You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
—Will Rogers
I didn’t want to like her, but I ended up liking her. She is fantastic.
—Male colleague of WiSER Alicia
When the time comes for a woman to make her debut in an expatriate role, it is important to operate from a position of personal power where she recognizes that she was the one selected among many other talented professionals because her talents can help the organization meet its goals. Due to the incredibly high standards women often hold themselves to, they, more so than men, tend to question their abilities and use luck as a reason for their success, despite their competence. As women consider their initial entrance to a new job, work team, nation or culture, they will be forced to fundamentally rediscover themselves. Their debut will leave critics reeling only if they can operate at an optimal level quickly. An analysis of all CEO transitions in Fortune 500 companies over a 15‐year period found that women were more likely than white men to be promoted to CEO of firms who had been performing poorly for some time. This means that it fell upon them to improve results under very difficult circumstances. This also means they were at fault if things didn’t improve drastically. With female leaders often being under close scrutiny, accelerated ramp up time to peak performance is of the essence (Dishman 2018).
The majority of the WiSER we interviewed indicated that the first 90 days of an expatriate role were the most challenging—and the most critical for success. Positive first impressions in the first 90 days are essential to be impactful and be recognized for contributions. Yet, this a period where “leaders trip on pebbles.” During a recent conversation with Bob, Talent executive, he noted that leaders, especially global leaders, have generally found themselves in that position because they are proven entities. They have shown that they possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities to fulfill their roles. If that’s the case, why do these leaders sometimes fail?
They don’t fail because they’ve tripped over a boulder; they fail because they’ve tripped over pebbles.
Regardless of what you trip over, there is a pursuant fall. Women expatriates will encounter even more “pebbles” due to the bell curve. The first 90 days is an interesting period of balancing what is new and interesting with the unfamiliarity of the new role and the dynamics of a new team. During this period, colleagues are looking for the answers to several questions. Are you competent? Are you trustworthy? Are you someone to approach or avoid? Do you have status and authority? Are you simply interested in upgrading your resume, or are you vested in the team’s success? “It is crucial to earn trust and credibility in your environment, particularly in an international environment,” WiSER Hermie stressed.
The first 90 days are an opportune time to win the respect of local and expatriate colleagues by demonstrating that you are skilled and competent. Identify viable opportunities for early “wins” that will help you to establish your credibility with your new management, colleagues, and staff. “I think the competency in your field becomes more critical because it helps people overcome any particular assumptions they may make of you because of a cultural background or the fact that you’re an American, or whatever,” WiSER Pauline stated.
As soon as you show your competency in the given field, people stop talking. I mean, at the end of the day, people are rewarded for performance. People are respected for the results they deliver, and if you deliver, most people will park any other questions.
Making the Move
Notably, the initial period of taking a new role is a vulnerable time that is fraught with challenges. In expatriate roles, there is a greater likelihood of encountering “pebbles” than “boulders” given the complexities of a new culture. “Surviving the first few months of being abroad, being away from your family, from friends, that’s difficult because it’s very challenging,” WiSER Argentina observed. “We don’t know our surroundings, and then, the language is different. The habits are different.” To make matters worse, she found herself alone and isolated on most weekends. “I cried many times in those days,” she said. “I think that my boss kept saying: ‘No, no, no, it’s okay. It’s normal.’” At some point, when her boss found her particularly upset, she said: “Well, if you are about to cry, I have many things to cry about, we can both cry. But if you want, we can also have fun. We can go out—and I was coming here to invite you to come out.” The exchange ended in laughter, and those kinds of supportive friends helped her get through the first few months of her assignment. While you face a plethora of challenges during the adjustment period, bear in mind that what you stand to gain from an international assignment far outweighs the challenges and hardships you may feel intensely upon your arrival.
When moving to another country, the change that will be experienced can be framed in two dimensions. At a practical level, during your daily routine, you will experience “country shock”—adjusting to a new physical environment and “culture shock”—adjusting to new people and practices. To compound matters, this all happens during a period when you are making your first impression in a new job.
Country Shock
When moving abroad, there are many new things to get used to—a new climate, new faces, and a new currency—just to name a few. In addition, you are doing without many of the things to which you were accustomed to at home. If relocating to a developing country, there are even more challenges to face, including poor communication/technology infrastructure, frequent electricity fall-out, fuel shortages, and substandard roads. The physical environment in which you will operate is entirely different from what you are used to. Transportation, communication, and daily life are less fluent and timelines to complete a task or achieve goals will be longer than planned for. Adapting to a new environment will involve setting up new routines which requires thinking continually about the simplest tasks in life, therefore, draining energy normally reserved for “sophisticated” tasks. WiSER Pauline explained that you will usually have to factor in more time and planning for simple tasks. “You’re not on your home turf,” she said. On more than a few occasions, you will feel incompetent and frustrated. WiSER Emily shared a humorous story involving her own efforts to adapt to a new environment. “I remember when I moved to Hungary,” she said.
Hungarian is a completely different language, and so there is just no way of understanding until you learn it. I think I had been there about a month and everything was going fine, but I had this whole nervous breakdown one night because I accidentally bought … what I thought was laundry detergent.
In the absence of a washing machine or Laundromat, she had adopted the habit of washing her clothes in the sink, and she was shocked at the results when she poured the contents of the bottle on her clothes. “I threw all this bleach … onto my jeans, and I only brought … two suitcases with me,” she recalled. “They were covered with these white streaks, and I ended up sobbing, and my roommate thought, ‘Why is she sobbing over some jeans?’” Her response to the incident, of course, was a reflection over her larger frustration with the language barrier. Overall, our advice is to maintain perspective. It will get better!
Apart from the need to reestablish daily routines, the demands of a new job will require a good deal of time and energy. Hence, the first months in a new host country are likely to be exhausting. WiSER Joanne revealed that her biggest move was actually her first one. She had been with her organization for almost 20 years when she was recruited for a leadership position. “It was a very emotional and personal change in my life, and that of my family,” she recalled. “But in hindsight, it was only nine days. Once, you make that big move, the rest of the moves become easy.”
Culture Shock
Culture shock is brought on by stress resulting from losing cultural clues—the signs and symbols that guide social interaction. These clues, which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs, or norms are acquired by all of us in the course of growing up and are as much a part of our culture, as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept. When an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar cues are removed. He or she is like a fish out of water (Oberg 2012).
Adjustment to a new country is often complicated by the fact that that people tend to glorify certain aspects of their home country and view many aspects of the new country in a negative light. WiSER Erica observed that romanticizing the past limits your capacity to work with the people who are right in front of you. “Throughout my career I have heard a lot of people talk and reminisce about the past. They say things like ‘Oh, when we had this, when we had that, we used to do it this way,’ and so on. This is the worst thing to do,” she noted. “This new country and this new group of people that you work with accepted you with open arms, and you need to be respectful and be positive … don’t compare.”
Making an effort to integrate into your new community will help reduce culture shock and get you settled in more quickly. The WiSER engaged in activities such as participating in sports, taking language courses, going out socially with colleagues, and so on. Even though an expatriate role if often temporary, the key to integrating it to treat it as if it was the rest of your life. Making decisions and building relationships with a long-term view is beneficial. Whereas, decisions based on the perception that an assignment is temporary could include failing to join clubs and other social organizations and neglecting to reach out to neighbors. WiSER Andrea concurred.
For me, every time I go, I always think I could be here forever. So, I [might] as well … get engaged in things, understand the local politics, learn the language, mix with the people—and that is something that makes you learn much more and enjoy much more than if you are just thinking of that as an assignment.
It should be noted, however, that efforts to engage in some countries as a single woman can be challenging. WiSER Claudia described an experience she had in Panama. “Prostitution is not a crime here, so there are a lot of prostitutes. So, going out at night was a problem … I could not go to a bar on a Friday night to make friends, because here it’s impossible to do because of this cultural aspect.” So, she concentrated on out-of-work activities that involved safe environments. “In the first week, I found out where I could go for dance classes, swimming classes, and I started having like three kinds of activities outside work,” she recalled. “Maybe if I were a guy, I could just go to a bar and make friends,” she conceded. “Yes, it would be easier.” Again, adjusting is not always easy, but engaging in activities that give you energy and put you in contact with like-minded people will make you feel at home before you realize it.
There are signs and symptoms that that can help you recognize when you or a loved one is experiencing country or culture shock (Table 9.1). One of the WiSER told us that she was expecting to come home one day and see her husband and children on the couch, in a dark room, with arms crossed, saying that they were miserable and wanted to go home. Luckily for her this never happened. The key is to understand that country and culture shock are temporary conditions—not only for you, but also for your family. You will need to assist your family members during their adaptation period. “You are going to have an increased accountability to your family … [something] you don’t feel in your home country, because your spouse and your kids are more independent in their home environment,” WiSER Elsa I. advised. “You put them out of that [environment], and now you have—at least in my mind—an accountability to minimize the isolation they might feel or smooth the transition for them.”
Table 9.1 Overall signs and symptoms of culture and country shock
|
Emotional signs |
Symptoms |
|
Sadness/depression |
Headaches, pains, and allergies |
|
Anger |
Over-concern about your health |
|
Vulnerability |
Insomnia or sleeping too much |
|
Irritability |
Obsessed with cleanliness |
|
Loneliness |
Withdrawal |
|
Shy/insecure |
Idealizing you own culture |
|
Homesickness |
Trying too hard to fit in |
|
Lost/confused |
Smallest problems seem overwhelming |
|
Boredom |
Questioning your decision to move to this place |
|
Frustration |
Stereotyping of host nationals |
|
Anxiety |
Hostility toward host nationals |
Avoid the Pebbles
Strategically navigating the political landscape, leveraging networks combined with effective cross-cultural communication will enable you to avoid the pebbles and make a star-studded debut.
Influence Through Networks
Professional networks, formal or informal, are foundational to success in your new role. They are an optimal means to learn what is going on, enhance organizational influence, and adapt more quickly to your new environment. Although each person that moves to another country has to build a new network within the organization, women expatriates are significantly better at coping with that initial isolation. Women are used to operating as a minority in an environment where the majority of power is held by men. Therefore, they have learned to attain their goals through influence and collaboration. While climbing career ladders, many women are accustomed to being a minority, especially in leadership positions, and therefore, they are used to being excluded from existing networks. As women work to identify and cultivate new professional networks, it is important to identify multipliers and stakeholders who can help navigate the political landscape in the new organization.
In the world of organizational transformation, there is a mantra “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Organizational culture is the pulse of an organization drives what is politically suitable, feasible, and acceptable. WiSER Gillian recommended to learn as much as possible about the new landscape. “Culturally and politically, I had to learn how to work differently,” she recalled. “I had to understand where the key sensitivities were, and who the key stakeholders were.” She added: “So, I had to learn to work with the politics … check out and try to find out what the rituals are at work, what things are said, how they are said, and find out who the key players are.” Establish connections with your new workplace and colleagues and get a clearer understanding of expectations and goals for the position.
Leveraging influential networks to achieve goals that benefit the organization or individuals within is how work gets done. It is critical to understand team dynamics, the political environment, and various competing agendas. “You have to understand the dynamics in teams, in power, in authority, so that you understand how you can be effective and address issues while being respectful … of the way things are,” WiSER Diane observed. First, decide on a goal. Have you been hired to change the organizational culture, to launch new initiatives, to bring in certain skills and expertise, to reorganize the organization and fire people, or perhaps to fill a managerial skills gap? WiSER Nathalie K. offered advice based on her own experience. “I think it’s important to understand...[what] your role is, and what is expected of you within the organization,” she explained. “And that may evolve as you are there, but it provides clarity not just for yourself, but for the people around you on what they can expect from you as well.” Second, anticipate who will support or resist your agenda, and determine whose support is needed to move your agenda forward. Leaders who are politically competent understand that they need the support of others to succeed. They appreciate when and when not to act. They anticipate how people may react to their idea, what their motivations are and identify variables that may influence people when their idea is introduced, or the meeting plays out. They find out what their goals are and determine how they align (or not) with their own goal. It allows them to prepare options and a plan, so they can react quickly in a fast moving, potentially political environment. Third, rally support to help you achieve your goal by communicating benefits and building coalitions that will support the goals you strive for. There is no such thing as a “self-made” (wo)man. Let the stakeholders know that you are working on their behalf and engage them to invest in your success. Align your agenda to theirs. It is important to depersonalize the political situation even if your goal is not met. This is easily said and not easily done. By bearing in mind that another goal being moved ahead is not a personal attack, there is a better chance to objectively contribute to the goal agreed to and live to champion your goal(s) another day.
Stay plugged in to your office and office politics if you want to get the things done that need to be done in your organization and make a positive impact in your first 90 days. Women are often so busy working, that they isolate themselves. They focus on the client or customer to the point that they may forget to build internal alliances and networks. Women should line up a coalition of supporters—allies, advocates, mentors, and sponsors—in order to garner support to achieve goals. Such a strategic network will be willing to expend political capital on your behalf. The fact is, one of the most effective ways to achieve your targets is to focus on the people you will need to make it happen. WiSER Diane shares, “You have to recognize that it’s people who are going to achieve that,” she said. “As I always say to people, between you and the outcome that you are trying to achieve … is a person. So, you need to focus on the person that’s in front of you.”
Having a sense of connection has been shown to positively impact productivity and emotional well-being. From an evolutionary perspective, sticking together improved our chances of survival. An effective leader contributes to a positive culture, engaging people with different talents from various departments to create solutions and achieve results. WiSER Martha: “People can sense when you’re genuine, when you really care, when you really want to make a difference. … I always want to bring out the best in people and think that helps to draw teams together. As a leader, the mindset of ‘I need you and the perspectives and the skills that you bring’ helps to create teams that can deliver.”
Influence Through Communication
Effective communication is an important tool to positively impact your first impression. Communication encompasses the way you present yourself, and the manner in which you express your ideas. Your ability to effectively communicate will be the basis upon which your new colleagues will develop an opinion about you. Cultivate strategic communication capabilities in order to influence others’ perception of your capabilities and improve recognition and reward.
Often women are avid communicators, yet not perceived as strategic. Research has shown that managers rated women higher than men in leadership competencies, but lower in leadership potential (Zenger 2012). We all have the opportunity to impact others’ perception of us through effective and confident communication. However, research also shows that women have a greater challenge owning success, demanding recognition and projecting confidence. In order to be a strategic communicator, it is critical to create impact through a concise approach, powerful language, and solid questions. In other words, come prepared and overcome the “common information effect.” In layman’s terms, the “common information effect” is essentially groupthink that occurs when there is a lack of trust and lack of diversity of thought. Women often speak when they are in agreement. In order to be strategic, women have a responsibility to get a fresh idea, their idea, in the conversation first. Vetting ideas in advance is another empowering way to get your voice in the room. Voicing opinions is a positive component of effective communication to garner equity. High stakes situations require that one engages in strategic conversations. To do so, it is imperative to clearly describe the situation and its impact on you, the client, the company. Prepare a few ideas regarding the situation and your desired solution or view. It is important to stand your ground and always end with agreement, even if you agree to disagree.
Communication is, to a great extent, shaped by cultural norms, and it is imperative to modify or adapt your communication styles in order to be understood (and to avoid being misunderstood) when working in different countries. “I absolutely modify my communication style depending upon the cultural context I am working in,” noted WiSER Sandra. Communicating effectively in an international environment requires a mastery of a range of skills, including speaking, presenting, writing, and listening. In addition, you need to “read” the unspoken in various settings, ranging from one-on-one encounters to presentations before large audiences. Here is a list of five recommendations to effectively communicate across cultures that were shared by the WiSER.
Follow Cultural Protocol
When communicating through any medium, considering cultural protocol and preferences will improve effectiveness. The directness and formality of language varies from culture to culture. Whether they use titles, operate on a first-name basis, write or speak casually or formally is directly informed by cultural norms. In the United States, for example, you are likely to be on a first name basis with all your colleagues, including your superiors. In Germany, relationships are much more formal, requiring you to formally address not only your superiors, but also your peers, your secretary, and even persons who are younger than you are, for example, Mr. Zimmermann or Frau Dr. Decker-Conradi. Following is an example of how directness differs from culture to culture. WiSER Maria encountered this challenge when working in Canada. “Canadians avoid confrontation—let’s say it like that,” she noted. “Whenever they have to give a tough message, they give it in a very non-confrontational way.” She observed that people in her native Belgium, on the other hand, tend to be far more direct. “It’s not that we are impolite,” she explained. “[It’s] that we just give the messages in a more direct way, and when I speak English, or when I translate my Dutch to the English, I would be quite direct.” While her style of communication discomfited many of her Canadian colleagues, none of them raised the issue in a conversation. “Nobody would ever tell me … I wasn’t aware of that until I got that feedback on paper,” she recalled. “Then, I realized that I had to adapt my communication style.”
WiSER Martha observed that in spoken communication, this includes the manner in which you interact with superiors, and the way you greet people or initiate a conversation. It is also important to consider the company culture, which is often reflected in lingo and colloquialisms. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with company language and that it is used sparingly in order to keep things simple and clear. WiSER Annette explained that modes of explanation that are effective in one culture may not work as well in another. “One thing I have learned is that [some] cultures like storytelling,” she explained. “And by that I mean, when you are trying to … give an example … you say, ‘I think you should do “X”, and this reminds me of a project … where we were looking at “Y,” and we decided to do “A-B-C,” and this turned out to be a good decision.’” She noted that this kind of storytelling worked well in the Middle East, where people preferred concrete examples that were based on personal experience. However, these long, personalized explanations tended to bore German workers, who were inclined to request that she get to the point and provide concise directions.
When preparing written communication in an international environment, bear in mind that the communication may be received or delivered by non-native English speakers. WiSER Julie Anne said. “People may not understand your point when you’re giving a speech, but if you are following it up with something in writing that’s well written, they’ll get it, even if it’s not in their native language.” Similarly, WiSER Emily stressed the need to write in a straightforward manner, given that you will often address people with an imperfect grasp of English. Notably, consider writing protocols in the host country. “When you write an e-mail to an American, and you put exclamation marks at the end of a sentence, that typically means that you are yelling at them. In Germany, it means important,” WiSER Magi explained. She recalled that she took time to explain the difference to both her German and American colleagues because it had given rise to irritation and misunderstandings.
Ask Questions
Asking questions is among the quickest ways to harness the knowledge of others, and to gain an understanding of your new environment. This element of leadership is more important than ever in an international environment. Rather than arriving on the scene with all the answers or taking a one-size-fits-all approach, harness the skills, talents, and ideas of new teams and organizations. This approach demonstrates an interest in learning about the team and the unfamiliar customs, norms, and values of the host country. “I wasn’t afraid to ask questions,” WiSER Magi recalled. “There was this particular person that my husband worked with—whom we got along with very well—, and I said: ‘You know what? I am having a hard time with this.’” She went on to discuss with him some of her challenges and asked for his feedback on the appropriate response. “And I would be open to talking to [him] about things like that because he knew his people,” she explained. “He knew the culture, he knew the industry, and he knew what would be okay or not okay for me to say … It just helps that you are able to ask the questions, because if [you] don’t ask, you are never going to know.” Magi shared her uncertainties with an outside confidant. However, you can find plenty of people to approach within your organization as well.
Asking questions improves opportunities to get honest feedback and enhance team collaboration. It is not always easy to determine what the right questions are, but, if at first you fail, try again. WiSER Stacy indicated that she would occasionally throw out an idea and gauge the reception. At one point, she observed that everyone had been working hard and suggested that it might be a good idea to grant some “comp-time” as a reward. “Everyone said: ‘Yes, yes. Great idea,’” she recalled. Before the roll out, she asked a variety of questions. She asked about issues including time accrued and whether time off would be valued and looked upon as a reward. It was only when asking these questions that Stacy learned that many workers had so much time left, that they didn’t need extra compensation time and wouldn’t use it anyway, if they felt like they had to get their work done. WiSER Sezin indicated that, in certain cultures, subordinates will not correct a supervisor if not explicitly asked to do so. In one case, she sent out a letter that included inaccurate information that her team had failed to point out. “The team … came back to me, screaming, saying ‘How dare you do that?’” Sezin was stunned and told them that she thought they had agreed the content of the letter was correct. “If there was an inaccuracy, why didn’t you tell me?” she asked them. They told her that they didn’t say anything because she was the boss, and she should know. “So, since then, I actually drill and drill and drill and drill until I get to the bottom of things,” she said.
Practice Active Listening
Listening and observing are the “better half” of good communication. As the saying goes, God gave us two ears and one mouth because listening is twice as important, but twice as difficult. In an international environment—where there are different levels of knowledge of the language, different communication styles, accents, and body language—listening and observing skills are even more important. “I don’t think listening is an inherent talent that a lot of us have,” WiSER Pauline said. “But I think listening becomes even more important when you’re working in a multicultural environment.” To be an effective listener involves listening without thinking about what you will say next—and remaining focused. It means to acknowledge the person you are listening to. It is best to save judgments for later, after you have heard and understood what was said.
Active listening leads to increased receptivity to the unspoken. Read between the lines, look for hidden messages and become adept at “reading” body language. Hearing what is not being said can serve as a valuable road map to understanding people in a country other than your own. It can also help you avoid miscommunications. Women’s generally acknowledged strong sensitivity to non-verbal signs, enables them to learn faster and establish relationships in the host country, which serves as an advantage when expatriating (Haslberger 2007). “You have to have the ability to pick up on signals, to read between the lines, because the cues are certainly not what you’re used to,” WiSER Pauline explained. “The hidden messages are not what you grew up with. It’s much, much more complex when you’re working in an international environment.”
WiSER Jolanda agrees that unspoken messages are often the most important. “If you get an e-mail or letter from somebody from the UK, and it’s more than four or five sentences long, it means there’s something wrong because they’re like the Japanese. They cannot say, ‘no,’” she explained. “If they become long and windy, it means you’re actually hitting them somewhere where they feel very uncomfortable, and they actually want to say to you, ‘Don’t do that.’ But it doesn’t really say that in that e-mail.” In addition to reading unspoken cues of others, find quiet moments to pay attention to what you are “hearing” from your own body and what unspoken signals you are emitting. Manage your body language and signals with intention.
Be Clear
Communicating with clarity is often more challenging in a different cultural setting. It may require more discussion, slower delivery, leveraging visuals, or even using hand signals—especially in cases where you speak the local language poorly, or few of your colleagues have a strong grasp of your language. It is never a mistake to repeat things in such situations, and it is better to take the risk of over-communicating rather than to under-communicate. “I am very conscious of making sure I try to explain myself so that people aren’t misreading my actions because of their own personal cultural context,” WiSER Sandra explained.
I had to learn to be more direct. While superficially, my international team seemed to have good English skills, they could speak better than they could understand. It was a real challenge in terms of actually learning to be very precise with words.
Sandra had to learn to communicate in a manner that was concise and direct, despite the fact that this style of communication would have been considered rude in her native UK. When language fails, resort to visuals, suggested WiSER Carrie. “I drew a lot of pictures and I used a lot of hand signals,” she said. “I always had a whiteboard in my office, because you sometimes need to show people up or down or across or boxes or charts or something visual.”
Communicate Respectfully
As bright as you may be, and as much as you have learned about your business, your industry, and your organization, you are going to have to relearn some of those lessons with a different set of eyes, given that cultural differences are very real. “Definitely don’t judge in your first year,” WiSER Britta advised. As WiSER Veronika shared:
Never judge people because of how they present something, how they actually talk over the phone, never judge anybody’s competence or skills just due to this factor … Some very good technical people … just don’t come across as good because they are not very good … in English. But it has nothing to do with that you are not good or bad, it’s more about communication.
Humor differs among countries and can be interpreted as disrespectful, impolite, and insincere. Also, sarcasm which is typically a cutting remark that takes the form of humor, does not translate with respect in many countries. It is not an element of effective communication in domestic settings, and it can be destructive in an international environment.
Showtime!
Making an impressive international debut, will require maintaining an open mindset and taking impactful actions in the first 90 days. At this point, women will need more than just a script … it’s time to take stock of all the supplies, costumes, props—the full arsenal. There are real barriers stopping women from moving into leadership roles—the glass ceiling—as well as into international roles—the glass border. However, there are also real opportunities to dismantle those barriers. In order to be on stage, it is important to remember that a stellar performance was and will continue to be imperative. Your technical skills may help you get the job done, but leveraging your global leadership competencies, will allow you to get the job done well. Due to the unique position female expatriates are in, developing and mastering the four WiSER competencies—self-awareness, conscious imbalance, operating outside your comfort zone, and active career management—will lead to a great showtime.
Self-awareness will be your compass as you consider how to adapt, while staying true to your values, and help make critical decisions. The first 90 days is usually the most difficult period in an international assignment. Therefore, it is a time when the scales will be consciously imbalanced and tipped severely toward work during the initial period of an expatriate role. “The first month, you are on the go 24/7, whether it’s work or getting yourself and your family settled,” WiSER Joanne warned. It is a good time to review and re-calibrate the scales after the first 90 days.
As you make your debut, identify what you want from this opportunity, and build networks to help you achieve your goal. Building professional relationships with superiors, peers, teams, and clients quickly is essential to make good business decisions and get some “wins” early on. In order to build robust networks, bear in mind that it is a two-way street. WiSER Elsa who was the first female Head of School in a South American country: “I think my philosophy … is that you really have to focus on making the people around you be as successful as possible … give them as many opportunities as possible and make them as successful as they can be.” This network is also foundational to navigate the international landscape and grasp its subtleties and nuances.
When you combine relocation with starting a new job, and then add pre-existing notions or stereotypes about your nationality and/or gender, you can easily find yourself in an explosive situation. Therefore, you need to be prepared to stretch yourself in ways that may strike you as unprecedented, and you will have little, if any, downtime. WiSER Erica advised. “Stay positive, because [it’s the time] when you learn about the new company, meet new people, learn new ways of doing things … it is probably one of the most stressful things you will do, so it is imperative that you focus on integrating and settling [yourself and] your family as quickly as possible.” She added, “If they are happy, you will also be happy—and successful.” During this remarkably stressful period, we recommend that you immediately identify one, two, or three healthy habits that you enjoy and will engage in regularly in order to better manage stress. These are habits that will bring discipline into your life, and it is essential that you be able to engage in these habits without having to rely on anyone else. “I always kept reminding myself of what I wanted to be or to achieve,” WiSER Argentina noted. “Also, I use three things that really help me stay focused. I exercise between two to four times per week. I pray. I read a lot. I enjoy reading books that will teach me something.”
Remember to learn about the host country to understand what makes them tick. Develop your own opinions regarding your host country and new job based on objective information. WiSER Lindsay advised, “Work-wise, you have to be quite culturally open-minded, and not have negative biases or perceptions about people or stereotypes.” If you have a partner and/or family, you are not the only one who will live and operate in the new culture. They will experience the differences as much as you will, and therefore, it is advisable to take steps to prepare them too. Take care of those with you, and they will take care of you.
Now that you have made your debut as a female expatriate, let’s assume the critics are raving about your performance. How can you use the stellar performance review to land the next role? Share successes by keeping lines of communication to decision makers open. As WiSER Pauline told us: “The advice I would give is to keep a connection back to your home organization” she said.
That is absolutely critical. You’ve got to keep your network up. You need to keep in touch with what’s going on back home because the risk is that you can indeed be forgotten about. You’re out of sight, out of mind as they say. Depending on what kind of talent management your company has, it is really important to keep that connection back to your base.
Working and living abroad is the most powerful development tool. Leveraging this experience to accelerate your professional trajectory starts by making sure it will be a visible feather in the cap. If you set out to define yourself as a leader of tomorrow, expatriate roles, both short and long, can serve as a fast track. As the need for talented leaders is concerning CEOs around the world, expatriating to accelerate development is a solution to increase the percentage of women in leadership pipelines. For women reading this book, if you want to define yourself as a leader of tomorrow, there is no better time for you to expatriate and fast-track your professional and personal growth.
It’s a Wrap!
In an expatriate assignment, your first 90 days will be filled with a series of (thirty-seconds) first impressions, so you need to make them count, even under challenging circumstances. Immediately after international relocation, there are two categories of shock to the system. Country shock and culture shock can lead to stress caused by operating in a new and unfamiliar environment and stress from losing cultural clues used to guide social interactions. While facing these stressors, you are concurrently entering a new role in a new country and have to make a positive debut. Rather than look for boulders blocking your path to success, it is key to identify pebbles you may trip over. The best way to maneuver a new expatriate role is to influence through professional networks and effective cross-cultural communication. When relocating, there is a loss of a professional network which can result in a struggle to get the job done expediently, keep abreast of current happenings, and exert influence through key stakeholders. Therefore, it is very important to establish your new network of “go to” people through intentional relationship building and strategic communication efforts to foster a smooth transition. Strategic communication improves effectiveness and facilitates a smoother transition. Stay positive and focus on cultivating global leadership and WiSER competencies to achieve peak performance at an accelerated rate.