ABSTRACT
While companies want and need more global leaders, in a recent survey the author conducted, only 19.7 percent of the firms indicated that they had a comprehensive global leader development system in place. This does not mean that firms are not identifying and developing more global leaders. It simply means that the demand for them is going up faster than the increase in supply. In combination, this suggests that the global leader talent gap is going to be with us for a long time. For the individual leader, it suggests that reader should not wait for or depend on the company for readers global leadership development. However, the lack of established development programs is also a great opportunity. The expense of international transfers causes most firms to restrict them to more senior managers. It is always a temptation for senior leaders to try to economize when it comes to developing people at mid-levels in the organization.
