Surviving and Growing from

International Experience:
The Role Great Bosses Play
Jeffrey J. McHenry, Ph.D.
Morgan W. McCall Jr., Ph.D.

22

PEOPLE & STRATEGY

International assignments are inherently challenging. So what role do companies and HR

executives play in helping to facilitate acclimation to new business climates and cultures, and what
role does the individual in transition play? It turns out, learning from experience and the impact of
other peoplerather than traditional human resources tools, processes, or programsare more
effective in aiding the transition into an international assignment and ensuring future success.

hirty years of research on leadership

development, dating back to Lessons
of Experience (McCall, Lombardo &
Morrison, 1988), documents that challenging
job experiences are at the heart of leadership
development (see also McCauley, Ruderman,
Ohlott & Morrow, 1994). To prepare individuals for senior leadership roles, McCall
(1998) has recommended providing developing leaders with job experiences that will prepare them to meet the challenges dictated by
the organizations business strategy. For global
organizations, this includes learning to lead
across geographic and cultural boundaries.
Indeed, McCall and Hollenbeck (2002) found
that international assignments are the primary
(and sometimes only) place that future global
executives learn the lessons of culture.

Fortunately, executives, whether international or domestic and regardless of nationality, learn from the same kinds of experiences:
challenging assignments, significant other
people, perspective changing events, and the
like. (McCall & Hollenbeck, 2002) This
means that learning from experience occurs
through the same processes and mechanisms
for both domestic and international assignments. But providing international assignments is notoriously expensive, in terms of
both direct costs (e.g., relocation, school, and
housing expenses) and potential indirect costs
(e.g., derailed or failed executives, lost or
missed business opportunities) are very high.
And despite the cost, there is no guarantee that
expatriates will succeed, much less learn the
lessons of their experiences. Recognizing this,
many organizations provide special support to
their expatriates, including preferred access to
training, 360 feedback, mentors, and so forth.
While this kind of support can be helpful, the
evidence from Lessons of Experience and
other research (McCall & Hollenbeck, 2002;
McCall & McHenry, 2014) indicates that the
boss has a much more powerful impact on
learning from experience than traditional
human resources tools, processes, or programs. Based on a study of 50 senior-level

Six Strategies Extraordinary Developers of

Leadership Talent Use
Providing Opportunities for Growth. Enticing or sometimes forcing talented people to
take on bigger or unconventional assignments, while at the same time carefully
sequencing events, keeping an eye on what is happening, and not deserting the protg
if or when (the boss is) promoted. Setting clear expectations for both performance and
learning, holding the protg accountable, giving guidance and support, and providing
air cover so that mistakes do not prove fatal.
Providing Exposure to Senior Executives; Making Connections and Opening Doors.
Exposing protgs to the right people (such as gatekeepers or mentors) who can
provide guidance or help achieve business objectives. Making the protg known to
senior management, while appropriately tempering senior managers expectations
regarding the protgs capabilities and readiness.
Developing Skills and Mitigating Flaws. Helping protgs develop needed skills or
better manage their flaws by giving feedback and offering guidance, and sticking with it
long enough to see the results.
Inspiring. Raising the Bar. Demanding Excellence. Improving the performance of the
protg by inspiring, setting high standards, and driving the protg forward.
Watch Me, Listen to Me. Leading by example. For instance, taking the time to really
listen to what their people have to say, giving credit, developing others, dealing with
performance issues, explaining their decisions, following up, and delivering on
promises.
Offering Career Advice and Guidance. Offering career advice and support, including
arranging temporary or permanent assignments. Aware that mobility is often key to
career moves, paying attention to the protgs family situation.

bosses identified by their organizations as

great talent developers (referred to simply as
bosses in this article), McCall and McHenry
described six ways that bosses can help developing leaders learn from experience (summarized in Figure 1).
None of the 50 bosses interviewed for this
study did all six things; almost all focused on
just one or two of them and did those very
well. Even so, their impact was enormous;
their protgs1 consistently reported that what
these bosses did was one of the most powerful
factors in their leadership development.
McCall and Hollenbecks (2002) study of 101
Each of the 50 bosses interviewed for the study were asked
to identify at least one person he or she had developed. We
called these individuals protgs.

global executives validates the critical role that

the boss can play in learning from an international assignment. In fact, the most frequent
developmental event reported by their sample
of global executives was the impact of other
people, the vast majority of whom were
bosses. McCall and Hollenbeck went on to
observe that, Perhaps because of the uniqueness of expatriate assignments, one of the most
significant potential catalysts and one mentioned quite frequently by our executives is a
boss who understands international work and
is willing to spend time working with the person. The question, then, is what exceptional
bosses of individuals on international assignments do specifically to help them develop into
global leaders. Our analysis of interviews with
bosses and international protgs suggests that
great bosses play at least two roles. First, they
VOLUME 37/ISSUE 3 2014

23

take great care to manage the degree of difficulty of the protgs job assignment and
ensure that the protg has the support
needed to succeed and learn. Second, they
make special investments in career guidance
and support.
In addition, we found that there is a unique
dynamic to the relationship between bosses
and their international protgs.

Supporting Success
and Growth in
International
Assignments
International assignments, by nature, are
challenging, sometimes too much so. Prior
research has shown that derailment of talented executives is more common in international assignments than in domestic ones
(McCall & Hollenbeck, 2002), largely
because of the added complexity of cultural
differences compounded by organizational
mistakes in handling the international
assignments and placements. Under such
circumstances, the importance of a boss is
magnified, with the potential for bad bosses
to make things substantially worse and for
good bosses to save the day. There are several
things the exceptional bosses we studied did
to help their protgs succeed in and learn
from international assignments.

Prepared Protgs in Advance

to Succeed In International
Assignments
Some bosses contributions began before
their protg started the international
assignment. A straightforward example was
a boss providing perspective based on his or
her own global experience, helping the international protg see that what worked in his
or her home country or region might not
work equally well in the new geography. Or
it was sometimes more experiential, with
bosses finding ways to give protgs exposure to the country where they would be
working so they did not arrive completely
uninformed about the culture, local team
members, or the business. One boss we studied even sent his protg to China on a
learning trip that he constructed specifically to prepare her for an assignment in that
country.
24

PEOPLE & STRATEGY

Provided Real-Time Culture and

Business Coaching
Entering a new culture can be disconcerting,
and even apparently small things can cause
a protg to make career-damaging mistakes. Many of our bosses provided intensive
real-time coaching and guidance to their
international protgs, especially during the
first weeks and months of the assignment.
This coaching covered a wide array of
important to seemingly trivial issues and
situations, ranging from the expectations
and pace of work at headquarters, on one
hand, to understanding that in a nice culture its important to recognize birthdays.
Juan (not his real name) is a case in point.
His boss hired him in South America. Juan
followed his boss to Mexico and subsequently to the U.S., taking on progressively larger
roles. But when he moved to the U.S., Juan
struggled with the way work got done, specifically with so many more meetings than
he was used to (meetings before the meeting, the meeting, then meetings after the
meeting). His boss, sensing Juans growing
frustration, stepped in and told him that that

the rate at which responsibilities increased,

and they saw to it that the support needed to
be successful was available.
The bosses we interviewed employed a variety of strategies to keep the international
assignment appropriately challenging. Some
kept the bar very high, pushing their protgs
to think carefully about how they were
approaching the various challenges they
faced. Several protgs commented that their
boss asked them to think harder about this
problem before you make a decision or
come back with another idea before you
finally decide what to do. This advice helped
the protgs avoid tried-and-true solutions
that, in a different cultural context, were not
always the best course. As one protg said
of his boss, She kept me on the razors edge.
Keeping the degree of challenge just right was
especially difficult when the boss and protg
were not co-located, which was often the
case. Several bosses told us that in these
circumstances they checked in frequently at
first with their international protg, but
backed off considerably as the protg got
settled, instead reviewing progress against

Some bosses created a safety net for their

international protg by identifying someone (or a group
of people) in-country who could serve as a right-hand or
day-to-day advisor, often someone working for the
protg.
he would have to make some accommodations to the situation he was in, but that he
also should use this experience to think
about how he would run his own business
when he got the opportunity. That seemed
to liberate Juan. He became less frustrated
by the U.S. meeting culture. Later, when
he got the opportunity to run his own plant,
he found his own way instead of conforming
to the way that people in the company in
America did their jobs.

Fine-Tuned the Degree of

Challenge
Some bosses focused their attention on setting the bar at the right level such that their
international protg was challenged but not
overwhelmed. For example, they managed

objectives in quarterly or monthly operational

reviews.

Provided a Safety Net

Some bosses created a safety net for their
international protg by identifying someone
(or a group of people) in-country who could
serve as a right-hand or day-to-day advisor,
often someone working for the protg. We
have long known that other peopleas
mentors, role models, or examplesplay a
prominent role in all development; but for
global executives, their significance is even
more pronounced. Because the environment
of another culture is so much more complex,
and the nuances so much more subtle, the
guidance provided by others (either actively
or simply by example) can make the differ-

ence between success and failure (McCall &

Hollenbeck, 2002).
The bosses we interviewed expected their
protgs to experience mistakes and stumbles. Because of the distance separating
them, most protgs were highly empowered, but their bosses also held them accountable, both for results and for learning from
their experience. Success in a foreign environment was contingent on rapid personal
growth. Exceptional bosses, recognizing the
degree of challenge was extreme, provided
lots of support for learning and made themselves readily available to help their international protgs.

Provided Career Guidance and

Support
McCall and McHenry (2014) found that
providing career guidance was one of the six
ways that great bosses approached leadership development with their protgs. But it
took on special importance and urgency for
bosses of individuals on international assignments. Several bosses noted that they had
learned earlier in their career, through personal experience and the school of hard
knocks, that expatriates tend to lose touch
with and get cut off from their network of
sponsors back in their home country or at

headquarters. For example, senior executives often lose sight of the expatriate when
its time to nominate high-potentials or identify successors for key roles, or they might
not fully appreciate the expanded capabilities the expatriate can bring back to the
home country or business at the end of the
international assignment. Expatriates who
do not receive good career guidance from
their boss often end up frustrated and even
embittered when they are forgotten, especially after theyve made the personal sacrifi ce of uprooting their families, learned a
brand-new culture and new ways of doing
business, and performed superbly under very
challenging conditions.
In our interviews, bosses and their international protgs cited two types of career
guidance and support that were especially
helpful: consideration of family issues and
advice on managing their careers.

Showed Sensitivity to
Family Issues and Personal
Considerations
Many of our exceptional bosses were very
sensitive to family issues. They spent considerable time getting to know their protgs
family situations and helped them weigh
family considerations as they pondered

future career moves. As one boss explained,

Each has a different personal situation, different family situation, a spouse with different needs and expectations. You cant limit
yourself to job talk; you have to get to know
the people, their personal situations, and
their career expectations. Then I can give
guidance based on my 31 years of experience
in the company regarding what is and is not
realistic. When this boss traveled to meet
with his international protgs, he set aside
one evening during his visit for a dinner
where they would discuss personal and family issues. On many occasions he asked the
protgs trailing spouse to join the dinner. This deep familiarity with the protgs
personal situation allowed the boss to offer
frank career advice and perspectives which
were deeply appreciated by protgs when it
came time to make critical career decisions.
One protg told about a time he was putting
personal pressure on himself to move when
he wasnt sure his family was ready. The
company wanted me to transfer to Singapore. But a boss told me, You have only one
set of kids but many opportunities to move.
One boss, who had been on several international assignments himself, related a story
about his first career conversation with a
new protg. The protg had previously
expressed interest in an international assignment, so the boss was initially puzzled that
VOLUME 37/ISSUE 3 2014

25

the protg had never been tapped for a job

outside his home country. During their discussion, the boss discovered that the protg
had in fact been offered several international
jobs during the preceding five years, but the
timing had never been quite right for his
family. I explained to him that its critical to
prep your family because the phone could
ring tomorrow and you need to decide quickly. He had been taken off succession lists for
bigger jobs because he was never ready when
the call came. The boss coached the protg
on how to have an open, honest discussion
with his wife regarding plans and preparations for a future international assignment.
The boss then worked behind the scenes to
get the protg back onto succession lists,
which eventually led to an excellent international placement.

Took Personal Responsibility

for Career Planning and
Management
Second, our great bosses pressed their international protgs to take responsibility for
their own career planning and career management. As one boss told us, [My protg]
was frustrated about his career progress,
even though he was on a great trajectory. Yet
he came to our career discussion without a
completed development plan. I had to chastise him! We then spent a lot of time talking
about the steps he needed to take in order to
advance his careerpeople he needed to
network with, the number of moves he had
left given his age, what he needed to do to
get ready to make a move. In our follow-up
interview, the protg acknowledged receiving this feedback from his boss. I am terrible at career planning. My boss told me I
need to be much more disciplined and intentional about my career. So I have both a
career plan and a life planwhat do I want
to be doing in 10 years, what do I want to be
known for?
Great bosses also regularly reminded protgs
not to let connections lapse with senior leader
sponsors and fans back in their home country,
home division, or home job function. A couple
protgs commented that they were initially
uncomfortable doing this because they didnt
want to waste executives time or seem too
boastful. They told how their bosses coached
them on ways they could stay connected that
also were useful to their sponsors.
Finally, bosses were excellent sounding boards
when it came time to decide on a job move.
26

PEOPLE & STRATEGY

He helped me analyze opportunities in Lima,

Ohio, versus Tel Aviv. He always made me feel
like I was in control, one protg commented.
Whats striking about the stories we heard in
our interviews was the protgs trust in their

As noted earlier, many bosses also had deep

conversations about family and personal
interests with their protgs, often over
relaxed dinners when the boss visited. So
although the boss and international protg

Given the unique ways that international assignments

contribute to an individuals leadership development,
and the high costs and risks that international
assignments bring, its clearly in an organizations best
interest to help ensure that those assigned to
international roles are successful and learn from their
international experience.
bosses. Even though it would have been in the
bosss self-interest to keep the protg as a
direct report, these bosses consistently placed
a higher priority on helping their protgs
achieve their career goals.

The Relationship
between Bosses and
Protgs
McCall and McHenry (2014) noted that the
relationships between great bosses and their
protgs ran the gamut from friendly, egalitarian, and informal to professional, hierarchical, and formal. Yet all of the protgs
described similar qualities in their exceptional bosses: respectful, trustworthy, genuine, authentic, transparent, candid, caring,
clear about expectations, available. Those
same descriptors apply to great bosses of
international protgs. In addition, three
other interesting facets of the boss-protg
relationship emerged.
First, in most instances we studied, the boss
and protg were not co-located, so they had
fewer conversations with one another. But
when they did have conversations, those conversations tended to be deep, lengthy, and
very rich. I call my boss from time to time
to brainstorm because he is a great brainstorming partner. A couple months ago, I
needed time to step back and think. I offered
to travel to my bosss office, but he insisted
on traveling to where I work. We ended up
spending half a day just talking one on one
together.

may not see each other frequently, their

interactions may in fact be richer and more
intimate than the interactions of bosses and
protgs who are co-located.
Second, while all great bosses make themselves available to their protgs, the bosses
of international protgs made a special
point of being accessible. They provided protgs with their home phone number and
encouraged them to call any time, 24/7,
when issues arose. Protgs appreciated this,
noting that it made them more comfortable
reaching out to their boss when they encountered unexpected situations while settling
into their international roles. Showing how
far an exceptional boss might go, one protg
reported, A month after I moved to Singapore my boss was tapped to take on a new
role. But to his credit, he continued to be
available to me when I had questions.
Third, there were many instances where the
learning was bi-directional: bosses learned
from their protgs at the same time they
mentored and coached them. One protg
who had started his career in corporate
headquarters and recently moved to a subsidiary noted that he was able to teach his
boss a lot about changes in the business.
Hes been overseas for two decades. I had
a lot to offer him, because Id been in the
business for a while. Another mentioned
that partway through his international posting he was assigned to a new boss who was
at a much higher organizational level than
his previous boss. This made me very
uncomfortable, but my new boss was
extremely supportive, gave me tips, opened

 Press the protg as needed to manage and

promote his or her own career, recognizing that he or she may fall off the radar of
key home-country and business sponsors.
The organization that prepares bosses to
manage international assignments effectively will be well-positioned to reap leadership development rewards.

Endnotes
McCall, M.W., Jr. (1998). High flyers: Developing the next generation of leaders. Boston:
Harvard Business School Press.
McCall, M.W., Jr., & Hollenbeck, G.P. (2002).
Developing global executives: The lessons of
international experience. Boston: Harvard
Business School Press.
McCall, M.W., Jr., Lombardo, M.M., & Morrison, A.M. (1988). The lessons of experience:
How successful executives develop on the
job. New York: Free Press.

The organization that prepares bosses to manage

international assignments effectively will be wellpositioned to reap leadership development rewards.
doors for me, and got people to sit down and
talk with me. He has a kind of commandand-control style that is effective in the part
of the world he is from, but not in our region.
He relies on me to moderate his style.
In short, great bosses took the opportunity
to learn from the cultural and business experiences of their protgs.

Recommendations
Given the unique ways that international
assignments contribute to an individuals leadership development, and the high costs and
risks that international assignments bring, it is
clearly in an organizations best interest to help
ensure that those assigned to international
roles are successful and learn from their international experience. Research indicates that
the boss is the single best source of support
during an international assignment (McCall
& Hollenbeck, 2002). It therefore makes sense

that organizations that want to maximize the

success and learning of those given international assignments will make sure that their
bosses are well-prepared to support them.
One of the most straightforward ways to do
this is for organizations to educate bosses
about the types of support that are most
valuable to their international protgs:
Provide job-related support, especially on
cultural issues, both in advance and during
the early stages of the protgs posting.
Continually fine-tune the degree of challenge in the assignment to ensure that the
protg feels stretched and accountable
but still has a safety net (e.g., check-ins by
the boss, an in-country advisor) to help
prevent career-threatening mistakes.
Get to know the protgs family situation
and help him or her balance effectively
between family and career.

McCall, M.W., Jr., & McHenry, J.J. (2014).

Catalytic converters: How exceptional bosses
develop leaders. In C.D. McCauley & M.W.
McCall, Jr. (Eds.), Using experience to develop leadership talent: How organizations
leverage on-the-job development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
McCauley, C.D., Ruderman, M.N., Ohlott,
P.J., & Morrow, J.E. (1994). Assessing the
developmental components of managerial
jobs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79,
544560.

Jeffrey J. McHenry, Ph.D., is the principal of Rainier Leadership Solutions,

which focuses on leadership development and talent management. He can
be reached at jeff.mchenry@rainierleadership.com
Morgan W. McCall Jr., Ph.D., is professor of management and organizat ion at Un iver sit y of S out her n
California Marshall School of Business. He focuses on assessment, development, and derailment of executive
talent in his research and writing. He
can be reached at morgan.mccall@
marshall.usc.edu.

VOLUME 37/ISSUE 3 2014

27

Copyright of People & Strategy is the property of HR People & Strategy and its content may
not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.