Expatriate leadership: An organizational resource for collaboration

Findings revealed that these expatriate leaders were able to maintain creative tension between two or more worldviews, which precipitated their ability to work across cultures. Participants described relationship-building skills that allowed them to synthesize best practices from different cultures toward a competitive advantage. Policy implications for selection of successful expatriate candidates, as well as, suggestions for in-country support of leadership development emerged from this study. An “In-Country” model for support of expatriate leaders allows organizations to garner greater knowledge and insight from their own expatriates. These leaders were often found to be an untapped resource of first hand international experience, intercultural knowledge and cross-cultural skills.