Worldly Women - The New Leadership Profile: How to Expatriate with Excellence

A company may find it useful to recruit for and develop a small set of key competencies across all of its global leaders. Yet the diversity of roles that fall under the broad category of global leadership argues for substantial customization around that common base. At the corporate level, this implies developing a portfolio of competencies rather than an interchangeable set of global leaders who have all met a single set of requirements.

Operationally, an ideal training program would therefore include a geographic dimension and prepare people for dealing with particular origin—destination pairs. For example, a Japanese executive going to work in the United States would probably benefit from preparing for the higher level of individualism there. Customizing training-and-development efforts at the level of individual country pairs is likely to run up quickly against resource constraints. However, the fact that 50 to 60 percent of trade, foreign direct investment, telephone calls, and migration are intraregional suggests that, in many cases, customizing at the regional level is sufficient.

Firms will need a mix of regional and global leaders. Regional leadership is presumably less difficult and costly to develop than global leadership. The dimensions to consider include depth in particular markets versus breadth across markets, the frequency and duration of physical presence abroad, and a focus on internal versus external interactions. For a more systematic treatment, see Mark E. Some firms, rather than trying to fulfill the requirements of one-size-fits-all lists of global-leadership competencies, have embraced the opposite extreme of localization.

Significant localization has taken place in the management teams of foreign subsidiaries. According to one study, the proportion of expatriates in senior-management roles in multinationals in the BRIC countries Brazil, Russia, India, and China and in the Middle East declined from 56 percent to 12 percent from the late s to the late s. Within this broad trend, some firms still rely too much on expatriates and need to localize more, but localization can be—and, in some instances, clearly has been—taken too far.

Giving up on expatriation implies giving up on building the diverse bench of global leaders that CEOs say they require. Persistent distance effects, particularly those associated with information flows, do confirm the general wisdom: Extreme localization leaves no room for the development of leaders of this sort.

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This judgment accords with the finding that living abroad expands your mental horizons and increases your creativity. Galinsky and William W. Long stays abroad are costly: Nonetheless, firms that really wish to prioritize global-leadership development will need to allocate the required resources.

• Developing global leaders.
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Better metrics to track the returns on such investments may help. One survey indicates that just 14 percent of companies have any mechanisms in place to track returns on international assignments. Most of these companies use metrics tracking only business generated from an assignment. Emerging Trends in Global Mobility: Better career management could help capture and measure returns on investments in developing global leaders. Evidence indicates that in European and US multinationals, expatriates still take longer, on average, to ascend the corporate ladder than managers who continue to work within their home countries.

That indicates a deficiency in this area, as well as an incentive problem. Do international assignments add value? Rather than pure localization, firms should embrace the practice of rotation, which provides the foreign work experience—not just travel—essential to the development of global leaders. For these executives, time spent in more established markets can, on the return home, reinforce both local- and global-leadership capacity.

Joerres suggests that outbound rotation programs for managers are crucial to developing emerging-market talent.

Critical Pillars

Nationals from key growth markets are underrepresented in the leadership ranks of many Western companies, so hiring future global leaders from these areas is critical. Now I see that Indian companies have raised their game, putting pressure on multinationals in local talent markets. The implications for global-leadership development are threefold.

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First, shifting to the rooted-cosmopolitan ideal described here is critical to attracting and developing executives from emerging markets. Second, escalating competition for talent in growth markets implies that it is even more urgent for multinationals to diversify their leadership teams quickly.

Things to Consider Before Taking an International Assignment | InterNations Blog

One of the main advantages of local firms is the fact that young recruits often can see, in the faces of the current leadership, that if they excel they have a clear shot at rising to the top. If your new beginning involves working abroad as an expat woman, this is exciting news and you are in good company. There is a projected boom in the number of expats over the next few years, due to organizations recognizing the value of developing leaders who intimately understand business at an international level.

As you consider the option to work and live abroad, we would like to share some advice from women who have already taken the leap. Here are some thoughts that WiSER Women in Senior-level Expatriate Roles have shared with us on things to consider before accepting an expatriate assignment. Think deeply about the implications of moving to a wholly new environment. Find an assignment that is a good cultural fit for you and your family: It is essential to do your homework in order to truly understand the market and other relevant variables, including safety, living conditions, schools, proximity to daily activities, and so forth.

Find a female-friendly employer: If you are considering an employer who provides international opportunities, it is also important to determine whether it has a corporate culture where female employees are encouraged to identify their goals and then helped to achieve them. Make sure your family supports you: Check with your local registration office as requirements may differ. If you move, or are absent from registered address for more than eight weeks, you are required to inform the local registration authorities.

Consult your employer or the Indian Embassy or Consulate in your home country for up-to-date registration requirements. This article is an extract from a much more detailed guide to Living and Working in India. You can access the full guide and download it free of charge in the Destinations section of www.

All the services you will need to plan your move overseas, from Visas to Removals, listed in one place here. Sign up to our free monthly newsletters — all the important expat issues: All about health care and insurance cover for expats, what you need to know and where to find assistance.

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Living and Working in India. Here is a brief introduction to what you can expect if you are considering taking up a contract or permanent post in India. Service Directory All the services you will need to plan your move overseas, from Visas to Removals, listed in one place here. Newsletter Registration Sign up to our free monthly newsletters — all the important expat issues: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Nordic Speaking Trainee Recruitment C Expat Network - Expat Resources. Heading For A Foreign City? It May Be Expensive. Hong Kong tops the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, pushing Luanda, Angola to second position. Zurich and Singapore remain in Should I Take The Job?

Considerations Before Accepting A Job. When you are applying for a job abroad there can often be a prolonged selection process.