The report, based on a global survey of 11,500 business leaders - including 300 HRDs - found 61% of CEOs are putting emphasis on growing globally in a bid to improve revenue, than they were three years ago. But 60% of HR bosses surveyed are concerned their global leaders will not hit financial goals this year and 82% have reservations about long-term success of their organisations.
This is because the leaders who aspire to global opportiunities are "not necessarily" the ones who are best for the job. The report defines 'great global leaders' as those who: define a vision for regional growth and re-emphasise it; take more risks early on in their new-market tenure and learn from failures; aspire to leadership responsibility and ownership; are networked in the organisation and across silos; have enough cultural sensitivity that it won't derail them in their role or paralyse decision-making; spend more time with external stakeholders than with internal stakeholders to gain critical market intelligence; and identify and develop rising local talent to lay the foundation for longer-term sustainable success in the market.
But the research shows only 35% of those who are defined as 'great global leaders' actually want the opportunity to live abroad, although 51% want more global responsibilities and 78% want more leadership responsibilities.
Christoffer Ellehuus (pictured), MD EMEA, Corporate Executive Board, said: "This was a surprising finding. The initial hypothesis was that successful global leaders were more likely to look for those opportunities, but that is not what we found. It's not that they don't want global experiences, it's just not the first thing they are looking for.
"The first priority for these people is finding great leadership opportunities that allow for more ownership and influence. The fact is, regional opportunities often take you away from influence and opportunities at the corporate centre - there is a certain fear of being 'out of sight and out of mind' when choosing global leadership positions," Ellehuus said.
Perhaps as a result of this, 93% of HR respondents agree their business leaders have cost their organisation revenue due to lack of intercultural skills.
Ellehuus said: "We heard a lot of stories of leaders who failed due to lack of basic cultural awareness - I think the best way to rectify this is to start moving talent around globally much earlier in their careers. Take a company such as Schlumberger (oil services): it has a 'borderless career' philosophy that forces young talent to move on frequently, so once leaders get to senior positions, they have the global network and intercultural experiences to be effective."
But he added: "While inter- cultural fluency and awareness are important, it is not the defining characteristic of the most effective global leader.
"The way most organisations market these opportunities is wrong - the more you emphasise the 'global adventure', the more you are likely to get the wrong person in the role. We don't only need to look for leaders who speak multiple languages and who have had an international upbringing as the ones who can effectively fill global roles.
"The design of the role, access to information and opportunity for global influence matter much more and it is something which is much more in the hands of HRDs to do something about."
