| Pharmaceutical companies have to develop a | | | | way. Just as with the American culture, other |
| leadership approach to effectively deal with today's | | | | cultures may be strongly biased towards their ways, |
| confusing business climate, while at the same time | | | | thus, it is necessary to find a consistent way across |
| address and rise above any cultural differences that | | | | boundaries while at the same time allowing for local |
| could limit the value of development. | | | | preferences. Also important is to maintain key |
| Nowadays, leadership is the key to maintaining | | | | communication points in mind as markets globalize, |
| competitive advantage in the market, thus, pharma | | | | organizations grow, and employees move to virtual |
| companies must center on developing leaders to face | | | | teams: |
| the coming global challenges. | | | | - Cultural dynamics. Pay attention to the interaction |
| Even though a group of leaders from different | | | | of different communities in virtual teams and the |
| regions may think they have reached an agreement, | | | | linguistic value inspired, as well as behavioral problems |
| the cultural differences in language, meaning, and | | | | that may arise. |
| context, may influence everyone's understanding of | | | | - Changed working conditions. In order to synchronize |
| the commitment involved in completely different | | | | global communication, there may have to be some |
| ways. In order to get positive results across different | | | | compromise in terms of standard working practices. |
| cultural environments and avoid waste, there are 6 | | | | - Awareness. Some employees may not realize they |
| crucial principles that every pharma company must | | | | are a part of a virtual team, requiring training in new |
| enforce: | | | | ways to work. |
| 1. Be clear about why its important to forge leaders | | | | - Project phases. Employees have to be trained in |
| Every leadership effort has to have clarity about its | | | | which communication channels work best for |
| purpose; however, in the global arena, it is vital, in | | | | different projects and their phases. |
| order to protect resources, create rapid change, and | | | | - Roles and responsibilities. Team members must |
| ensure perfect focus. | | | | recognize the skills, strengths, and weaknesses of |
| | | | everyone in the group. |
| 2. Use customer input to guide leadership | | | | - Quick fixes. In virtual teams it is easy to intensify |
| development | | | | minor problems because of the lack of human |
| The rule now is to pay attention to what the | | | | context, causing blockages in the process, thus, |
| customer expects and demands in regards to better | | | | communication breakdowns must be solved fast. |
| service and high quality products. There is | | | | 5. Build globally, adapt locally |
| competition rising from places we never imagined, | | | | The global basis must be clearly defined, this is, the |
| and the way we communicate is being drastically | | | | fundamental concepts that should have the same |
| transformed by technology, thus, leadership | | | | meaning no matter where you are, and the use of |
| development has to offer the skills and capacities to | | | | local examples and methods to help trainees find a |
| help a company excel in this highly competitive, global | | | | way to apply what they learned. |
| market. The easiest way to make this happen is to | | | | 6. Get sponsors that deliver |
| closely observe the customers from every country a | | | | Sponsors at headquarters and each level of |
| company serves and to include this data in the | | | | management must be enrolled and committed to the |
| leadership development program. | | | | leadership program in order to deal effectively with |
| 3. Involve the line | | | | variables like distance, time, language, and culture, |
| The leadership development design process must | | | | otherwise, the focus and importance of the initiative |
| involve the people it is directed towards, in order to | | | | could be lost across borders. |
| encourage ownership of the program and the results. | | | | Pharmaceutical consulting firms are there to help |
| This will also help develop solutions to problems that | | | | pharma companies understand how leadership |
| arise due to differences between several markets. | | | | development must move to a completely new global |
| Leadership development design and implementation | | | | perspective in order to keep competitive advantage |
| only succeeds globally when it helps people improve | | | | under the new global equation. |
| performance in a highly competitive world. | | | | If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. |
| 4. Find the way to go global | | | | They'll thank you for it. If you have a blog or |
| In order to be global, a program must offer solutions | | | | website, you can link to it or even post it to your |
| that work across cultural and geographic settings. | | | | own site (don't forget to mention as the original |
| Global initiatives work best if they represent a | | | | source). |
| 'neutral' way, instead of one or the other culture's | | | | |