Advance

CHAPTER 13GOING GLOBAL:The Learning Adventure Begins

So there you are–finally, incredibly, standing in a conference room with “Bon Voyage” scrawled on the whiteboard as your colleagues celebrate your first transfer to an overseas post. You’re touched by the thoughtful and expensive bottle of Moutai a friend got you to please your new Chinese clients. Somebody yells out “Speech!” and your mind scrambles for Gettysburg Address–worthy remarks. Suddenly, this voice in your head starts yelling, “What have I done? Why am I uprooting my whole life?”

Not to worry. Being nervous over any job transfer is, of course, normal—and it only magnifies when you’re shipping yourself and your family 3,000 miles away. Just know that you will hear this voice again, perhaps a lot. Sure, others may brag how they stepped off the plane and never looked back. But the vast majority of people do look back, especially in the first few months. For some, it happens the entire time.

By following the steps in this and every chapter in this book, you understand that you’re on a very long-term mission here—to take control of your career and make strong and strategic moves in a way that few people do. Going global is one of those bold moves.

First of all, congratulate yourself. Even getting to this point is quite an accomplishment; it took a lot of work that got you noticed by people above you. Now, those same ...