Multinational companies that send leaders on international assignments have to consider how to prepare their managers for their expat adventure. With the average cost of an expat assignment totaling around $311,000 per year, it’s in the best interest of the individual and the company that leaders enter their new roles well-prepared.
Expat contracts usually last a short period of two to three years and entail an inherent sense of urgency to produce results quickly. So it’s essential for leaders to equip them with the right skills needed to hit the ground running.
However, research from the INSEAD business school estimates that 40% of all overseas deployments fail. That’s a staggering number no organizations sending their high-potential managers abroad can afford to ignore. The most common reasons for failure include an inability to adapt to the new culture, a lack of support from one’s organization in the host country, and personal challenges related to living abroad.
Many organizations offer Cultural Awareness Training programs or workshops on local business etiquette. But unfortunately, that’s far from enough. The success of your leaders who step into a global role will depend on the professional knowledge and leadership skills needed to interact with their team and company stakeholders effectively.
Leadership abilities and skills required
So what particular leadership abilities and skills are required, and how can we equip new expat leaders before we send them off?
- Ability to Build Trust in Teams
At the top of the list is the ability to build trust; communication skills and emotional intelligence are needed to connect, listen, and talk with people from different backgrounds to create what’s called “professional intimacy” in the team. They have to be able to create an environment of psychological safety where people feel supported by their manager and their co-workers. Leaders will also need to be able to develop credibility and be seen as reliable. All these components will help them build a trusting team quickly.
- Ability to Take Ownership
Taking ownership is about being fully committed to their goals, highly resilient, and determined to push through when things get tough throughout their assignment. As the leader of their project, they’re responsible for the process and outcome of their team’s actions. Taking ownership is also being able to respond to uncertain circumstances and accepting full responsibility for every step of the process. This entails taking ownership of mindset, decisions, priorities, and actions.
- Clear & Transparent Communication Skills
Global leaders work in an environment involving a large diversity of people. Additionally, they’re likely to work with many people for whom English is a second, third, or even fourth language, making clear communication essential.
Transparency is all about sharing both good and bad information in a way that clearly conveys the “why” behind the message to stakeholders in the local organization and their senior team at headquarters.
- Cultural Awareness
Leaders will have an easier transition and become more effective in their role if they approach their new environment with an open mind. This involves recognizing, understanding, and respecting that people everywhere have different values, backgrounds, and experiences. If leaders are open to learning about new and wildly different ways of working, they’ll have a far easier time connecting with people.
- Building Relationships
Success in their role will require them to develop and maintain healthy relationships inside and outside the organization. They’ll need these relationships to be strong if they’re going to influence others and achieve common goals.
- Focused Mind
Stepping into a new role in a foreign country can be chaotic and full of distractions. Leaders regularly encounter situations they don’t completely understand. It can feel very overwhelming. Yet, they must stay focused on their priorities to get where they want to be.
- Agility
The business world is typically volatile, but working in an environment you don’t fully understand is bound to increase its volatility for leaders. They won’t have complete information about what’s happening, especially at the beginning of their assignment. They may have to depend on second-hand information that’s been translated for them. They might only understand bits and pieces of the complete picture. They might struggle deeply with language barriers. They must learn to be comfortable with ambiguity and be agile in handling these situations.
- Influencing Skills
Leaders will have to gain clarity quickly about who will be impacted by their plans and work to build relationships with them. They will need to provide value to stakeholders to build credibility and trust and invest in the relationship with stakeholders willing and able to help them achieve what they want.
By assessing the current state of the individual’s skills, executive recruiters and leadership development professionals can co-create a strategy to support them in specific developmental areas through additional training, coaching, or mentoring.
