LEADERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT PROJECTS: CHALLENGES AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Abstract

The article discusses issues related to the challenges facing the leaders of international investment projects. Unlike project managers who face traditional problems typical for the development of international business, the leaders of international investment projects have to take into account a larger pool of challenges that can significantly affect the implementation of such projects. The key challenges identified in the article include the following ones: cultural differences and intercultural communication, managing remote teams, maintaining emotional state and cohesion, adapting leadership style to the heterogeneous expectations of the team, overcoming the “leadership distance”, as well as creating conditions for innovation and creative thinking. It is revealed that the leader of the international investment project can use different styles to achieve maximum effect from the work of the team, and, in general, four theoretical approaches are identified that describe different leadership styles, namely: a personal approach, a behavioral approach, a situational approach and an approach based on emotional intelligence. It is shown that the implementation of international investment projects implies the need not only for effective leadership, but also for strategies that allow leaders (as project managers) to manage intercultural teams. The authors identify four general strategies: the strategy of forming a common space for interaction, the strategy of adaptive management, the strategy of emotional support for the team and the strategy of inclusive interaction. Each of them, although capable of influencing most of the managerial challenges facing the leader, has its own features of integration into management practice.