The competitive forces of globalization place transnational corporations under increasing pressure to build innovative and collaborative global organizational cultures that can mobilize their dispersed, multicultural workforce rapidly and effectively to respond to continuous change in global markets. Key to their success is the leadership on the front lines provided by global managers on international assignment who are often responsible for key corporate operational and strategic decision-making. Surprisingly however, up to 75% of global assignments end in early return, within the first year of 2-3 year assignments.25-40% of these failures are directly attributable to the inability of the global managers inability to adapt to culture and to change.

This study proposes to explore what might be learned from a population of global leaders who were grew up in a ‚Äúthird culture‚Äù, that is who spent some portion of their developmental years outside of their passport culture as a result of their parents‚Äô occupations. Being raised internationally, often in multiple cultures, exposed these children during critical developmental years to similar challenges faced by global managers, i.e., navigating culture shock, managing transition, and developing the awareness, knowledge, process skills, and personal and behavioral flexibility to shift cultural frames of reference in order to engage successfully in intercultural encounters.  Literature on this population, called ‚Äòthird culture kids‚Äù or ‚Äúglobal nomads‚Äù, suggests that their identity development parallels the model for the Development of Cultural Sensitivity that identifies six developmental stages leading to optimum intercultural adaptation and performance.

Expatriation literature suggests that previous international exposure by global managers increases their likelihood of successful assignments. It is proposed that the early and prolonged experience of living internationally during their developmental years lends third culture global managers a unique capacity to seamlessly transition between national borders and cultural mindsets while maintaining optimum effectiveness.  This study proposes to explore from the point of view this population, what they feel contributes to their success, and how their international upbringing may have played a role in it. It is intended that measures for performance success emerge from the data

This qualitative study consists of semi-structured field interviews with (2-4) third culture informants who currently hold, or have held management positions outside their passport cultures.  They must have lived outside their passport countries for a minimum of three years between the ages of 7 and 18, in at least two countries, and acquired some second language skills. They must have held positions of global leadership for at least four years. The purpose of the interviews is to probe for insights and new that may expand our understanding of effective cross- cultural leadership and contribute to improving the development of global managers

The study is limited by its examination of a small population due to time limitations as well as those imposed by finding and practically interviewing informants. Further studies might expand on insights gained herein to gauge the extent to which they are generalizable to the third culture global leader population, and also to measure how their proposed ability to rapidly and seamlessly attain optimum effectiveness on new assignments compares with global managers who are not global nomads. The study is limited by its examination of a small population due to time limitations as well as those imposed by finding and practically interviewing informants. Further studies might expand on insights gained herein to gauge the extent to which they are generalizable to the third culture global leader population, and also to measure how their proposed ability to rapidly and seamlessly attain optimum effectiveness on new assignments compares with global managers who are not global nomads.