The Gap Between What HQ Expects and What the Ground Looks Like Is Real.
A structured advisory program delivered directly to the executive taking the international assignment, before they leave and through the critical first six months in-country.
Start a ConversationThe failure rate for international executive assignments runs between 20% and 40% in most multinational organizations. Companies spend significant time and money selecting the right person. They handle the visa, the housing, the relocation package. Then they put the executive on a plane.
What they almost never address are the things that actually determine whether the assignment succeeds: the predecessor dynamic, the authority gap, the relationship with headquarters, the personal adjustment, and the operational realities that no briefing document covers.
HQ Gap addresses exactly those factors, in a structured, confidential program delivered directly to the executive. Not to HR. Not to the CHRO. To the person who is actually going to be living and leading in a new country.
The program is typically engaged through the CHRO or global mobility function. The work is with the executive.
Structured sessions with the executive before departure. Covers operational reality, authority and relationships in the new market, the predecessor dynamic, headquarters expectations, and the personal factors that determine readiness. Delivered before the executive boards the plane.
Ongoing advisory through the first six months in-country, the period when the assignment is most at risk. Real-time guidance tied to what the executive is actually navigating on the ground, not generic advice from someone who has never been there.
At six months, the executive is operationally embedded, the team has clarity on direction, HQ relationships are functioning, and the markers of a successful assignment are visible and measurable.
How to navigate the shadow of the person who came before, whether they were loved, feared, or fired, and establish authority without creating unnecessary conflict.
How authority works differently in the new market, who the real decision-makers are, and how to build the relationships that determine whether you get things done.
How to manage the relationship with HQ while operating in a market that does not always match what HQ believes it looks like.
What the market actually looks like on the ground, what the team is dealing with, and what the executive needs to understand before they arrive.
The personal and family factors that organizations almost never discuss but that directly determine whether the executive stays focused and functional in the new assignment.
Particularly effective for assignments into Latin America, where the gap between HQ expectations and in-country reality is most pronounced. Chip has operated across Latin America for three decades.
The program is engaged through the CHRO or global mobility function. If you are evaluating options for an upcoming assignment, reach out directly and we will walk you through the program.
Email chip@talkwithchip.com