Global assignment effectiveness and leader development

Organizations put significant resources toward the management of global assignments; however, few realize the full benefits that these experiences provide in terms of the development of future leaders. This chapter presents three principles for directing global assignment strategies to maximize effectiveness and supports those principles with research among a sample of leaders at a global organization. First, effective global assignments are powerful sources of leader development and can be implemented to maximize this outcome. Second, assignments differ in their developmental value with some assignments providing significantly more value than others. Third, individuals differ in their ability to perform on assignment. Finally, implications of the research findings and principles for global talent management strategy are discussed.