In today's global economy, mobile executives are ahead of the pack. This is an important fact to consider when you plan your career. If you work for a foreign multinational company, it is likely that your top boss in Taiwan holds a foreign passport. Even if your foreign employer has fully localized the Taiwan management team already, most probably, the local operations were started by expatriate managers in the past. If you work in a well-known Taiwanese corporation, count the number of offices and factories that your company has established overseas and how many ROC managers work there. Many mobile executives also work as district managers or regional managers within Taiwan.

What brought these foreign expatriates to Taiwan? What took these ROC managers far away from their homes? Career advancement. Their headquarters asked them to take the company's know-how to a remote location and to ensure that standard corporate operating procedures are applied there as well as they are applied at the headquarters. They were given the chance to lead a subsidiary company or a branch office. They may have ranked among the top 100 executives in headquarters, but most of them now rank among the top 3 executives in their assigned location. They were chosen because they understood well how the company operates, they could be trusted, they could communicate well with people from other cultures or regions, they could lead and train other executives, and they agreed to be stationed far from their homes for a certain period of time.

Although the chance to improve their ranking and their remuneration through challenges is appealing to many executives, relatively few among them will actually agree to work far away from their home. For this reason, some managers will reject a promotion and even quit their job afterwards. Others will see relocation as a great opportunity to grab a promotion while others hesitate.

Mobile executives must overcome a variety of challenges. This is why they are rare. At the same time, international companies need a growing number of this special breed to develop their global network. There will be at least one and probably several relocations on your career path before you can become the senior VP or the CEO of a leading organization. Be mobile, otherwise one of your peers will get there before you do. And be prepared to overcome the following obstacles. Some barriers rise from the fear that the relocation will affect the balance of the family. Others require that you master certain skills.

The insecurity of the spouse
No spouse likes to be left alone. Some multinational companies request that the spouse and children accompany the manager on long overseas assignments in order to preserve the balance of the family. If the company does not have such a policy, the assignment must be planned a long time in advance. The couple must plan the family's resources and identify meaningful benefits that the spouse can get in return.

Children
Couples are concerned about the children's education, especially teenagers. Some companies accept to fund tuition fees overseas. This can be a great opportunity for children to study at an international school in English. Otherwise, arrangements should be made with relatives or a boarding school.

Dual careers
Whenever the spouse must abandon a successful career to follow the manager, it affects the spouse's psychological well-being. The possibility of getting another job or to do volunteer work after the relocation must be assessed in advance.

Communication skills
It may take 6 months to improve your English. It will take longer for other languages. Don't wait to take action. Don't let cultural differences confuse you. If you can understand the difference between Taipei and Kaohsiung, then you can understand the difference between the ROC and other nations as well. Travel as much as you can and do some research on the Internet. Also, learn training skills and presentation software.

Eric Dieny is President of EMS Consulting executive search firm, Chairman of the Consulting Services Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, and a former co-Chairman of the China Business Committee and the Labor Affairs Committee of the same Chamber.

A version of this article was published in the China Post --  the leading English newspaper in Taiwan, on October 15-16, 1999.

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