ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author focuses on the successful development steps that companies can take to complete the bridge and fix their global leadership gaps. From our research, it is clear that international assignments are by far and away the most powerful means of developing global leaders. Two dimensions underlie this simple matrix. Individuals with zero latent global leadership potential are easy to spot during international assignments because they are so thick-headed that they don’t even realize that they’ve smacked their head and made cultural blunders. Individuals in this group recognize that they have smacked their head and are willing to change but tend to take a narrow view of the changes that are needed. People positioned in this fourth category are both valuable and somewhat rare. Given the power of international assignments in developing global leadership capabilities, it would be tempting to encourage firms to send people left and right on these assignments.
