Six Factors That Shape How Global Leaders Exercise Power and Influence Followers

Abstract

As part of an exploratory study on the nature of global leaders' power, we interviewed 23 global leaders to address the question: “How do the task, culture, and relationship complexities of global leadership shape the way global leaders exercise power and influence their followers?” We identify five complicating factors that shape the use of power by global leaders: Language, culture, time zones, physical distance, and matrix organizational structures. When compared with domestic leaders, these five factors make the use of power more complex for global leaders and require global leaders to invest substantially more time and energy into building relationships, sharing leadership, and prioritizing communication to ensure common understanding of vision and goals. We highlight a sixth factor, high-quality relationships, as an enabling resource for global leaders to succeed despite contexts of global leadership complexity. We provide a conceptual model summarizing how global leader influence attempts are complicated and enhanced and offer implications for future research and practice.

Citation

Hinds, B. and Ludema, J.D. (2023), "Six Factors That Shape How Global Leaders Exercise Power and Influence Followers", Osland, J.S., Reiche, B.S., Mendenhall, M.E. and Maznevski, M.L. (Ed.) Advances in Global Leadership (Advances in Global Leadership, Vol. 15), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 37-67. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1535-120320230000015002