The new class of ‘Nomadic Managers’ is enjoying an extremely strong demand from large multinationals operating gin global markets. Executives with multiple cultural reference points, who perhaps lived as a child in different countries and today voyage around the world for their company have become valuable assets to corporations.
In today’s ‘globalized Switzerland,’ like elsewhere in the Occident, globalized markets have made such mobile, multicultural and multilingual executives hot properties.
According to Swiss-based companies specialized in coaching, the skill sets of nomadic executives are in tune now with the needs of global companies.
The legendary CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, has said that the future director of General Electric would not resemble him, but would rather be someone who traveled and worked in different countries. (Jack Welch spent his whole career in the USA.) He went on to advise, ‘ We should send our best talent abroad to work in different places – Bombay, Hongkong, Buenos Aires…-to insure they receive the multicultural background that will permit them to be global leaders and insure the development of GE in the future.’
Executives with a multicultural and multilingual background are usually chameleons who have had to learn to adapt to survive – to be accepted into a new school or by new friends. Their nomadic childhood and their youth differentiate them from classic expatriates who grew up in the country of origin and have a strong reference culture. These former may become mobile executives later in their careers.
The life experience and careers of nomadic executives gives them qualities which are particularly sought after by top management of global companies: they have a certain humility in the face of new cultures, they are flexible, curious, and able to adapt, they have developed a strong sense of observation and they are not afraid of change.
As a general rule they have (what is known in the HR profession as) a strong emotional intelligence.
They also have ‘explorer’ profiles and are at ease in complex situations. They excel in tasks like exploring and developing new markets, restructurings, and positions which require qualities of innovation and entrepreneurship.
These talented mobile executives also frighten HR staff because they seem to have no attachments and they seem un-rooted, unpredictable and less faithful to the company. Therefore, in terms of career management, nomadic executives need special attention from corporations HR departments.
The nomadic executives have weaknesses that require special attention. They feel nowhere at home, risk more than others to suffer isolation. They are always traveling, they’re far from the corporate headquarters, and sometimes feel ‘forgotten’ and need to have feedback on how they are thought of and what sort of career plans exist for them. In short, they need like everyone else to feel valued.
Nomads often feel slightly out of sync with their colleagues who have followed a classic career path. If a nomadic executive is the only personality of this type in a team composed of mainly stationary managers, it can create sparks.
The other character trait of these leaders without roots : they need a constant in their lives. Usually, its their families and it’s very important that the HR departments to properly organize their moves and their integrations into the communities where they will live.
Executives nearing the end of their careers pose additional problems. They are wondering where they will establish themselves for their retirement. For them, ‘going home’ is often anywhere and nowhere.
Keeping these nomadic executives motivated is highly important to their multinational employers. Nomadic executives like challenges and change – they have to be constantly given interesting tasks to accomplish, and their different skill sets as fully exploited as possible.
