SYMPOSIUM JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Volume 14, Number 2, 2020 © 2020 University of Phoenix View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com • DOI:10.1002/jls.21702 58 Introduction Numerous studies have indicated that cross-cultural competencies of global leadership are a critical factor in organizational performance and efectiveness (e.g., Bird & Mendenhall, 2016; Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012; Chin, Gu, & Tubbs, 2001; Morrison, 2000; Youssef & Luthans, 2012). However, most of these competencies have been defned from a Western perspective and have primarily focused on universal competencies (Hunges, Aiken, Park, & Su, 2016). Te long-standing domi- nance of Western-centric knowledge, a characteristic of the past century, is changing (McDonald, 2012). While testing Western theories in Asia is useful to deter- mine how the West and East difer, it is usually insuf- fcient because the key variables may have very diferent meanings and implications (Leung & White, 2004). In addition, global leadership difers from leadership in a local context because it requires leaders to efectively manage people in a culturally diverse environment. Leaders not only need to appreciate the cultural difer- ences such as the diferences in conventions in terms of how work gets done, but also in terms of local people’s underlying beliefs and behaviors (Nirenberg, 2004). In the current paper, the importance of the value systems in Asian leadership and the role this style of leader- ship plays in company success amid global competi- tion is highlighted. In particular, we discuss values that are prominent in Daoism/Taoism and Confucian- ism because these values have been the major sources of influence for Chinese and other Eastern country leaders. Tese values are relevant to both Western-orig- inated and Eastern-oriented leadership theories (Ma & Tsui, 2015). Confucian humanism, in particular, is rel- evant to both the East and the West because it empha- sizes the well-being of people and serves as a spiritual resource for global ethics (Tu, 2009). Values: The Critical Factor in Asian Leaders Research attention has increasingly been given to how Asian philosophies and values infuence Asian leader- ship practices (e.g., Alon & Higgins, 2005; Alves, Manz, & Butterfield, 2005; Hunges et al., 2016; McDon- ald, 2012; Rowley & Ulrich, 2012; Wang, Waldman, GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: AN ASIAN PERSPECTIVE MELODY P. M. CHONG 1 , PINGPING FU 2 1 Department of Asian and International Studies, City University of Hong Kong , Kowloon , Hong Kong 2 Nottingham University Business School , Ningbo , China Correspondence: Melody P. M. Chong, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. E-mail: ctchong@cityu.edu.hk