The Anti-Silo Leader: Why Global Connection Is the Only Way Forward

Leaders today are trying to solve tomorrow’s problems using yesterday’s playbook. And increasingly, that just won’t cut it.

At ProjectNext Leadership, we work with executives navigating all kinds of business turbulence. Recently, we’ve seen a shift—a deepening of the challenges that come with leading in a hyperconnected, unpredictable world. Whether it's a sudden tariff that wipes out margins, a canceled summit due to visa issues, or a team member losing their right to work overnight, the impacts are real, personal, and increasingly frequent.

So,  how can leaders be expected to not only survive but thrive in this fractured environment? The answer lies in becoming what we call Globally Connective Leaders.

The Rules of Leadership Have Changed

There’s an urgency that’s hard to ignore these days. While businesses are expected to move faster, adapt quicker, and expand further, many leaders are stuck in silos, whether functional, regional, or even mental, often of their own making. But the big problems facing companies today—supply chain disruption, geopolitical tensions, and the rise of AI—can not be solved from inside a bunker.

David Everhart, one of our senior associates and an expert on helping global companies navigate intercultural complexities, says it best: “Unraveling global systems like supply chains is like trying to untie a Gordian Knot. It’s messy, slow, and ultimately regressive.”

In times of uncertainty, our natural instinct is to retreat. But that’s a trap. As Everhart warns, “The longer we don’t see each other, and communicate directly with one another, the easier it becomes to revert to an us-versus-them worldview.” That instinct doesn’t just play out on the world stage—it happens inside companies, too. Departments become territorial. Regions become disconnected. And many leaders fall into “my team, my numbers” thinking.

This is where Lateral Agility enters the picture—a leadership skill that transcends title or department. It’s about leading across functions and borders to co-create solutions. But in today’s context, that needs to evolve into becoming a Globally Connective Leader—pairing that lateral agility and ability to lead across silos with cultural intelligence, empathy, and humility.

The 4 Core Traits of a Globally Connective Leader

Working with executives around the world, we've learned that being globally connective isn’t about being everywhere at once…it’s about thinking like you are, and putting together an action plan to utilize the assets right in front of you. The most successful leaders share these four traits:

1. Integrative Mindset: They view the world through multiple lenses, understanding that culture shapes contracts, leadership styles, and even how teams define success. They value difference not just as a checkbox, but as a real advantage, and strive to push their teams to think beyond themselves.

2. Lateral Agility: These leaders move fluidly across organizational lines. They don’t just influence—they mobilize. They solve enterprise-wide challenges by building trust and consensus, not by pulling rank.

3. Connective Skills: They bring more than empathy. They’re curious, humble, and adaptable. These leaders build intentional and meaningful relationships, not transactional ones. As one executive told us, “I don’t need to know all your problems, but I do need to understand your reality.”

4. Value-Driven Humility: They’re not in it for the personal win. They prioritize the enterprise, admit when they don’t have all the answers, and create the psychological safety their teams need to take smart risks.

Why It Matters Now

In a recent set of interviews, we asked global leaders what they’re most worried about. The answers were surprisingly consistent:

• “Am I falling behind on global AI trends?”

• “How do I keep my team together across continents?”

• “What happens if we can’t travel again?”

• “How do I build a team that understands each other when half of us have never met in person?”

These are not abstract worries. They’re daily realities, and they demand a different kind of leadership—one that connects across geographies, functions, and experiences.

One global chemical company put it into action. Facing communication breakdowns across their U.S., European, and Chinese teams, they invested in building cross-border collaboration skills—not just “cultural training,” but true relationship-building and mutual understanding. The result was fewer costly mistakes and a stronger bench of future leaders who are (and feel) truly ready to face today's obstacles.

A Playbook for Organizations

If you want to cultivate globally connective leaders, here’s where to start:

• Redefine What “Good” Looks Like: Shift leadership scorecards to move beyond valuing individual achievement within a single department. Leadership frameworks should be updated to reward enterprise thinking, cross-functional problem-solving, and global collaboration, not just deep expertise within one silo. Update performance evaluations to measure how leaders build trust and navigate relationships across functions and geographies. Promotion criteria should emphasize those demonstrating an integrative mindset, cultural intelligence, and enterprise-wide contribution.

• Develop with Purpose: Go beyond generic training to offer immersive development experiences. This might involve assigning leaders to global stretch projects or short-term initiatives outside of their usual function or region to provide them with real-world opportunities to practice cross-cultural leadership. Forming cross-border task forces to tackle systemic enterprise challenges can also help leaders experience collaboration beyond local boundaries. Feedback loops should also evolve to include assessments from peers across geographies and functions, enabling leaders to gain broader perspectives on their influence and effectiveness.

• Create the Conditions for Connection: Make it easy for leaders to form relationships beyond their silos. Build rituals, routines, and expectations that normalize collaboration across lines of difference, where solving enterprise-wide issues becomes a regular expectation rather than an exception. Establishing more cross-boundary networks increases communication and accelerates decision making. Celebrating shared wins and highlighting how that success is a result of cross-team or cross-region collaboration reinforces that collective achievement is as important as individual accomplishment.

• Lead Out Loud: Your top executives must model this behavior. That means admitting what they don’t know and seeking input from a diverse range of colleagues across locations and functions. Executive communications should frame achievement in terms of collective enterprise outcomes rather than individual milestones. Ultimately, leaders must adopt a mindset of acting as "Chief Connectors" and make it clear through their actions and language that thriving in today’s fractured world requires connection first and foremost.
  

The Connected Future Is Now

The era of the siloed superstar is over. Today’s standout leaders connect across people, functions, cultures, and ideas. They know that their influence isn’t bound by title or region, and they’re not afraid to lead with humanity.

As Everhart says, “Leadership in this new world isn’t just about speed or scale—it’s about connection.” The future belongs to those who can lead with both head and heart, across borders and beyond barriers.

And that future is already here.

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Molly Rosen is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of ProjectNext Leadership, a global leader in executive leadership and team development. Along with her co-founder Jeff Rosenthal, she provides industry expertise on key leadership topics, including navigating matrixed organizations and leading across silos, as explored in their recent Harvard Business Review article, How to Lead Across a Siloed Organization (2024). Molly has worked with leaders in tech, entertainment, and biotech for over 20 years as an executive coach, facilitator, and consultant, developing innovative talent systems. Her work with firms like Pixar, Airbnb, DocuSign, and Samsung has included helping leaders transition into critical roles and preparing them to lead key changes in their organizations. She works with high-performing leaders who are committed to the growth of themselves and their teams. She specializes in helping executives transition into critical roles, lead transformational change, and develop senior teams. Her career spans leadership roles at BlessingWhite and Ninth House Networks (now part of Korn Ferry), as well as her own consulting practice. Her international experience includes postings in Central and Eastern Europe and a stint with the U.S. Information Agency in Russia. Beyond her work in leadership development, Molly is a published author and media contributor. She served as Managing Editor of Knowing Pains: Women on Love, Sex, and Work in Our 40s, a book featured on The Today Show. She also founded Working Chronicles: Personal Stories of America at Work, a blog exploring the evolving world of work. These projects have deepened her understanding of personal and professional storytelling, a skill she applies to helping leaders articulate their vision and impact. Molly lives in Oakland, California, and enjoys hiking in Point Reyes National Seashore or paddleboarding on Tomales Bay.

David Everhart brings over thirty years of experience in business, helping organizations with global operations and aspirations to build inclusive teams. David is an unapologetic advocate for responsible globalization. He believes that increasing respectful and inclusive communication and interconnectivity across boundaries of all kinds is the best path for building stable, peaceful, and sustainable communities. David has spent his career working in international contexts, especially emerging markets with multicultural teams and multinational organizations. He specializes in working with executives with complex international roles, helping to build inclusive leadership teams. He is an experienced speaker, executive team facilitator and executive coach. David focuses on three areas:

• Inclusive Global Leadership Development: for individuals and teams of executives

• High Potential Global Leadership Development: assessment and development of Next Generation leaders, especially in emerging markets

• Talent Pipeline Development: consulting and programmatic development to help organizations build a talent community able to support future global growth

He holds multiple certifications for diagnostic assessment tools including the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), the Kozai Group’s Global Competency Inventory (GCI), and Hogan. He speaks advanced conversational Japanese and currently resides in London, UK.