On becoming a Global Manager
Richa, in her recent blog posts about her first-hand observation on how “The War for Talent Heats Up” in India. Although I can completely empathize with Richa’s frustration, I can also see why the “hot” techies are running after employers who profess to offer “a few dollars more.”
Young and aggressive, many of them are perhaps oblivious to the longer term opportunities that a global career in IT has in store. Surprisingly, programmers and software professionals in America seem to be more astute about globalization.
The recent article in Fast Company magazine “You're a new tech grad looking for work. Check out Mysore” makes for interesting reading. The story talks about how new graduates like Brandon Pletcher -- a 23-year-old computer-engineering grad from the University of Arizona and Nicole Dun, A freshly minted 22-year-old computer-science graduate of the University of California at Davis, are globalizing their careers.
In 2003 after a decade of eventful career in the global IT arena I decided to head travel to Bangalore and observe first hand what offshoring phenomenon was all about. What better place to do it than at Infosys? My observations and research lead me to write Offshoring IT Services. In the book, I have given several case-studies on how individuals embarking on a software career, even in the west, are closely observing the globalization of the industry. Many are also positioning themselves to acquire the right skills.
I had talked about some of the attributes that Global Managers should acquire; the key skills include:
- Project Management Skills
- Strong Communication Skills
- Technical and domain knowledge
- Open to Travel
- Cultural Sensitivity
- Outsourcing experience
- Updated on Geopolitical trends
It is apparent that Pletcher and Dun have already taken a page out of the chapter, and are walking the talk. They are already experiencing the intricacies of working in multicultural teams and will probably graduate to managing global project soon.
