真有那么多“全球CEO”吗？

    其次，培养一名CEO所需要的时间也是全球CEO比例不高的一个重要原因。2012年新任CEO的年龄中值为53岁，这些CEO的职业生涯很可能在上个世纪八十年代中期就开始了，而那个时候的企业全球化进程远落后于今天。那时，许多公司根本就没有意识到要像今天一样，让富有潜力的年轻管理人员获得足够广泛的海外工作经历。

    将来的CEO可能会获得足够丰富的海外经历，但那重要吗？如今，一种共同的商业语言已经在全球范围内普及。大公司的经营管理变得极度复杂——市场份额、客户细分、新品研发、投资回报、风险管理——来自不同国家的经营管理人员都能理解这些问题。企业高管可能再也无需通过去世界各地长期工作来学习这种商业语言，但仍旧能成为跨国公司的成功CEO。

    海外生活经历可以从很大程度上帮助CEO深入了解某个特定国家的市场——这是我的个人经验总结。我曾远离美国生活了13年，在海外工作、养家。当我成为一家公司的CEO后，这段经历被证明具有不可估量的价值。不过，如今的CEO日常工作就包括很大一部分的跨国出差，因此海外经历的价值也不像过去那样异常宝贵了。

    也许在将来，一个人能不能被称为“全球CEO”与他的出生地或海外经历时间长短并无任何关系。重要的是，不管在哪生活，你得理解全球化的经营管理方式。（财富中文网）

    Ken Favaro是博斯公司（Booz & Company）的资深合伙人，也是该公司年度CEO研究报告的撰稿人之一。

    译者：默默

    The length of time it takes to create a CEO also plays a part. The median age of the incoming CEO in 2012 was 53. These executives probably began their careers in the mid-1980s, when the business world was considerably less global than it is today. Many companies simply didn't feel the need to give promising young executives the wide range of geographical experience their counterparts would likely get today.

    It's possible that future chief executives will have gained considerable international experience, but will it matter? Already, a common business language has taken hold throughout the world. Market share, customer segmentation, new-product development, return on invested capital, risk management — doing business at the largest companies has become an extremely sophisticated endeavor, and the issues are understood in every geography. Corporate leaders may no longer need to spend significant portions of their careers living in different markets around the world to learn this language and be an effective CEO of a global company.

    Living abroad is a great way to gain a deep understanding of a particular market. I know this from personal experience, having spent 13 years working and raising a family outside my home country, the U.S. This proved invaluable experience when I became CEO of the firm I worked for. Yet executives now spend so much time traveling the world in the ordinary course of business that the career value of the expat experience is simply not as great as it used to be.

    Perhaps in the future, what makes a "global CEO" will not have anything to do with an executive's place of birth or time spent outside home markets, but rather by his or her understanding of how business is now conducted around the world, no matter where one lives.

    Ken Favaro is a senior partner with Booz & Company. He is one of the authors of the firm's annual Chief Executive Study.