Jennie.Walker

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Bio: 

Dr. Jennie Walker is Director of Global Learning for the Najafi Global Mindset Institute at Thunderbird School of Global Management. She is also leads the consulting firm Luminary Global L.L.C. Her research and work focus on the most effective methods to develop individual and teams for success in complex, diverse, and increasingly global environments. She has worked in human resources development since 1995 and began specializing in corporate leadership development in 2002, designing and delivering leadership programs for several Fortune 500 companies in multiple industries. Dr. Walker is a frequent presenter at professional conferences, including SHRM, Academy of International Business (AIM), American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and the American Educational Research Association. She has been published in AIB Insights, The MBA Women’s Guide to Success, and Human Resources People and Strategy Journal. Her book, “Developing Your Global Mindset: The Handbook for Successful Global Leaders” is widely available June 2013. Dr. Walker is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Denver.

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Jennie Walker

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11 years 10 months

Articles by Jennie Walker

Integrating diverse perspectives is not synonymous with compromise. Compromise is defined as “an agreement or settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions” (Merriam-Webster). Essentially, each party has to give something up in a compromise. While compromise may be one way to integrate diverse perspectives where there are incongruent goals, many times in cross-cultural situations the goals are not necessarily incongruent. They are simply not understood or fully explored, leading people to assume compromise is the only way forward.

September 12, 2013

As organizations have become more welcoming and, in many cases, keenly interested in actively recruiting diverse employees there is much discussion about what constitutes an inclusive workplace.  This is a challenge for many organizations at the local and national levels. 

When organizations go global, or have an international mix of diverse employees at a single location, inclusion takes on added complexity through additional layers of cultural considerations such as language, local cultural norms, and sometimes greater divides in socio-economic privileges among employees. 

July 11, 2013

Assigning someone to a global role who is unprepared or disinterested in it can have long-term effects on both the individual and the company.

June 6, 2013

What is the ultimate goal of talent management?  The answer depends on whom you ask within the field.  For recruiters, they may say it is to find the best people for the job.  For trainers, developing employees for success in their current and future roles may be the end goal.  At the HR director level, the goal may be retention and succession planning for the best and brightest.  Talent management has many different facets, making it tempting to focus on the most immediate and salient goals within an HR professional’s job responsibilities.  But all of these facets have one very important t

April 22, 2013

In last month’s blog, we discussed the importance of providing skilled coaching during experiential learning activities to produce desired developmental results.  It is essentially an insurance policy for making experiential learning successful.  Since these activities typically involve a high degree of personal and organizational investment of time and resources, their design is critical for return on investment.  So let’s examine how to structure coaching throughout these experiences.

November 5, 2012

“You cannot build a reputation on what you are planning to do.”  Henry Ford’s words are resonant in a time where HR leaders are tasked with a myriad of planning activities: strategic action planning, performance plans, development planning, succession plans.  Planning is important, but it is how your plans translate into reality that builds your reputation. 

May 2, 2012

Last month, we chatted about what global leaders need to know—Intellectual Capital, Psychological Capital, and Social Capital--and where to start with their development—by leveraging development opportunities and tools already in your organization.  Once you’ve identified existing resources, what do you do with them? 

February 22, 2012
There are 9,497 books with ‘global leadership’ in the title on Amazon.com, as of January 12, 2012.  Yet multinational organizations continue to struggle with how to develop their global leaders.  We see that daily in our work with these organizations at the Najafi Global Mindset Institute at Thunderbird School of Global Management.   
 
Why is global leadership development so difficult to figure out?  
 
January 26, 2012

If you have read anything about leadership in the last 10 years, the case for leadership at all levels of an organization is clear.  Executives, managers, and employees must all use personal leadership skills in their various functions and departments to accomplish goals and build relationships along the way.  Curiously, though, we are hesitant to widely embrace the notion of global leadership. 

November 29, 2011