Oct 20, 2007

International Trade Leadership

Many consultants can tell you how to act or what not to do often well after you make a mistake or miss an opportunity. Deloitte is a management consultant that practices the proactive leadership style that the company preaches.

Below is a list of 10 tips for effective global trade leadership from Deloitte's annual meeting at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto during the first week of October.

  1. Know yourself. Understand your strengths and weaknesses so you don't make promises you can't keep.
  2. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Reach out and expand the knowledge base available to solve problems.
  3. Invest in others. Win loyalty through generosity to others; give and you will get.
  4. Forge the strongest team. Recruit people around you who are smarter than you are.
  5. Run effective meetings. Nail down what you have to do before, during and after meetings to be an effective chair and/or contributor.
  6. Be prepared. Improve your credibility and authority through advance preparation including appropriate research.
  7. Maintain a professional tone in all written communication. Assume that every e-mail, memo and letter that you write will become part of the public record.
  8. Stay positive. Leaders inspire people with positive energy to keep going no matter what.
  9. Dream big. Keep your vision moving, think creatively and raise the bar.
  10. It's not about you. Forget about being a nice person or a diva - focus on getting the job done. People will admire you all the more for it.

Whether you're a trade consultant in India or an exporter in Chile, these principles will propel you to success in business projects around the world.

Source: Robert Sirman, Director of the Canadian Council for the Arts (June 2007).