Cultivating Intercultural Leaders: An Examination of 12 Prominent Korean Leaders

What key factors contributed to native-born Koreans (NBKs) rise to prominence as intercultural leaders? In the quest of discovering the common denominators of their success, Kyung Kyu Kim and Richard Starcher, two scholars in the field of Christian leadership.The participants of this research involved 12 prominent native-born Koreans who have overcome experiential, cultural, and linguistic barriers to achieve prominence as leaders in intercultural contexts. The participants were intentionally selected according from three leadership levels:

Civic:

- Sukhee Kang - mayor of Irvine, CA

- City council members in Irvine and Cerritos, CA

National:

- U.S. Congressman

- Dr. Young-woo Kang - Advisor to George W. Bush

- Wonsuk Ma - Executive Director of the Oxford Center for Mission Studies in UK.

International: 

- Bank Ki-moon - General secretary of the United Nations

- Yonggi "David" Cho - pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church, the world's largest church by congregation 

- Jang Hwan "Billy" Kim - Former President of the Baptist World Alliance. (Most notable for his superlative translation at the Bill Graham Crusade in 1973. Each night the crowd grew to a maximum of attendance 1.1 million people - the historical largest in the Billy Graham crusades)

- First Vice President of the World Trade Center

- Two leaders of Christian missions

The collective data analysis resulted in 24 key themes from which emerged 6 key factors contributing to the study participants' rises to prominence as intercultural leaders. The 6key factors fell into two broad categories: 

• external influences
• internal dispositions
  
  

Kim & Starcher notes that all factors emerged as equally important among the participants. They identified three categories to the extent of factors being applied to the participants: 

• "Decisive" - those present in the lives of 11 or 12 participants (90%-100%)
• "Important" - those present in the lives of 9 to 10 participants (75%-85%)
• "Helpful" - those present in the lives of 6 to 8 participants (50%-75%)
  
  

External Influences: Family Heritage, Pivotal Encounters, and Academic Achievement

1) FAMILY HERITAGE

Family heritage had a profound impact to all of the 12 intercultural leaders in this study. Two aspects were distilled from the research: values exemplified and values taught. 

• Values exemplified: 
• Gimoon’s father was a good and generous person. His father was considerate of others and enjoyed giving to others. Thus, when people came to his father to request help, his father never rejected them. When Gimoon was a high school student, his father took in a friend who had nowhere to go, letting him stay in his house and feeding him for a year…. His father also accepted a friend who was cast out by his family because he had Hansen's disease. For six months he served this friend with love, giving him meals and encouragement. (Shin, 2007, pp. 100-101, 154-155) 
• Yonggi’s grandmother was a very warmhearted woman who liked to serve others. Many relatives and poor neighbors wanted to live together in his grandparents’ house because they had no food to eat. His grandparents accommodated them. Therefore, 13 families lived in the house due to his grandparents’ generosity. His grandparents helped them cultivate the rice field and farm. In addition, his grandparents fed wanderers and travelers and provided them with a place to sleep. Therefore all the village people praised his grandparents. (Han, 2008, p. 61)
• Values taught:
• My [Sukhee] parents taught me to keep my promises to others. They always taught me the importance of gaining peoples’ trust. Thus, I always have made efforts to keep promises, even though it cost me personally. This resulted in people seeing me as a consistent man. This is my big fortune. One of the reasons that I got this position was that everybody acknowledged my consistent character.
• Yonggi’s grandmother told him when he was a child that men should put others first, because if a man lived just for himself, both he and others would perish at the same time (Han, 2008, p. 62) Gimoon’s mother always instructed him: “Because a person will get exactly what he deserves, if you harm others, bad things will happen to you afterwards” (Shin, 2007, p. 29). “Be benevolent to others. You should live in a kindly manner without quarreling with others” (Shin, 2007, p. 155)

The key message illustrated here is that the soil for cultivating a successful intercultural leader is a healthy family. Parents and grandparents who pass on heritage values positions their offspring to succeed as leaders. 

*As you read on, I would like to encourage you to think about your personal story. How has your family heritage impact you to live according to your underlying, core values? What were some key values exemplified and taught in your upbringing?

2) PIVOTAL ENCOUNTERS

Kim and Starcher defines pivotal encounters as someone meeting who profoundly changed one's life. All of participants were profoundly galvanized by pivotal encounters in which it motivated them to study hard, challenged them to become leaders, pursued advanced studies overseas, stimulated to develop self-confidence. The following are some examples of how pivotal encounters ignited motivation and how others served as a role model: 

• When Gi-moon Ban, UN General Secretary, heard Foreign Minister Byun speak during his elementary school years, he was inspired to be a great man for his mother country. An encounter with American President John F. Kennedy in 1962 solidified his dream of becoming a diplomat. When Billy Kim met the evangelist Billy Graham as a high school student, he was motivated to become a great evangelist like Billy Graham. When Won-suk Ma met his high school principal, who graduated from Princeton University, he was motivated to study abroad in order to grow in stature. 
• For Gi-moon Ban, Foreign Minister Byun was not only an inspiration but also a model of what it meant to be a successful diplomat (Shin, 2007). In a similar manner, Won-suk Ma’s high school principal proved an excellent role model for him. Likewise, after his pivotal encounter with Billy Graham, Jang Kwan (Billy) Kim emulated him to the point of adopting the great evangelist’s first name.

*What were your pivotal encounters? Who has impacted you profoundly and in which way? How did it help you to become the person you are now?

3) ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

      Academic excellence was surprisingly not deemed as a “decisive” factor in these intercultural leaders, albeit it was helpful in their development in gaining credence for their leadership. Three themes emerged from the top 12 leaders. 

• Excellence in primary and secondary school – 6 of them took first place in their elementary school classes. In middle and high schools, 8 of them were honor students. The remaining four were mediocre in their academic track record. 
• Success in college – 10 participants were ranked as honor students. Among the 12, 7 participants graduated from top-tier universities. 10 of the 12 also studied abroad when it was difficult to do so in the age of time. Their overseas experience honed their ability to become diverse leaders.
• Advanced degrees – 10 participants held graduate degrees, where 8 of them had doctoral degrees. For 6 of the 8 doctoral degree holders, a doctorate was vital for their attainment in their leadership position. 

Internal Dispositions: Individual Attitudes, Acquired Skills, Personality Traits

4) PERSONAL ATTITUDES

Five key personal attitudes emerged as decisive factors in cultivating the top 12 leaders:
self-confidence, drive, passion, optimism, and constancy.

• Self-confidence - some participants gained self-confidence through parental encouragements; others through pivotal encounters; others gaining outstanding grades in school. All of these participants were not born with self-confidence but were obtained through life experiences.
• Drive - The top leaders never settled for "good enough" but put their utmost effort in their respective endeavors. For example, Ban Gi-moon found Harvard's Kennedy School a tough academic environment, even though his English was excellent. One day, his wife called to ask her sister-in-law to stop her husband from studying too much. 
• Passion - Among all the other attributes, passion emerged as the most common attitude. These leaders would sacrifice their sleep, food, reward to accomplish their mission. One participant's passion would not let him stop planting churches; he planted over 100 in various mission fields. One participant's passion led him to establish the biggest church in the world. Another participant's passion encouraged him to study English in the US for a year so he could enter and win the National Speech Competition in High School in Korea.
• Optimism - Despite insurmountable difficulties in their life journey, they always exuded an optimistic and positive attitude. One participant said, "I believe that in the world, the person who has the biggest shortcoming is not the person who has weak points but the person who has negative thoughts and a negative attitude. Even though one has a severe problem, if he sees it through a positive perspective, to him or her, it could even be a blessing."
• Constancy - The majority of the participants attributed their consistent attitude as enabling them to rise into prominence. One participant's wife reported, "My husband’s distinctive characteristic is that he is a consistent person. He cannot make a decision easily. He needs enough time to make a decision. However, if he decides his plan or goal, he never changes it halfway. When I saw the situation objectively, in my thinking his plan or goal should be changed. However, he never wavered. Finally, his goal was achieved. Because of his distinctive consistent character, he has achieved many things in difficult circumstances."
  

5) ACQUIRED SKILLS - Creativity, Communication Skills, English Proficiency, Cultural Competence, Interpersonal Competence. To read more about the skill sets, please click here. 

6) PERSONALITY TRAITS - Four personality traits emerged important (but not decisive) to participants’ rise to prominence as intercultural leaders. Nearly all the participants were tolerant, resolute, empathetic, and persistent. Nine of twelve participants were very tolerant, understanding, and charitable. The wife of one participant commented, “My husband has a mind so open that I cannot understand it. My husband tolerates and accepts someone whom I would never forgive and accept. I believe that the open mind is the gift of God.”Ten of the twelve participants had experienced various trials that would have crushed most people. However, they overcame these trials through patient persistence. For example, one participant said,
I have experienced many severe hardships in my life. If I could not endure trials, I think that today my leadership would not exist. I have seen many people fail because of their deficiency of persistence. The data indicated that a resolute character in decision-making was important to prominent leadership. For example, the participant who described himself as not being persistent had strong decision-making abilities. Even so, not all participants found decision-making easy.

Key Lessons 

• Parenting to Cultivate Intercultural Leaders: "The socialization of children in the home emerged as critical to the cultivation of prospective leaders, far more significant than academic success. However, much in Korean society today militates against the inculcation of heritage values. The study participants grew up in a largely agrarian society in which family education was natural because families were large and several generations lived together. Communication between adults and children was frequent and often prolonged. However, in Korea today, both parents regularly work outside the home, meaning children are likely to spend more time with their computers than with their parents. A return to the old days is impossible. Therefore, we suggest the following strategies for contemporary families to promote intercultural leadership development: (a) instilling heritage values, (b) facilitating pivotal encounters, and (c) fostering good attitudes."
• Schooling to Cultivate Intercultural Leaders: "Contrary to expectations, academic achievement or schooling emerged as the least important of the key factors in NBKs’ rises to prominent intercultural leadership positions. Perhaps the relatively feeble connection between schooling and leadership success can be explained by the disparity between the abilities rewarded by schooling and those required of successful intercultural leaders. Of course, academic intelligence is not a handicap in leadership. However, contemporary Korean schooling focuses almost exclusively on cognitive objectives, thus rewarding abilities other than those most needed in leaders (e.g., recall of information as opposed to self-confidence, tolerance, and empathy). Of the three educational domains, affective and the psychomotor (i.e., skills) emerged as most significant in participants’ rise to prominence as intercultural leaders. Without neglecting the cognitive, Korean schooling should place greater emphasis on character and skills to develop future intercultural leaders. One skill in particular merits special mention: English proficiency, which is crucial for today’s intercultural leader. Again, success in “school English” as an academic subject (cognitive task) is insufficient. English is first and foremost a communication skill whose mastery requires learners to step out of their mono-cultural, mono-linguistic context to interact with English speakers. "

Living Intentionally: Running the Race for the Eternal Prize

1 Corinthians 9:24-27


Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 


Philippians 3:12-14


Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 


The premise into living intentionally has inspired to me to author a book designed for young adults. I have personally seen countless young adults drift away from the purpose-driven life. I propose that four questions must be answered to live with intentionality. 


1. Why am I here? identify your mission, calling, vision
2. Who am I? discover your God-given talent, strengths, potential
3. Where to Shine? discover your optimal conditions to unleash your talent
4. With Whom? cultivate authentic relationships with whom you will most be impacted and influenced as a leader. 


I hope you will act upon inspiring the current Millennial generation in answering these four questions. Will you join me in this movement? 

A Framework for Christian Leadership

Try googling “Christian leadership” and you’ll be inundated with over 10 million hits. Numerous Christian conferences have raised and attempted to answer the perennial question “What is Christian Leadership?” During this robust discussion, concepts of qualities, characteristics, capabilities and behaviors were addressed; however, a definitive answer never seemed to emerge in the end. Bruce Winston, professor at Regent University, provides a framework that emerged throughout a 10-hour automobile drive where the answer of this question began to emerge. His spouse stated her observation that some character-flawed old testament leaders seemed to be blessed by God and that didn’t seem to fit the general notion that “good” leaders are high-character leaders.

The four key elements of Christian leadership follows the sequences (aka 4Cs):

Calling – doing the willing of God

Competence – doing what you do well

Confidence – knowing what you can do by yourself and what you can do with God’s help

Character – living a life according to Old Testament and New Testament character values

The underlying of the framework is that with each successful level of the four Cs, greater success happens.

Calling

Jesus’s words in John 5:30 makes a profound statement “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As a I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” The word “will” is translated as qelema (Thelema) that implies what God wishes or commands.  The same word occurs eight times in the Gospel of John.

If Jesus have proclaimed in different context that his primary role is to do the will of God, then it seems logical that as a Christian leader it is our primary responsibility to comply to God’s will. In terms of how one discovers the will of God is not clear from the verses. 1 Samuel 3:1-10 gives us insight into how one might know the will of God in which we find God calling Samuel. He thought Eli called him but learned later that it was God who was calling him instead. Dr. Winston notes that “calling is something that comes from God and is not something that one can be educated/trained to receive.”

Competence

God has endowed us with unique set of God-given talents, strengths, and potential. While knowing and acting on your calling without competence can still lead to success – calling with competence can lead to greater success.

There are numerous supporting verses in the Old Testament that support a need for competence. In Genesis 47:6, we find a call for capable men.

“The land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any capable men among then, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

Exodus 35:25 also talks of “skilled” workers who were selected to make elements for the test of meeting. It is interesting that the preceding verses denote that these people’s hearts were stirred by God (called).

Exodus 35:21: Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the LORD’S contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.

Exodus 35:25: All the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen.

In 1 Kings 7:4 also talks of how Hiram’s employment by King Solomon originated from his wisdom and understanding as well his skill (competence in craft): He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and performed all his work.

Most famously, in Proverbs 22:29 – we realize there is compelling evidence for a need in competence.

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.

Confidence

Calling and competence are fundamental building block for success, however, with a paucity of confidence the leader fails to maximize his/ her potential. Confidence in this context can be viewed on a similar vein as self-efficacy in that people perceive their ability to do or not do something. The focus here is on self-perception rather than reality.

A great example where we see this play out is the account of Elijah’s confrontation with Baal’s priests and then Elijah’s subsequent confrontation with Jezebel. Imagine the scene of Elijah challenging the priests to a contest in which the priests of Baal would invoke their god to send fire down and light the sacrificial fire. After the priests failed, Elijah took his turn and increased the difficulty by soaking the wood and offering with water. Being filled with absolute confidence, Elijah prayed and the God sent His fire which not only consumed the wood but the entire altar.

1 Kings 18:38: Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

Consequently, Elijah decimated the 450 prophets of Baal. This implies the calling, competence, and confidence. However, ensuing his success, we learn that Jezebel is ferocious and seeks his demise. Here we see Eljiah’s lack of confidence where he is ready to give up.  Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”

We see another example in Matthew 14:28-31 from the account of Peter asking Jesus to let Peter walk on the water.

Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

From this exchange, Dr. Winston makes a discerning observation that we can see that calling without competence (presumed that Peter did not get trained in walking on water) but with confidence can lead to success, but that calling without confidence (“little faith” leads to failure).

Character

The prior elements of calling, competence, and confidence are foundational elements of leadership. One defining element that makes Christian leadership unique in its core is character. Though Character is the last C is the Bible has a plethora of supporting verses. However, when we look at Moses who killed the Egyptian, Abraham who presented his wife as his sister to the King, and David who committed adultery, character is not the determinant for success. Nonetheless, the righteous behaviors are the outgrowth of character.

Psalm 1 provides us the perspective of the upright leader who through his/her beliefs, demonstrates characteristics in synch with biblical principles. The passage below shows that a ‘blessed’ leader does not interact with the wicked nor participate with evil people.

Psalms 1:1-6: How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

1 Timothy 3 provides us with the traits and characteristics of a good leader or overseer as Timothy states.

1 Timothy 3:2-7: An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Dr. Winston makes noteworthy commentary on these verses:

From verses 2-7 we can see that a good leader must demonstrate integrity. What we translate as reproach is anepileptoß (anepileptos) that means to be caught or arrested. The intent here is not to do what is wrong and not get caught, but rather to do nothing that might lead to getting caught. In other words, live your life in such a manner that no matter how finely your life is scrutinized, you will not be found “in reproach.” In addition, in the passage, we see that a leader must be temperate nefaleoß (nephaleos), meaning to remain sober and not under the influence of alcohol; prudent sofron (sophron), meaning to curb one’s desires; respectable kosmioß (kosmios), meaning to be modest; and hospitable filoxenoß (philoxenos), meaning to be generous to guests. In addition, the passage says that leaders should not be pugnacious plekteß (plektes), meaning to not be quarrelsome, which is similar to the beatitude “to be meek.” In support of this requirement to not be pugnacious is the requirement to be gentle and peaceable. The passage concludes by indicating that the leader must be seen in a positive light by people outside of the organization. In Titus 1 we see a recasting of some of the character elements from 1Timothy 3.

Titus 1:5-6: For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict

"James helps us understand the character of a leader by admonishing us to listen well, react in a controlled manner, similar to what the beatitude “blessed are the meek” calls for, to be humble, which is akin to the beatitude “blessed are the poor in spirit,” to be active rather than passive, and controlled in his speech."

James 1:19-27: This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. 

Six Principles of Effective Global Talent Management

In the lofty quest of discovering the “best” practices in recruiting, developing, engaging, and retaining the right people, a group of researchers from top business schools (INSEAD, Cornell, Cambridge, and Tilburg) has embarked on a comprehensive study involving  33 multinationals headquartered in 11 countries. I’d like to share their insightful, breakthrough findings were published in the winter issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review. 

The findings indicated that competitive advantage in talent management did not just come from identifying key activities (e.g., recruiting, training). Rather, these researchers formulated six core principles the top-performing companies subscribed to that are in alignment with their core strategy and guiding culture. The fact of the matter is best practices are only “best” given in the context for which they were designed.

Two Views of Talent
 

The Differentiated Approach:

·     A plethora of companies placed heavy emphasis on high-potential employees. Much of the resources such as recognition, developmental opportunities and incentives were primarily reserved for “A Players” while fewer resources were allocated to “B Players” and “C Players” were aggressively weeded out who did not meet performance expectations and little potential. (This approach has been popularized by GE’s “vitality curve” which assesses the employee’s performance and promotability by ranking the employees into a 20-70-10 bucket.

The Inclusive Approach:

·     Some companies preferred a more inclusive approach to address the needs of employees at all levels of the organization. At Shell, they focus making it possible for any individual to maximize their strengths. Under the inclusive approach, the tactics are used for different groups’ assessment of how to best leverage the value that each group of employees can bring to the company. 

Throughout the research it shows that the two philosophies are not mutually exclusive. In fact, dependent on the specific talent pool, there will usually be different career paths and development strategies. This hybrid approach encourages differentiation.

Principle 1: Alignment with Strategy

First and foremost, talent management starts with corporate strategy. The key question one must ask is  “With the overarching strategy, what type of talent do we need?” The researchers talk about their experience interviewing GE whose growth strategy is based on five pillars: technological leadership, services acceleration, enduring customer relationships, resource allocation and globalization. In order to achieve this, CEO Jeffrey Immelt understood that it was critical placing the right person on the right seat on the right bus. Through the annual organizational and individual review process, they thoroughly reviewed the business’s engineering pipeline, the organizational structure of its engineering function and an evaluation of the potential of engineering talent. The insight from the review emerged an underrepresentation of senior managers. This galvanized the company to move more engineers into the GE’s senior executive band.

Principle 2: Internal Consistency

Talent management practices cannot operate in isolation. Internal consistency means that its practices must fit in with each other. The studies show that if an organization invests significantly on high potential individuals, it should at the same time emphasize employee retention, competitive compensation and career management. These alignments will have a synergy effect.

Principle 3: Cultural Embeddedness

A major source of sustainable competitive edge originates from the company’s culture. By making conscious efforts integrating the core values and business principles into talent management processes such as hiring methods, leadership development activities, performance management systems, and compensation and benefits programs.

Some companies who have traditionally focused on job-related skills and experience to find the right people are including cultural fit as key selection criteria. By assessing the candidates personality and values’ compatibility of corporate culture will help predict performance and retention. They say that skills are better and easier to develop than personality traits, attitudes, and values.

IKEA, the Sweden-based furniture retailer, for example, selects applicants using tools that focus on values and cultural fit. Its standard questionnaire downplays skills, experience or academic credentials and instead explores the job applicants’ values and beliefs, which become the basis for screening, interviewing, and training and development. Later, when employees apply internally for leadership positions, the main focus is once again on values in an effort to ensure consistency. IBM likewise subscribes to a strong values-based approach to HR. Not only does IBM hire and promote based on values; it regularly engages employees to ensure that employee values are consistent throughout the company. It does this through “ValuesJam”11 sessions and regular employee health index surveys. The jam sessions provide time to debate and consider the fundamentals of the values in an effort to make sure that they are not perceived as being imposed from the top.

Rather than selecting employees for attitude and culture fit, a more common approach to promoting the core values of an organization come from secondary socialization and training. Samsung Electronics has specially geared its training program to provide employees worldwide with background on the company’s philosophy, values, and management principles.

Principle 4: Management Involvement

 Talent management needs to go beyond the ownership from HR, but by managers in all levels including the CEO. The various talent management process including recruitment, succession planning, and leadership development ought to be a strategic imperative. P&G’s former CEO A.G. Lafley claims that he used to spend one-third to one-half of his time developing talent. He was convinced that “nothing I do will have a more enduring impact on P&G’s long-term success than helping to develop other leaders.” However, in most companies, this is rare to find. In fact one company from a U.S. Fortune 200 company lamented that “creating  a true sense of ownership among the senior leaders regarding their roles as “chief talent officer”; recognizing that having the right people in critical leadership roles is not an HR thing or responsibility, but rather, it is a business imperative and must be truly owned by the leaders of the respective businesses/ functions…Creating this type of mindset around leadership and talent is the biggest challenge I face.

One of the most powerful tools companies use to develop leaders is to involve line managers. This means getting them to play a key role in the recruitment of talent and then making them accountable for developing the skills and knowledge of their employees.

Principle 5: Balance of Global and Local Needs

Companies operating in multiple countries need to respond to both local demands while having an overarching, coherent HR strategy. A company’s decision about how much local control to allow depends party on the industry. For example, consumer products need to be more attuned to the local taste than pharmaceuticals or software. The studies indicate that many companies are moving toward greater integration and global standards while simultaneously continuing to experience pressure to adapt and make decisions at local levels.

Principle 6: Employer Branding Through Differentiation

To attract top talent means having a compelling value proposition for the people who wants to work for the organization. P&G for instance was in one year able to attract about 600,000 applicants worldwide where only 2,700 were hired by emphasizing opportunities for long-term careers and internal promotion. Another way companies are trying to get an edge on competitors in attracting talent is by stressing their corporate social responsibility.

Create Your Life Plan

"If we would only give the same amount of reflection to what we want
out of life that we give to the question of what to do with two weeks’
vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless
procession of our busy days.” -Dorothy Canfield Fisher

In the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, bestselling author Stephen Covey says that Habit 2 is to “Begin with the End in Mind.”1 In his excellent book, The E-Myth Revisited, author Michael Gerber makes the ultimate application of this principle. He says,
 

I’d like you to imagine that you are about to attend one of the most important occasions of
your life.It will be held in a room sufficiently large to seat all of your friends, your family, your business associates—anyone and everyone to whom you are important and who is important to you.

Can you see it?
 

“The walls are draped with deep golden tapestries. The lighting is subdued, soft, casting a
warm glow on the faces of your expectant guests. The chairs are handsomely upholstered in
a golden fabric that matches the tapestries. The golden carpeting is deeply piled.
 

“At the front of the room is a dais, and on the dais a large, beautifully decorated table with
candles burning at either end.
 

“On the table, in the center, is the object of everyone’s attention. A large, shining, ornate box.
And in the box is … you! Stiff as the proverbial board.
 

“Do you see yourself lying in the box, not a dry eye in the room?

“Now, listen.”

After reading this short vignette, I asked myself, “What will they say when I am dead?”

This is an incredibly powerful question. To answer it, you have to “fast forward” to the end of your life and look back. This exercise forces you to think about the things that matter most.

The above is a excerpt from Michael Hyatt's Free E-book. Please click here to read a practical workbook on creating your life plan. I assure your time will not be wasted by reading this..Enjoy!