James Surowiecki does a great job in last week’s New Yorker underlining the critical skills gap faced by India as it moves powerfully into the future. We at Acumen Fund are seeing the same skills gap the world over – especially in the sector focused on using private sector initiatives to solve public problems. The biggest single constraining factor to our investees’ ability to scale is talent. They need senior management as well as middle management capabilities – and their needs are often compounded by an inability to pay premium salaries.
Increasingly, we are convinced of the need both for a global recruiting firm as well as for an expanded fellows-like program, likely created and executed by many organizations across the globe. Building not only a workforce but a corps of great managers and, especially, leaders who understand how businesses work and can navigate across international borders is key to the future we all want – and need – to create together.
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