From the Inside Flap
If the twentieth century was "the American century," the twenty-first century may well be "the global century." Globalization spreads wealth across the world, opens new consumer markets, and reorients the dynamics of the American market. It's a different world, but it's a world full of new business opportunities open to anyone with the courage to seize them.
Successful decision-making in this global age requires much more than just a typical business-school education and the usual best practices. Success requires a new and different set of competencies, particularly the ability to coordinate, communicate, and cooperate across borders and cultures. Executives must be able to transcend their biases to adapt to today's economy, learn to establish opportunities for future growth, and lead multinational corporations with strategies unrestrained by culture or nationality.
Shaking the Globe is a modern guide to this new brand of global business leadership. It's far too late to turn back the clock on globalization, even if we wanted to do so. Small and large businesses deal with this change as a matter of life or death. Adaptation requires the alignment of all employees to appreciate distant local customs, dig up new business opportunities, and master the art of entrepreneurship in an interconnected world.
Combining her extensive international business experience and research with practical resources like the FISO Factor® Assessment Tool—which measures your ability to both Fit In and Stand Out—McGarvie offers Shaking the Globe as a powerful, modern guide to effective decision-making in a world of constant change and shifting dynamics. For those leaders or aspiring leaders who are courageous enough to lead in a challenging business environment, opportunity is everywhere. Stand up and grab it, with this powerful guide to modern decision-making.
From the Back Cover
Praise for Shaking the Globe"Every manager needs to see the new world through several lenses. Blythe provides those lenses. You will broaden your thinking and worldview by reading this essential book and understanding how interdependent the world is."
—Ram Charan, PhD, business consultant and coauthor of the bestseller Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
"McGarvie offers a framework for addressing the dramatic financial and demographic shifts in a multipolar world. Her perspective is one of engagement, not isolationism, as she urges executives to become global citizens receptive to diverse cultures—or risk losing in the interconnected commercial arena. Like Thomas Friedman, McGarvie seeks to banish globalization's misconceptions while instead advocating a path that anticipates and adapts to change in ways that produce effective strategic action. None of this is easy, but McGarvie is an accessible guide on this rich and rewarding journey."
—Dipak C. Jain, Sandy and Morton Goldman Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies and Dean of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
"Reading Shaking the Globe is like spending time with Blythe herself. It reflects her enormous curiosity about every facet of our changing world, broad span of knowledge, intelligent observations, and engaging outlook on individual success. Enjoy!"
—Tamara J. Erickson, McKinsey Award–winning author of Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work
"This is a must-read for men and women who aspire to lead in a global economy. McGarvie cleverly combines a sophisticated but understandable rendering of the global business context with examples of challenges surmounted by real people, and questions that are guaranteed to stop you dead in your tracks . . . and challenge you to see the world in a completely different way."
—Robert J. Thomas, author of Crucibles of Leadership: How to Learn from Experience to Become a Great Leader
"Achieving sustainable growth and managing risks concern all corporate leaders, especially CEOs and board members. Shaking the Globe stands out as a definitive work on mastering leadership to successfully compete globally. McGarvie challenges us to rethink the qualities, competencies, and requirements of those who will fit and be successful."
—Gayle Mattson, global head, CEO, and Board Practice for DHR International
