Leadership Beyond Borders

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing everything. It is not only changing the way we go about our personal lives but it is also it is changing the future of business. It's predictive behaviors are forcasting trends for many companies, AI is taking over mundane tasks that waste time and money and it is supporting us in our decision making precesses by providing us with more and more data, while predicting future trends. But AI is also a little bit scary. We very often ask ourselves , What do all these changes mean to future of business? How will jobs change and how will we manage workforces that are half man and half machine? In this episode we will talk about what industries are using AI now, how enterprises can prepare themselves for the changes AI will bring and how small businesses can take advantage of the open sourse AI tools that are available on the internet. Most importantely, we talk about how leaders we prepare themselves for the use of AI in business.

As today's global economy becomes stronger, international executive positions are becoming more abundant, but not everyone has the leadership skills to achieve an international position, but among those that do, many are women. A woman at the helm of an international company brings diversity to the table, it can bring new ideas and insights but it can also be challenging for the women that take this path. Today the percentage of women sitting in international CEO positions varies only between 7-18%, depending on country. There is also a new trend for women not to take CEO positions, there a sudden death of female international CEOs while many women decide to "opt out" of these careers and take other paths. This episode will explore one women's journey to an international CEO position. She will talk to us about the opportunities and challenges she faced. She will talk about the attributes you need to become an international CEO no matter what gender you are.

Global mobility has increased greatly over the years and the number of international assignment's is estimated to reach about 56 million in 2017, but even at 56 million this is still only a fraction of all the jobs worldwide. With the percentages not really in anyone's favor, many young ambitious managers ask, "how can I land an International assignment?". This is the first question most people ask, but the second and most important question is be "how do I succeed in an international assignment"? The re-call quota for expatriate positions ranges between 6% and 40% - so how can you make sure that you will get it right? How can companies make sure they select the right people? In this episode, we talk about getting, keeping and succeeding in an international assignment. We look at not only what individuals have to do, but also how companies can adjust their selection process to make sure everyone gets it right.

How do local businesses begin? Normally, it starts with a good idea that then grows into a business. For most companies, building and maintaining a local customer base is one of the first steps to success, but what happens when the local customer base is just not enough anymore? In today's Global Economy, many businesses begin to think globally, and there are a lot of great success stories, but there are also a lot of failures and many failures are due to not having good leadership or not understanding the challenges that come with global expansion. It is natural that companies have a desire to expand, but the emphasis on globalization has made people think that it is quite easy, very often easier said than done. In this episode, we are going to take a look at a small US company that has expanded beyond its borders. We are going to look at what has made them successful and what are the challenges they are facing. If your business is thinking of global expansion, this story is for you.

A strong sense of trust in an employee-manager relationship encourages loyalty, increases productivity, maintains retention and contributes to the company’s bottom line. But people are the ones that either decide to extend trust or not. Trust can also be gained or lost in the blink of an eye, and in business this means with one small incident.

Trust may also mean different things to different generations, cultures or the meaning can be interpreted differently depending on the situation.

In this episode, we look at the different pillars of trust and the behaviors that support them. We will help you understand how you can begin to build trust and become a trusted leader no matter what role you are in or what the situation may be. We will share with your stories, give you examples, but most importantly you will take away actionable tips that can help you build trust in your leadership role.

Today is the first time we are working with four generations in the same workforce and by 2020 we will have five. We as leaders must address generational differences and most recently the hot topic was "how to manage millennials in the workforce", but this topic is now obsolete. As the next generation begins to enter the workforce, everything will change. From a traditional view the new Generation Z was born between the mid-1990s to early 2000s. They are now entering the workforce, but their behaviors are stemming from forces that influence all of us, not just their age group. These forces are breaking down the traditional generational barriers propelling all of us into Generation Z. Generation Z is no longer about age, it is about behaviors. As leaders we have to understand the forces that are changing this traditional generational view, and if we want to keep pace with business and competition we need to become part of Generation Z. This episode looks at the Gen Z effect

The word "narcissistic leader" has become a buzz word, especially since the presidential elections that took place in the United States. The general public has gotten into the habit of labeling many leaders-in both business and politics narcissists, but is this really fair and is it really true? Narcissism and leadership have been widely studied, and there is some evidence that narcissists are more likely to succeed in attaining leadership positions. This makes sense, because they are normally somewhat aggressive, confident and have charisma. They know what they want, they believe they are the best person for the job. They can be visionaries and move companies forward. But there is also a dark side to narcissistic leadership. These kinds of leaders can sometimes have a negative impact on both individuals and organizations. They often plow forward leaving destruction in their path. In this series, we will look at the good, bad and the ugly of narcissistic leadership.

From the cave to the condo, gender communication has been a tenuous art and certainly not a defined science. We know that men and women communicate so differently they may as well be from different planets, says Dr. John Gray. We also know we live in a very disruptive world today where communication channels are changing, where stress impacts the way we act and where we all seem to have too little time. On top of that, initiatives such as gender diversity in the workplace, the changing roles of women and men at home and changing technology are also having an impact on how we communicate with each other. This episode looks at gender communications and the difference between men and women. We explore how these differences are shifting, what we have to do to understand each other better and how we can all communicate better, regardless if it is in the workplace or at home. Ultimately, we ask the question: Who makes a better manager: a man or a women?

Today we live in competitive and stressful world. We want to be good employees, good leaders and we want to manage everything, but sometimes the stress gets to us and we all react to stress in different ways. Some of go to the gym, some of us go on vacation and some of us reach for a glass or two. A recent Gallup Poll Study shows that the higher the income and the education the more likely you are to drink alcohol and least 20% of those who do have a real problem. Studies are also showing a rapid increase in alcoholism among executive women. As we all try to keep up with the social and customer dinners, trade shows and travel we have in business, we could be developing a problem we do not realize. A problem that could affect our work and our families. In this series, we talk with Marc Treitler, a successful executive and lawyer, who not only battled the disease of alcoholism, but with the support of his family beat it. His observations and his story are a lesson for all of us.

Very often great leadership is defined based on the successful examples of the past, but we seldom think about what great leadership will like in the future. A lot of leaders today feel overwhelmed and unprepared for a future they cannot predict. They are feeling unsure if they have the right skills to deal with a rapidly changing global economy complicated by varying political climates, new organizational structures, a new generation of workers and changing customer demands. In this episode, we will discuss what the future of good leadership looks like. We will talk about what competencies leaders need today and what competencies leaders will need going forward. In this episode, we will help you understand what companies will be looking for from their future leaders and how you can develop those skills so that you can have an impact as a leader not only today but also tomorrow.