Cultural knowledge or cultural intelligence There is a fashion for mapping out the differences between business cultures. This is, like all the psychological profiles that appear from time to time, an easy way of putting people in neat boxes. But on balance, people...

Top ten tips for leading a global team How do you manage a team you can’t see, you don’t know and who are separated by time zones, language, culture and regulations? Welcome to the challenge of leading a global team. Meet your team. Even the most high tech firms find...

Why global teams require exceptional leaders Leading any team is hard work.  Here are ten ways in which a global team puts even greater demands on the team leader. Expectations are higher. You are not competing against the talent pool in your local office. You are...

Who has the exotic culture? We are all heroes of our own life stories, and everyone else is just a bit part player. We are like medieval scientists: we think we are at the centre of our universe. As a global team player, we need to recognise that the world does not...

Brexit, friction and global teams Global Teams explores the plumbing of globalisation. It gives a unique view on how decisions are made in global firms. The results are devastating for Brexit: the British exit from the EU. Let’s strip away the rhetoric of both sides,...

What’s the point of expats? Expats are hugely expensive. They are also not highly effective, at least to start with as they work out how the local culture and local business works. Often, they may not even speak the local language. If you are sent on an expat...

The global talent war: employer versus employee “The war for talent” has a long history. Employers worry about how to recruit and retain the best talent. One response is to fish in the global talent pool, not just in a domestic talent pool. This makes perfect sense....

The challenge of global teams: friction Global teams face the same challenge as global supply chains:  friction. Friction in a supply is like throwing sand in the engine of a car: everything seizes up very fast. Lean manufacturing means that a hold up for customs,...

Making Global Teams Work Global Teams Many people have written about globalisation, global strategy, global organisation and culture. No one has looked at the plumbing of how globalisation actually works. Global Teams, out next week, is the first book to do this. Here...

What language should you speak? English speakers think that because they speak English, they can communicate globally. Wrong. Native English speakers are very hard for non-native speakers to understand. English speakers need to learn a new language: Globish. “Globish”...