The Personal Side of International Business
When we think of business, the first thing that comes to mind is “money”. Sure, business is about money. Financial Statements, Revenues, ROI, Profitability.
What is the one thing that makes business possible?
There is only one thing that makes business possible: People. You need people who think of what to sell, people who produce these things, and people who buy them.
Business is about People. Neglecting this fact can be the first step towards failure. Even when things seems to work great in the beginning, business need a stronger foundation that sustains their success also in the long run.
This is true for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners: They need more than a brilliant business idea and their passion, if they want to build a company that is profitable and sustainable for more than just one year.
This is true for Organizations that want to go global: They need more than a skilled executive to be sent to the other side of the world, if they want to get a return on the huge amount of money they are spending on a production plant or a representative office abroad.
Do you know your target market?
In marketing they say that you need to know your target market in and out. This is even more critical when it comes to international business, because even if your target market is the same all over the world, cultural differences make a difference to your efforts and to your success.
Do you need to know the people you hire? What works for German employees does not work for Thai employees. The habits, the mentality and the expectations are different, just think about quality standards and leadership styles.
And then there’s someone else you definitely need to know when you start your own business, or when you move abroad on an expatriate assignment: Yourself. What are you really good at? What stresses you the most? What do you need to feel present and full of energy, in order to produce the excellent results you and others expect from you?
Critical Success Factors
At EffectiveActions we believe that the two biggest success factors that are often neglected when operating at international level are:
- Self-Leadership and Self-Management
- Cross-Cultural Awareness (and the ability to deal with it)
Self-Leadership
- Knowing your strengths, weaknesses and threats
- Knowing what you really want from what you are doing
- Aligning details with the big picture
- Managing your energy
- Managing your thoughts, words and emotions
- Organizing your work effectively
- Setting healthy boundaries
Cross-Cultural Awareness (and the ability to deal with it)
- Getting to know who you will be working with
- Open-mindedness and Flexibility
- Adapting to a foreign culture
- Creating supporting connections at all levels
- Engaging people in the achievement of a common goal
- Managing stakeholders’ expectations: you, boss, local teams, spouse and kids
One more important success factor
Choosing the right partner! The best Leaders are the ones who surround themselves with the right people to support them in all those areas that are not their core-strengths, or that they do not find adequate time for.
We can be your partner! We assist global Entrepreneurs, Expatriates and Multinational Companies in achieving long-term success in their ventures, by helping them work more effectively both at strategic and at personal levels.
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