Close: Leading Well Across Distance and Cultures

by Ken Cochrum

Designed to be read on a two- or three-hour flight by busy executives and ministry leaders, " Leading Well Across Distance and Cultures" flattens the steep learning curve required to be effective in 21st century global leadership. How do you effectively lead, motivate, inspire, and coach someone you lead who lives in a different country, culture, or time zone? When polled about actual time spent in face-to-face and mediated communication, most distance leaders admitted that they only had 20-40 hours of communication per year! That's only five days. Ken Cochrum presents an easy-to-grasp paradigm of servanthood, distance leadership, and cross-cultural leadership based on three years of research and personal interviews with more than 80 global leaders. Contents. Part 1 sets the context for global leadership. Chapter 1 explores the nature of the five-day leadership challenge. Most global leaders get no more than a total of 40 hours per year of face-to-face and phone/online contact with those they lead. How does one empower another to lead effectively the other 360 days per year? Chapter 2 looks at the current reality of the changing nature of global leadership in the 21st century. It gives us hard data that defines the work environment and its impact on workers. Chapter 3 calls us back to the scope of global leadership to which we are called by God in the midst of the existing culture. Chapter 4 surveys how the apostle Paul practiced servant leadership across distance and cultures during the rapid expansion of the first century church and gave us a model to follow today. Part 2 explores three significant factors that work against effective global leadership power, distance, and culture. It proposes a fresh, research-grounded paradigm for 21st century global leaders. Chapter 5 summarizes discussions and interviews with 80 top leaders on what they really want and need from those who lead them. Chapter 6 proposes servant leadership as the primary means to overcome power issues based on leader egos (yours and theirs). Chapter 7 deals with overcoming physical and psychological distance, particularly through the wise use of technology and travel. Chapter 8 points out the challenges we face interacting across culture and gives us some framework from which to navigate these challenges sensitively. Each of these three chapters includes what we’ve learned from research among top leaders and organizations, some real-life examples, essential leader competencies, and a few highly recommended resources. Chapter 9 challenges you to reflect on how you will apply what you’ve learned. “Leading well, and developing other leaders, is hard enough when you only have to walk down the hallway to complete the task. But leading across many miles and over barriers of language and culture can feel utterly overwhelming. In Close, Ken Cochrum speaks with authority on the subject of leadership. He himself is an exceptionally strong leader, and he has invested his life in developing other leaders, both close at hand and across great distance. It has been observed that the Church will only rise to the level of its leadership. Ken helps us to raise the level of our own effectiveness in a new era of global leadership challenges. I am grateful for his insights shared in this book, and especially for his investment in my own life.” Dr. BRIAN G. FISHER, Senior Pastor, Grace Bible Church

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction

148 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2013

Reviews

[Manuel A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Directional Book for Leaders

[David Bedolla G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for anyone who leads a remote team or multiple teams. Work is changing post covid-19, this book gives practical help to be a leader that serves the people on a team.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read last month but only now logging it. Easy to read and with a lot of wisdom in how to ‘lead and love over distance’. This is sometimes referred to as virtual teams … a reality of leading when not right next to your team everyday. Global, dispersed, remote, virtual - whatever it is called, this is a practical help. Ken brings his own cultural perspective to what he writes, as we all do. Refreshingly, he is aware of this.

[Tim Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keen resource for those leading at a distance

Offers unmatched practice examples for how to grow as one leading across distance and cultures. As one who leads others whom I have little face-to-face interactions with I found his advice challenging--both in perspective and practice.

[Bob Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persist through Part 1. The book started very slowly, like the research report that it is. It seemed to me that Cochrum was trying to convince the reader that he/she needed to learning about leading a dispersed team or a cross-cultural team. But, why would someone pick up the book if that wasn't the case.

He got to his topic, finally, by Part 2 and the book ended well. There are some excellent lists of universal (cross-cultural) qualities of a good leader and universal characteristics of a poor leader. Good advice on being aware of one's own ethnocentrism and how that impacts one's ability to lead well. Good insights into how one's own culture shapes one's assumptions and leadership. I thought he fell a bit short on talking about how to communicate in the 360 days that are not face-to-face (early in the book, Cochrum discusses the time a dispersed team is physically together and concludes that it's generally no more than 5 day's worth) — nothing particularly new or insightful. All-in-all, it's a good book.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

how do you as a leader deal with the fact that today your team may span 12 time zones and as many cultures? Ken is a colleague and friend (disclosure), and he is one of the most clear thinking leaders I've had the privilege of working alongside. This new book is a great resource for anyone who is leading in a complex global organization or ministry. The combination of his own research and practical examples make this book a tool to keep on your desk as you're having those skype conversations.

check it out- it's worth it!