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This paper explores the link between leadership derailment risk and competency ambidexterity in a digitalized global environment. It also investigates the impact of balanced skills on leadership success in collectivist and assertive cultures.

A mixed methods approach is employed using survey data from 766 American and Japanese managers and eight interviews across four diverse cultures. It uncovers the intricate relationship between leadership derailment risk and competency ambidexterity.

Optimal competency ambidexterity lowers the risks of leadership incompetence (operationalized as derailment) but through distinct configurations of current and needed competencies, which both competencies should be congruent at high levels in uncertain environments. Furthermore, moderately high competency levels mitigate derailment risk in collaborative cultures (Japan and China), while very assertive cultures (USA and Netherlands) require high competencies to lower derailment danger and sustain leadership effectiveness.

Leaders must maintain competency ambidexterity, adapting to diverse contexts in our dynamic world. Recognizing cultural nuances is essential for enhancing managers’ skills in global talent management.

Cultural values shape competency configurations and managers should balance organizational and personal competencies for effective leadership. Qualitative insights complement quantitative data.

We very much regret to announce the resignation from the Aslib staff of Miss Jean Leslie, our Publications Officer since September 1956. Miss Leslie takes with her the best wishes of the membership to her new appointment as Publications Manager of the Embroiderers' Guild.

Managers with global responsibilities work across distance, across differences in country infrastructure, and across differences in cultural values and expectations. Although the work of global managers is in some respects the same as the work of domestic managers – they must provide leadership, direct action and manage information – in order to be effective, global managers must adapt how they do their work to the global context. Research indicates that success as a global leader depends significantly on the leader’s ability to interact effectively with others who are culturally different. To do this, leaders must be able to adapt their behavior appropriately to the particular circumstances in which they are working. Cultural adaptability is critical to successful global leadership. Research shows that cultural adaptability is related to a number of different experiences, both on and off the job. In this chapter we review the literature on cultural adaptability and leading across cultures; and building on what we know about learning from experience, we suggest developmental experiences which can help leaders develop their cultural adaptability.

This paper aims to show how changes in the workplace may have coincided with shifts in the importance of managerial skills over the past 15 years and to identify managerial skills needed at different levels and functions in today's work context.

This study, using survey methodology, is within the context of field research using 7,389 managers from 1988‐1992 and 7,410 managers from 2004‐2006.

Managerial skills important in the 1980s are relevant today. However, the importance of “relationships,” “administrative/organizational ability” and “time management” shifted over the last 15 years. This paper also identifies which managerial skills are important at different levels and across different functions of an organization in today's work environment.

Asking managers to choose which skills are important, rather than asking how important each skill is, may be a limitation. Future research should also consider the importance of managerial skills from a boss, peer, or direct report perspective.

The results have implications for training and development, selection and succession planning.

This study is unique since it uses the opinions of practicing managers totaling more than 14,000 over two distinct time periods to determine whether certain skills important (or not important) in the past are still important (or not important) today, and whether the importance of certain managerial skills has changed over a 15‐year period, and what skills are important across managerial levels and functions in today's organizational and work context.

Although individual difference variables are important in the prediction of leadership effectiveness, comparatively little empirical research has examined distal and proximal traits/characteristics that help managers lead effectively in organizations. The aim of this paper is to extend previous research by examining whether and how specific distal, narrow personality traits and the more proximal characteristic of political skill are related to decisiveness, a specific competency of leadership effectiveness, as rated from direct reports and peers.

Self-report data on political skill and personality traits (i.e. perceptiveness and affability) from 225 practicing managers from the US, together with other-report (i.e. peer and subordinate) ratings of their leadership effectiveness (i.e. decisiveness) were used to test the mediating effects of political skill.

Results show that political skill (i.e. the social astuteness dimension) mediated the relationships between narrow personality traits and evaluations of leadership effectiveness as rated by some, but not other rater sources. Specifically, the social astuteness dimension of political skill mediated the relationship between perceptiveness and decisiveness ratings from direct reports but not for ratings from peers, and the full political skill composite measure mediated the relationship between affability and decisiveness ratings from peers but not for ratings from direct reports.

Limitations include the availability of only two narrow personality traits, which constrained the scope of the possible mediation tests of all individual dimensions of political skill.

Political skill is shown to be a more proximal predictor of leadership effectiveness than personality dimensions. Thus, political skill should be considered over personality for emerging leaders. Further, differences in ratings due to source (i.e. peer and subordinate) indicate the need for organizational leaders to consider the source when evaluating effectiveness reports.

This study is one of the first to integrate the Ferris et al. model of political skill and the Zaccaro et al. distal-proximal trait model of leadership effectiveness.

Kibok Baik is a professor of management at the College of Business and Economics, and Head of Strategic Leadership Center, Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea. He earned his Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University of Houston. His research interests focus on leadership, cross-cultural issues, and human resource development in multinational corporations. He currently advises dozens of firms in Korea.John W. Boudreau, Ph.D., Professor of human resource studies at Cornell University is recognized worldwide for breakthrough research on the bridge between superior human capital, talent and sustainable competitive advantage. His research has received the Academy of Management’s Organizational Behavior New Concept and Human Resource Scholarly Contribution awards. He consults and conducts executive development with companies worldwide and has published more than 40 books and articles, including the best-selling Human Resource Management (Irwin, 1997), now in its eighth edition in multiple languages worldwide. In addition to HR metrics, Dr. Boudreau’s large-scale research studies and highly focused qualitative research have addressed decision-based HR, executive mobility, HR information systems and organizational staffing and development. Winner of the General Mills Award for teaching innovations, Dr. Boudreau also founded the Central Europe Human Resource Education Initiative, and directed the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS).Janet L. Bryant is a doctoral student in the Ph.D. program in industrial and organizational psychology at Old Dominion University. Her research interests include leadership, virtual work and cross-cultural issues. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.Maxine Dalton is an industrial/organizational psychologist who received her education at the University of South Florida. Her research interests include adult learning and executive development. Her current research is on leadership and social identity conflict in organizations. She has published numerous book chapters, articles and a recent book on global leadership.Donald D. Davis received his Ph.D. in psychology from Michigan State University in 1982, where he also served as assistant director of the Center for Evaluation and Assessment. He has been a professor of organizational psychology at Old Dominion University since that time. He served for seven years as director of the Ph.D. Program in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and has served as a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Asian Studies since its creation in 1989. He has been awarded two Fulbrights – Asian Scholar in Residence (with Zhong-ming Wang, Hangzhou University – now Zhejiang University – Hangzhou, China) and Senior Scholar (Wuhan University, Wuhan, China). He has also held a visiting appointment at the University of Virginia. His research interests include virtual organizations, organization change, technological innovation, cross-cultural organization and management practices, and Chinese organizations. He has published one book and a number of papers on these topics.Jennifer J. Deal is a Research Scientist at the Center for Creative Leadership in San Diego, California, concentrating on global leadership and managing the Emerging Leaders project, which focuses on generational issues in the workplace. She has published a number of articles on topics including generational issues in the workplace, working globally, executive selection, and women in management, and a recent book on global leadership. She holds a B.A. from Haverford College, and a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from The Ohio State University.Daniel Denison is Professor of Management & Organization at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland and is the Founder of Denison Consulting in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He is former Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is the author of Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness (1990) and a number of articles on the link between culture and business performance. His survey assessments of culture, teams, and leaders are widely used by many organizations around the world. His website, www.denisonculture.com has extensive information on his work.Joseph John DiStefano is Professor of Organizational Behavior and International Business at IMD International Institute for Management Development (Lausanne, Switzerland) and Professor Emeritus of the Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario (London, Canada). He was educated at R.P.I., Harvard Business School and Cornell University and has been active as a teacher, researcher and consultant on issues of cross-cultural effectiveness since the early 1970s.Peter J. Dowling (Ph.D., The Flinders University of South Australia) is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Professor of International Management & Strategy in the Division of Business, Law & Information Sciences, University of Canberra. Previous appointments include Foundation Professor of Management at the University of Tasmania, Monash University, the University of Melbourne, and California State University-Chico. He has also held visiting appointments at Cornell University, Michigan State University, the University of Paderborn (Germany) and the University of Bayreuth (Germany). His current research and teaching interests are concerned with International HRM and Strategic Management. His co-authored text International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context, published by South-West, is now in a third edition. He is a former national Vice-President of the Australian Human Resources Institute, past Editor of Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources (1987–1996), and a Life Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute.Chris Ernst is a Research Associate at the Center for Creative Leadership with an international background, and a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from North Carolina State University. His work centers on advancing the capacity for leadership in a diverse and globally interconnected world.Ping Ping Fu is an assistant professor of management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests are mainly in leadership and cross-cultural areas. She was the coordinator for the Chinese part for the Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE), and is now leading the CEO study in China. She has published in Journal of Organizational Behavior, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of International Applied Psychology and Leadership Quarterly.Paulo Goelzer is President of the IGA Institute, an educational foundation providing training to 40 countries in five languages and oversees their international operations. He began his career in the food industry very early, working in a family food business. He has also worked as a senior consultant for Strategy and Food Package Goods Industry Practice for a German/Brazilian consulting company, a researcher and consultant for the Brazilian Wholesaler Association (ABAD), and as a Marketing Director for a grocery wholesale company.