In today’s borderless world, an organisation’s growth is often dependent on how well it can compete beyond its country’s boundaries. Even as competition becomes fiercer, there are abundant opportunities for organisations to excel. The reality, however, is that many organisations fail in their globalisation endeavours.

Such companies often fail, not because they do not have great products, or the right local partners, but because their leaders are unable to effectively navigate cultural differences in their new environments. In fact, research shows that nearly 50% of leaders posted beyond their country boundaries perform ineffectively . These leaders nevertheless are smart people, technically and functionally experienced and have successfully climbed the corporate ladder back home.

For them to fail is unthinkable, yet that is all too often the reality. However, there is hope, as we can still learn from the remaining 50% that have been successful in leading globally.

There are many factors that contribute to effective global leadership, but there is one thing that stands out for Yvan Legris, Global CEO of Aon Hewitt Consulting: having the unquenchable curiosity to understand why and how things work in different cultures.

Speaking with HQ Asia, Legris shared that coming from the tiny island of Mauritius fuelled his curiosity to explore the vast world beyond him. Upon completing his training as an actuary in London, he requested his managers allow him to work in a foreign country. And, at 26, he was given the opportunity to run an operation in the Caribbean.

While the project was technical and Legris had experience working on similar projects, running this business was an entirely new experience. Legris quickly learned the daily chores of marketing, building client relationships, dealing with government legislation and compliance, and so forth. Yet, the key to his success, as explained by Legris, was his curiosity.

Solving client problems through curiosity

During the early years of his career, Legris realised that the role of a risk consultant is to understand client challenges and to help solve them. And, the most effective tool through which this can be achieved is curiosity. But, according to Legris, curiosity should never be used as a gimmick to sell, but rather as a sincere effort to understand the needs of others. Indeed, he believes that only ‘sincere curiosity’ will bring great returns in the long-term.  

Multiple perspectives

Gaining multiple perspectives is important in a diverse and complex global environment. Legris highlighted that talking to one person gives us a single perspective, but by talking to three or four persons and synthesising their input gives us a more holistic picture.

Many times, well-meaning leaders curb their curiosity by ‘playing it safe’ because of the fear of being seen as incompetent. Common phrases such as “curiosity killed the cat” add to their apprehension. Yet, childlike (as oppose to ‘childish’) naivety and unadulterated curiosity will permit a leader to ask lots of questions and experiment with new approaches. It can be risky and mistakes can happen, but they are often forgiven and forgotten if leaders ask and listen with sincerity.  

Unlocking the ‘why’ of culture

Curiosity helps people to acknowledge and accept cultural differences. Without such acknowledgment, no real learning can take place. As we are not often aware of our own culture, curiosity can also help us understand our own culture.

For Legris, history, geography and philosophy are the foundations of culture – indeed, his reading of V S Naipaul’s work on Trinidad greatly helped him to be effective there. His advice to today’s leaders is to spend more time with their global operations. Real change only happens when leaders truly understand the ‘why’ of culture’ and not just the ‘what’. Curiosity also helps generate new and creative solutions, and presents opportunities for global leaders to understand the perspectives of others. This can contribute to better innovation, communication, and collaboration in our increasingly diverse world.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it could save – and turbo-boost – your career as a global leader!

This article was first published in HQ Asia (Print) Issue 05 (2013).