ABSTRACT
From the early 1990s forward, a growing number of scholars have studied global leaders and attempted to delineate the competencies that are critical to their success. Reviews of this literature found that social scientists have delineated over 200 competencies that influence global leadership effectiveness. Competencies are distributed roughly equally across the three categories—69 of the 207 competencies fall into the Business and Organizational Savvy grouping, with 63 and 60 competencies in the Managing People and Relationships and Managing Self groups respectively. One group of global leadership competencies relates to a practical understanding of business and organizational realities and how to get things done efficiently and effectively. Business and organizational acumen appears to entail five composite competencies: vision and strategic thinking, business savvy, organizational savvy, managing communities, and leading change. The second group of global leadership competencies is directed toward people and relationships. More broadly, they are focused on managing people and interpersonal relationships.
