From global marketplaces shipping goods between countries to fast-paced remote teams combining talent from all corners of the world, business has never been more international.
This multinational, multicultural nature of today’s companies demands more from business leaders. It’s not enough to build a global team, you need to pre-empt and mitigate the challenges that team will face, from overcoming language barriers to navigating new opportunities, and nurturing their differences while creating cohesion.
We talked to five leaders about how international experience gave them a global perspective that enhanced their leadership abilities, defined their careers, and shaped their personal lives.
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Leading a global business means balancing needs, trends, and opportunities across a wide range of different markets.Having experience in particular regions allows leaders to bring that first-hand perspective to key decisions, but even short periods abroad can significantly benefit team performance.
A by MIT’s Sloan School of Management on the high-pressure world of English football's Premier League found a direct link between a team manager's number of countries worked in and team performance.
For every foreign country a manager had worked in, their team won an extra 1.14 games, or 3.42 points.It’s evidence that global experiences help build some of the fundamental skills needed to lead high-performing teams.
Cultural norms and working styles differ significantly around the globe.
This process of experiencing different ways of working and communicating makes you a more open-minded leader, according to Founder and CEO, .“You’ve got that experience of knowing that there’s a spectrum of styles, all of which can be good; they’re just different,” she adds.That combination of self-awareness and an appreciation for different approaches can help leaders navigate the complexities of a global team.
Anyone who’s lived abroad knows how difficult those first few months of expat life can be.Whether it’s finding a place to live or making a doctor’s appointment, living abroad often involves throwing yourself into the “cold swimming pool” of language and culture, as app Languages CTO, , describes it.
Those types of experiences create a level of comfort with taking a risk and giving it a go. “That mindset of trying something and not being afraid to fail is just as relevant in the boardroom as it is in the classroom,” agrees , Managing Director of International Wellbeing, .
From navigating culture clashes in working styles to the everyday challenges of living abroad, international experience helps leaders develop the resilience needed to navigate the constantly changing world of business.
“If you’ve put yourself through a bunch of different, tough experiences in your 20s, you learn that it doesn’t challenge your humanity — you can live with the tension of business and still find your equanimity”, shares Carrell.
Whether it’s a global pandemic or rocky markets, the experience of living abroad teaches adaptability and resilience that’s essential for today’s leaders.
Poor communication costs businesses time and money, as well as undermining all-important relationships with co-workers and customers.Leaders estimate that teams lose to poor communication, costing U.S. businesses alone .
The risks of miscommunication are even higher in a global team with multiple languages and communication styles.
“With language, it’s not just the words you use, it’s how you phrase things”, according to , CEO and Founder of . “It’s the things you leave unsaid that can be so different between cultures,” she adds.At the leadership level, the stakes are even higher.
“Those that are able to articulate their ideas well, to express themselves, to find the right word, tone, or expression at the right time — they’re the ones that inspire confidence in the people listening to them,” says Perrucci.
Experience communicating with an international audience teaches leaders to prioritize simplicity and clarity, allowing their message to land and stick. Meanwhile, demonstrating effort can help deliver impact. The cultural awareness leaders gain from international experience and practical skills like speaking multiple languages help create strong relationships.
“My German isn’t perfect,” Groen says, “but the fact that I speak it with my German team creates so much goodwill that half the job of building a positive working relationship is already done.”
Accessing the benefits of a diverse, multicultural team depends on their ability to work as a unit. And that falls to leaders. “You can’t just put people from different backgrounds together and expect them to get along naturally”, Milanova believes.
It’s a challenge that Milanova and many of the leaders we spoke to have spent a lot of time thinking about.A common solution? Be open about your differences and the challenges the team will face.At Daye, each person on Milanova’s team has a “Working with me” guide, and there are also guides on how to work with each country.
Leaders with a breadth of global experiences can anticipate the challenges their international teams will face, take steps to mitigate them, and help their teams thrive.
International experience builds some of the fundamental skills that leaders and their businesses need in today’s world.Experiencing a range of cultures, approaches, and styles allows leaders to question their own defaults and be open to different, creative ideas.
The adaptability and resilience needed to settle in a place far from home creates a have-a-go mindset and the ability to communicate and connect with many different types of people.At a more fundamental level, international experience teaches leaders to be aware of and comfortable with differences. And only by doing that are they able to bring global teams together.
This article is part of app Languages’ series, Global Voices: Leaders on Language and Business, an exclusive exploration into the pivotal role of language in achieving international business excellence. For more in this series, check out the leaders’ full interviews on
English is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world, but how much do you know about the language? Here are 11 facts about Englishthat you might not know.
Students all over the globe learn English for many reasons. Some of these motivations may come from the students themselves – perhaps they are learning because they are travelling to an English-speaking area, or they want to be able to converse with English-speaking friends and colleagues. Other reasons for learning could include meeting school requirements, studying abroad, or progressing their careers.
As well as different reasons to learn English, there are also different goals. Many students are still focused on becoming fluent in English, and we are seeing an increase in people who want to learn the language for specific reasons. For example, immersing themselves in a particular culture or simply being able to order from a menu while travelling abroad.
Teachers are focusing on these personal needs to help students achieve their actual goals. It’s likely you’ve already spoken to your students about why they want to learn English. Understanding this is important as different motivations can influence a student’s attitude towards learning the language – and it may be necessary for you to adapt your teaching strategies for different groups of learners.
Let’s meet some different groups of students, learn a little more about their motivations and explore whether different motivations alter how students learn English. You may recognise some of these learners in your classes.
These students are learning English for pleasure or personal reasons. It might be because of travel, social or family reasons or perhaps because a better grasp of English might assist them with their careers. There are also adult learners who could be learning English as an immigration requirement.
For example, 23-year-old Alice decided to learn English so she could meet people and have more meaningful interactions with her English-speaking neighbours. She says: “I was very shy and not very confident in speaking to people, but learning English helped me connect with others and meet new people. I have changed a lot.”
A motivation like Alice’s requires strong teacher support and peer motivation woven into structured learning. Alice can set her goals and with the GSE Learning Objectives map out what she needs to do to achieve them. Teacher encouragement and personal support – and easy access to digital coursework, a social community of others all learning English, and small classes that emphasise conversation – keep people like Alice engaged and motivated to achieve her language goals. “I cannot do it without them”, she says.
These learners are typically in a more formal type of English programme and are learning the language to achieve specific career milestones, such as a promotion. Their employer might even be paying for their learning or they might be reimbursed for the cost of their lessons.
Vincenzo is 33 and works as a Product Manager in Milan for an international organization with offices around the world. He says: “I asked to take English classes as part of my professional development. My company chose an English provider and gave me a choice of group or one-to-one classes. I chose one-to-one classes as I’m easily distracted.”
Professional learners like Vincenzo succeed using a blended learning model of learning in class and at home that they can tailor around their lives. They have a strong motivation to succeed – that’s why learning at home works for them – but step-by-step progress provided by the GSE Learning Objectives is also important to keep this motivation alive. “I met with my teacher once a week where we would work on mistakes I would make while speaking English. He would also give me extra practice materials, like interesting games and videos to listen to in my own time, to help me really get a better understanding of the language,” Vincenzo says.
Learning English is a requirement for many school programmes and students will continue this at college or university. Many of these students will be learning English with a formal course that offers practice tests for high-stakes exams.
Seventeen-year-old Subra is from Malaysia and learns English at school. Some of her family live in Australia and she is considering studying abroad to attend a University that specializes in health care. When she was young, she learned in a traditional classroom backed with tests that helped her see how she was progressing. Now she uses technology, such as her Android Huawei phone to practise her English but still needs the validation of regular testing to know she is on track.
Subrasays: “I am used to studying for tests as I prepared hard for exams to get into middle school and senior school, which was totally determined by test results.”
Academic learners like Subra need to see demonstrable results to help them stay motivated and guide them to the level of English they need to achieve to get the required score on high-stakes tests. With the clear GSE Learning Objectives and a placement test, academic learners can map out where they are right now and where they need to be in order to reach their academic goals. These learners need encouragement and validation of their progress from their teachers to help keep them on track.
Understanding student motivations will help you teach to their specific needs, thus helping them to stay focused and motivated in achieving their goals.
Kirsty Murray taught English for a year at a collège (the French equivalent of a secondary school) in Villers-Cotterêts: a town in the north of France known for being the birthplace of Alexandre Dumas. She taught mixed-ability groups of 11- to 16-year-olds, with classes ranging in size from 10 to 35 students. Here, she shares the five lessons she learned from the experience.
