In early 2016, Emma Seddon picked up her life in the U.K. and moved across the world to China on a three-year international secondment in her role as talent development manager at Jaguar Land Rover. Her colleagues who had previously completed long-term assignments in China warned of “shang-highs and shang-lows,” and gave her as much advice as possible.
Last week I had a catch-up meeting with Beatrice, a former coaching client in town for a short visit to corporate headquarters. This rock star, high-performing employee had recently taken over a global office, all on her own, with just two years’ tenure at her firm. She wanted to talk about how the year was going, and how she hoped to continue improving. What a positive scenario – she’d essentially become a director of global operations, taking on a significant leadership role in a very short period of time, and was excited about her professional development and future with her company!