Transnational Leadership Development: Preparing the Next Generation for the Borderless Business World

Transnational Leadership Development: Preparing the Next Generation for the Borderless Business World addresses some important issues of global management, especially the tricky area of leading people. Their five paradoxes represent some of the key dimensions of culture which most impact business practices, thinking, behaving and intercultural interaction. I especially appreciate their examples and case studies to highlight how cultural awareness and competence enable managers to be effective in leading their teams, in serving clients and partnering with suppliers. Or put in the opposite manner, they clearly demonstrate how lack of such competence negatively impacts individuals and their organizations. Hopefully, this book will be read by MBA students so that they don't commit the errors illustrated and then contribute to global organizations being places to work with intercultural communication and inclusion abound. Carolyn Feuille, President Esprit Global Learning [email protected]

For those managers and leaders who work in cultures other than their own, this book is essential reading. The authors have tremendous international experience in leadership development. They know the complexity of multicultural business relationships and yet Fisher-Yoshida and Geller have not just put a simpler spin on a difficult subject, but created a framework around understanding differences as five paradoxes. The use of paradoxes makes the issues easier to comprehend so that knowledge, reflection and changed behavior can lead to more effective leadership. The case studies are clear and the relevance is immediately apparent. A flexible approach is needed in building, leading and managing multicultural teams; this book provides a path with clarity, deep understanding and skill.

Fisher-Yoshida and Geller address the complex issues of global business in an accessible and engaging manner. They identify five paradoxes of cross-cultural interaction. They present case studies that raise compelling issues, involve conflict and promote identification with the people involved in real-life problems in organizational settings. I highly recommend this book as a text for students in undergraduate and graduate classes in business communication and cross-cultural management.

Fisher-Yoshida and Geller take cross-cultural understanding in the workplace to a new level! More than just a description of "cultural factors," they explain the challenges of transnational leadership. Do I adapt to you, or do you adapt to me? The answer, they say, is "it depends." In fact, effective transnational leaders must learn to manage several paradoxes in cross-cultural interaction. By starting with a deeper level of self awareness, leaders can view the world though different lenses and find flexible and effective ways to lead transnational teams. The book provides many practical examples and useful techniques based on the authors' broad international experience in leadership development.

Fisher-Yoshida and Geller draw from their professional experiences consulting with managers across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the US. Because they conducted their work from bases beyond the US, their cases and stories offer perspectives for readers from a range of cultures. At the heart of their message is the call to each person to "let go of expectations or the desire for sameness and accept that our effectiveness with others can be enhanced by knowing, honoring and welcoming difference...with an air of curiosity and openness to the potential of what could be." The reader journeys through dialogue and cases considering five paradoxes that each person needs to consider in buiding relationships between self and other.