Imagine that you've just been called into the office of your boss. "Good news!" he says. "The Vice President has just approved your transfer to head up our operation in Xanadu. In less than eight weeks you'll be living overseas! Now let's just take a moment to go over the projects you'll have to wrap up here before you get on the plane. By the way, we've enrolled you in a two-day seminar next week on Living and Working in Xanadu."
Sounds crazy? It is. But it's also the way most companies approach the increasingly critical task of preparing managers for one of the most daunting challenges of their lives: living and working overseas. No wonder companies report that between 30% and 70% of managers posted to expatriate assignments (at great expense to the company) fail to reach the expected level of performance. And most managers whose jobs involve extensive international travel or contact but who don't actually live overseas get no training at all in this area.
It's long been accepted that leadership and other critical managerial skills can be developed. But it's also recognized that this is a process that requires time, effort, money and long-term individual and corporate commitment. Intercultural skills can be developed, too – but not in a one-shot seminar squeezed into the busy weeks before leaving for an international assignment.
If your company is really serious about meeting the human challenges of globalization, then you'll take a long-term, integrated approach to developing a broad base of intercultural competency throughout your organization. For the seriously global company, intercultural effectiveness is a core managerial competency, not a last-minute add-on. Nor is it limited to the relatively small number of expatriates in the company. It's a competency required by everyone in the organization who travels internationally on business, who interacts internationally by phone, fax, E-mail or letter, or who is part of an international team or task force (including virtual ones).