How leaders can influence global thinking and local action

The Role of the Leader in International Sales

Closely linked to the modernization of organizational structures is the implementation of a transformed understanding of leadership. For many years, the role of a leader involved giving instructions to employees (sometimes detailed execution instructions), monitoring their implementation, and evaluating the results. This understanding of leadership has undergone fundamental changes in the last decade. Far from the so-called "solitary, authoritarian, and absolute" leaders with clear-cut answers (Heroic leadership style: Yukl, 1999, cited in Northouse, 2007:193), especially younger employees demand a new approach to leading them. Even though experiences from the management level (formal, personal, and professional) are still valid and employees appreciate their sharing, it is also true that leaders can learn as much from their employees as vice versa. In our context, this comes with an appreciation for the local employee who ultimately maintains relationships with the end customer and thus creates value for the company.

In principle, an international organization (especially when incorporating matrix elements) will only succeed if all employees interact with mutual trust and respect.

The developmental steps of a leadership culture depicted in Figure 1 require respect and trust in this manner. The more a company strives for success, the more important the behaviour of leaders and employees becomes as a differentiating factor from competitors.

The Changing Leadership Role

The implicit agreement (Psychological contract) between leaders and employees goes far beyond the rights and obligations of an employment contract. The goal of every leader must be to ensure the safety and well-being of the employees. The security generated by these efforts creates satisfaction among the employees, laying the foundation for performance that goes beyond just completing tasks. As the business world faces increasingly complex problems, the creativity of employees is needed more than ever. Bala (2013) presents several points of consideration:

The creativity and involvement of employees create a faster and more agile organization.

All stakeholders in the value chain are called upon to determine what the customer perceives as value (= buying decision criterion).

Employees, based on their internal position, can actively question and propose constructive improvements for slow and inefficient business structures.

Challenging the status quo also questions the role of a leader in the existing hierarchical structure. Leaders are transforming from issuers of directives and evaluators of results to designers who question business processes and involve employees in the changes. In a matrix sales organization, the headquarters become a hub for information. In addition to their traditional leadership tasks, leaders increasingly take on coaching and mentoring employees as a central responsibility. It is also necessary to question whether leaders in the headquarters continue to provide added value to the organization and what that value looks like: Can leaders reduce complexity, collaboratively develop values with the team, and create and foster trust? Especially when structures are questioned, leaders must be able to handle the fears of employees at the central office, show understanding, and promote new tasks. The goal is to establish a value-oriented leadership (Management by Trust and Objectives). While the company goals are determined overall, country organizations have a say in the "what" (What should be achieved? Are the goals attainable?) and "how" (How do we proceed to achieve the goals?). Based on the author's experience, this approach opens up new, unforeseen options for action (due to a holistic view of markets and possibilities), and risks are recognized and discussed earlier. Ultimately, the aim is to protect the core of the company (brand, key products, values) while subjecting processes and support processes to reconsideration in order to act more flexibly, interconnected, and locally. For example, Google has significantly advanced experimentation in peripheral areas, and new long-term projects and areas of innovation were outsourced. This allowed the software giant to continue its core business stably while leaving enough room for innovations and new business fields in the periphery (Hauptmann, Waldner, Heinz, del Blasi, and Munos Melendez, 2018). A value-oriented leadership style played a significant role in this, providing guidelines and security while granting employees the necessary flexibility.

• Conversely, adhering to rigid lines and systems that no longer correspond to market dynamics and customer expectations may result in a potential loss of personnel. Particularly, young people are not loyal to what they perceive as a stagnating employer where they cannot live their values and feel that their thinking and effort are not appreciated. According to the author's experience, many SMEs do not progress beyond the stage of a performance culture (Fig. 1, Stage 5). This is largely because a community and network structure (Fig. 1, Stages 6 and 7) rely more on each employee's individual initiative, collaboration, and motivation. Since many of these aspects cannot be directly measured and cannot be dictated by leaders, the new leadership style requires cooperation from both employees and leaders.