ABSTRACT
History is graced with leaders who fit most people’s definition of global leaderspolitical leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, military leaders like Alexander the Great, and spiritual leaders like Mother Theresa-whose impact and followers extended far beyond the borders of their own country. Such famous figures often capture the imagination and loyalty of a broad audience due to the confluence of their unique vision and its relevance to the environmental context. Difficult times demand constructive leaders just as surely as destructive leaders create difficult times. Today’s global leaders, however, are not necessarily famous; there are more and more of them performing less visible leadership roles in an increasingly complex, ambiguous, multicultural environment. Business CEOs with a reputation as change agents on a global scale are perhaps the first group that comes to mind for business students and practitioners, but people who integrate acquired companies into large transnational firms, who command coalition forces in the military, who run global non-profit organizations, and who lead multinational political organizations are all examples of current global leaders. Our definition of global leadership does not restrict global leaders to an organization’s upper echelon; anyone who leads global change efforts in the public, private, and non-profit sector is a global leader.
