Think Globally, Act Locally

Global leadership does not necessarily have to mean leading a global enterprise. We can each lead on a global level if we think of the global implications of every action we take. I have tried to stress this distinction and that we need leaders of every sort, in every walk of life, who have taken on the idea of thinking through their actions to a level of global impact. This is the base power of transformational leadership. Many executives who rise to a level where they have global organizations are often caught with the same struggle of “How do I lead globally?” The individual transformation is just one of perspective and alignment. It is learning to start with a global perspective and aligning our actions with it.

Let us take the challenge to do this one simple thing. It is an old saying, but it is perpetually appropriate: Think globally, and act locally. This is something we can do in every aspect of our life, and it becomes a discipline. The term globally can be thought of as a larger level of system, and we can learn to align actions across multiple levels of system. This might mean that I think about my own actions, how they will impact my work group or my office, and how that will impact the company direction. Are they in alignment? We look for a consistent directive correlation, so that an improvement in one area translates into improvements in all areas.

This is a key skill area for executives who have reached the level of organizational responsibility where they are looking for enterprise impact of individual actions. When we think of large systems, we can never really know how impacts will play out, but we can imagine. We can create hypotheses, which then will lead us to informed and conscious action.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, take responsibility for your actions at the largest possible level. Think about the global impacts of what you are doing or not doing. Find some issue in the world that you truly care about and begin considering the impact of your every action (or inaction) related to that issue.