1. The first disconnect is failing to understand what global leadership means. Mendenhall and Bird argue that global leadership requires the ability to cope with four aspects of the complexity of global business. These include the: 

• • Multiplicity of different stakeholders and different cultures one encounters 
  • Interdependence of global business organizations 
  • Ambiguity that global perspectives can bring to the interpretation of data 
  • Ever-increasing rate and complexity of change. 

Coping with these aspects of globalization requires boundary spanning skills, which leaders possess in varying degrees, making a one-size-fits-all global leadership training initiative ill-advised. 

2. The second disconnect is the failure to understand the core competencies of global leadership. According to the researchers, this often takes the form of privileging technical competencies, such as deep knowledge of the industry including market and regulatory conditions around the globe, over social competencies such as interpersonal communication skills and inquisitiveness. 

Mendenhall and Bird advise organizations to keep three things in mind when attempting to cultivate global leaders: 

1. Each manager will come with his/her own unique configuration of competencies
2. Managers are best utilized by matching their competencies with the demands of a given position
3. Developing global competencies requires personal motivation on the part of the manager

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1. Ahead of the meeting: Collect information to tap into the unique expertise of relevant participants before a majority viewpoint (or "group think") is established. 
2. During the meeting: Form the goal, to get clarity around the decision to be made. Apply "conscious thought" to the problem or decision by establishing criteria and weighing trade-offs. Eliminate unacceptable alternatives using rational mental processes or conscious thought.  
3. Allow the unconscious mind to participate: Delay making a decision and instead, reconvene your group the next day. By letting the information percolate and intervening distractions to occur, better decisions can be made (ideally during sleep). If it's not possible to defer by a day, having a meal break or taking a walk is recommended over no break at all. 

1. Educate women and men about second-generation gender bias
2. Create safe "identity workspaces" that support women's transition to bigger roles
3. Anchor women's development in leadership purpose rather than how women are perceived

The researchers make the point that most workers, men and women, fail to notice the subtle and often unintentional ways that bias arrest female development in modern organizations. Unconscious biases can make women feel less connected to male colleagues, and push women into more limiting career paths, but education can help both men and women be aware of such biases and allow them to correct for them. 

The creation of safe "identity workspaces," such as coaching relationships, leadership programs, or peer groups, gives professional women a space wherein they can process the sometimes frustrating and contradictory performance feedback that often arrests their professional development. Similarly-positioned women can share experiences and give feedback on how to cope with and overcome such roadblocks. 

Finally, women too often fall into the trap of trying to manage perceptions of them in terms of gender. The researchers say such efforts are a fruitless trap and that women should instead focus their energies on their leadership purpose: cultivating behaviors and acquiring skills that advance the purposes for which they stand, regardless of perception. This may involve realizing the utility of activities like networking that women may consider unfeminine or inauthentic, and reframing them as means to a larger purpose.