Question

essay on Three keys to getting an overseas assignment right, Harvard Business Review, October 2009, 115-119

Answer 1

Three keys to getting an overseas assignment right .

Principle 1: Establish the Family Foundation First

You can’t be successful in your new role if your home life is in chaos. Some overseas assignments go to people without spouses or children; these managers need to set up support networks to combat feelings of isolation and dislocation. Here we’ll focus on the majority of expat leaders, who relocate to foreign cities with their families. It’s crucial to have in-depth, honest conversations about international assignments with your spouse—long before you make specific decisions about which opportunities you are (or are not) willing to pursue. You’ll both need to consider all the dimensions of change: the magnitude of the culture shift; the distance from home; the type of living situation you’ll be in; your spouse’s ability to find friendships, work, and other affiliations; and, if applicable, the schools your children will attend.

             even before you step foot on a plane, identify the resources (spousal support networks and career and other counseling services for expatriates) that can help in your new location. Establish e-mail relationships with future colleagues so that from day one members of your family know people in country. If you have children, try to connect with other expats who have children the same age or attending the same school. Maintain regular communication with colleagues, friends, and family back home—invite them to visit, or even establish a blog that recounts the family’s adventures in your new home.

Principle 2: Build Credibility and Openness from the Start

New leaders tend to focus on the problems first—they try to fix what’s wrong, especially if the new role has been billed as a turnaround, as Oscar’s was. The risk is that they’ll send the message “There is no good here.” While this is a pitfall for every new leader, it’s particularly problematic when one is moving from the home office to an international assignment: Everyone in the organization may already be in a defensive mind-set; it takes only a little reinforcement to cast this in concrete.

To avoid this trap, ask people lots of questions instead of making statements—even if, like Oscar, you’re pretty sure you know what the central issues are. Let colleagues and employees validate (or disprove) your theories, and avoid focusing exclusively on what’s wrong rather than what works, or on the data you don’t have versus the information you do. Setting up your office can wait. Go to the front lines right away, wherever they are, and really listen. If you start reaching out on day one, word will quickly spread across the organization.

While you’re still planning for your arrival, you may want to take stock of the stereotypes that might be associated with you, be they cultural, organizational, or even specific to your history with the company. Play against these stereotypes—using the local language, say, or demonstrating in meetings that you understand the strengths, problem areas, and idiosyncrasies of the organization you’re entering. Oscar’s failure to appreciate how Chinese culture differs from U.S. culture was apparent when he singled out the young plant analyst.

Finally, if you have time, you should develop a written plan for your entry into the company. (For guidelines on how to do this, see “ Creating Your Entry Plan.”) Share it with your new direct reports, regional HR staffers, and your boss, so that they’ll understand how you intend to lead change at the organization.

Principle 3: Get Serious About Compliance

Business standards and the “rules of the game” can change dramatically when you move from one corporate and cultural climate to another. Local perspectives on what’s appropriate for business (and what isn’t) won’t necessarily match yours or those of the home office; sometimes that’s fine, but sometimes it’s fatal. The reality is that local auditing and other compliance systems may not fully protect you and your reputation.

It’s critical for transitioning international executives to consider, identify, and manage compliance issues. Indeed, they need to take on the unofficial role of chief compliance officer, systematically asking people on the front lines detailed questions about their actions, and moving quickly once problems arise. Most important, you must be able to differentiate between serious compliance lapses and unfamiliar but acceptable ways of doing business. This is especially important for leaders who are responsible for sales and operations; the risk factors here might include questionable deal-making practices (in sales) and poor quality control or contaminated raw materials (in operations). Any perceived lapses in a manager’s judgment can cast a long shadow—as Oscar learned the hard way. By approving the travel visas, he considerably weakened his credibility within the organization. Here again, cultural interpreters can be invaluable. Imagine if Oscar had tapped a trusted adviser, someone with years of experience on the ground in China—someone who might have steered the transitioning leader away from picking up that pen.

The journey can be unpredictable, and the pitfalls many, but an international assignment can be among the most exciting and challenging transitions an aspiring leader can undertake. With the right planning and attitudes, these leadership roles can stretch capabilities, challenge assumptions, and steer both people and profits in a positive direction.