with leadership, there is no consensually agreed upon definition among leading scholars for the term global leadership (Bass & Bass, 2008; Dickson, Den Hartog, & Mitchelson, 2003). Jokinen (2005) argued that “a more concise definition of ‘global leader’ is needed, with adequate identification criteria, in order to create a common understanding of the subject term” (p. 212). Despite the lack of literature calling for a common lexicon, there are scholars theoretically framing global leadership as a conceptual approach to internationalize the level of operations, activities, and actions at various echelons within governmental and corporate enterprises. Jokinen (2005) stated “a global leader is anyone having global responsibility for any business activity and global leaders can be found also in lower levels of organization” (p. 201). In their “Global leadership: The next generation” article, Greenberg, Goldsmith, Robertson, and Uh-Chan (2003) defined global leadership as “an extraordinary capacity to unify a global workforce around a single purposeful vision, through demonstration of personal mastery, thinking globally, anticipating opportunity and using shared leadership networks” (p. 3). Story (2011) defined global mindset “as a highly complex cognitive structure characterized by an openness to and articulation of multiple cultural and strategic realities on both global and local level, and the cognitive ability to mediate and integrate across this multiplicity” (p. 378). The author defines a global leader as “a person that builds alliances and coalitions to shape shared values through cross-cultural communication, develops mutual economic, diplomatic, political, and security relationships, and balances corporate, national and international interests” (personal definition). The basic challenge for global leadership scholars is recognition of a theoretically integrated and synchronized common lexicon for researchers and educators to shape emerging leaders within a complex global environment.