Leadership: it's all local

Published: 2011-11-21   There are 4 comments ... please add yours below

“Think global, act local” is a well accepted mindset amongst town planners and big-time strategists. It even has its own Wikipedia entry. But, too many people think they can follow this advice in choosing their leadership actions. They read books by business professors and lauded CEOs. And, assume this “global” knowledge somehow applies to their situation. That may be true if you sit at the apex of a global enterprise. For most of us, though, the better advice is this: think local, act local! Here are six questions and answers to explain why.

1. Who are the people you need to lead? For most of us, this means our direct reports. Say, a dozen people – none more than a phone call away. So, surely their specific needs, styles and attitudes outweigh anything you can learn from a book. Success is about engaging them as individuals; being self-aware in your dealings; assisting their development; building teamwork and so on. Is it all that hard to focus locally and work this out for yourself?
2. What are the goals? These may be influenced by regional or even international market and business trends. But ultimately, it comes down to a smaller local set of objectives. Local in being specific to your business, your customers, your staff. There are no global, off-the-shelf visions, business strategies or goals for you to buy. It’s DIY.
3. Where are the plans? Again, these will be influenced in some degree by macro issues (particularly if you trade or operate internationally) but the details come back to a set of local solutions – around a set of people and clients you work with closely. Too often business plans are long on perspective but short on detail. Lots of big-picture but little specific action and hence too few accountability markers and performance metrics.
4. What’s the culture? Are you going to imitate the approach Jack Welch put in place at GE or craft something that will resonate with your people and be authentic to your character? Something that will be personal, engaging and relevant – local, not imported.
5. How are you going to energise people? Who will communicate all the above? Who will take charge and help others do the same? Who will allocate resources? Or, organise the party when the team shoots a goal? You, or one of your team. So, beyond those academic general principles, the implementation is entirely local. Up to you and your team!
6. Where’s your risk management and renewal? Normally in your contingency plans for avoiding or responding to surprises – as the world around you changes. But again, while there may be reason to think widely, the central priority is finding actions to maintain (or build) market share and margins – and retain your best people. Much of it very local.

From my experience, many more businesses fail from leaders overlooking local issues (re their people, planning, service, quality and so on) than were ever destroyed by a GFC or Fukushima. Don’t ignore the global. But watch the local every minute of every day – and you’ll do just fine.

Dr. Timothy Pascoe AM
PhD (Cambridge), MBA (Harvard), BE & BEc (Adelaide)
Creator, V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership^®