Introducing the “Foreign-Educated Local National”
In this article, Bakhtiyor Isoev is the subject foreign-educated local national. However, his experience is not entirely unique. Many others have returned to live and work in their native countries after being educated abroad, contrary to the simultaneous reality of “brain drain[ii]”. Your colleague, direct report or manager may fit the description. Perhaps you identify as a foreign-educated local national within your work environment.
Living his Mission
Bakhtiyor is an international education professional living his mission to advance access and quality of international education in Tajikistan and Central Asia. He is a Tajikistan national, tri-lingual, and educated in both Tajikistan and the U.S. Bakhtiyor earned a Masters of Arts in International Education from SIT Graduate Institute (School for International Training) in the U.S. and a Bachelor of Arts in Law, Business and Politics from Tajik State University. In the last several years, Bakhtiyor has gained experience in his field working with non-profit, intergovernmental and U.S. government programs. He is an ambitious learner; a member of the Y-Generation by birth; and the father of two, nearly school-aged boys.
The new CEO
In 2013, Bakhtiyor enthusiastically accepted the role of CEO at an international education company in Khujand after having recently returned from New York City, where he managed programming work for an international education non-profit. The business of this limited liability company in Tajikistan’s second largest city and industrial center was to send Tajik and other Central Asian undergraduate students to study abroad at community colleges and language centers worldwide. They also offered foreign language acquisition locally. The founder of the company was on-site initially after Bakhtiyor’s hire, and left shortly after to pursue other endeavors.
Facing new challenges
The excitement wore off for Bakhtiyor in 10 days. “To be honest,” says Bakhtiyor, “I was so excited about the title…This is where I made a big mistake on relying on one or two people to send me information on what was going on [while still residing in the U.S.].” In his role as CEO, his efforts were met with incompatible response. Over the months, the quarterly staff retreats, weekly meetings and professional development trainings that he initiated were attended, but the strategic direction and values led by Bakhtiyor were not followed. Despite the contributions that he brought to his workplace, Bakhtiyor’s identity as a foreign-educated local national contributed to a mix of challenges in his new workplace. “It’s like turning the keys to your engine,” he shared in retrospect, “and not having gas in your car.”
Working Globally & Thinking Locally
It’s neither ironic nor uncommon that people working at organizations with an international scope would think in “local” mindsets. Primarily, people seeking employment are signing up for a paycheck; their commitment to the mission or even the culture of the organization exists to varying degrees. So, while international organizations represent at least a paycheck to employees, those same employees don’t necessarily guarantee their support to „global” ways of thinking about work and working together. In Bakhtiyor’s professional world of international education, the mission he was asking his team to complete has been succinctly stated by Evan Ryan, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She states:
“International education promotes the relationship building and knowledge exchange between people and communities…that are necessary to solve global challenges[iii].”
Cultural Influences
When asked if the challenges to ideas like these were cultural on the part of his Tajik team, Bakhtiyor agrees as enthusiastically as he accepted the job: “Oh yeah, oh yeah, yes!” In fact, as there always are, there were many cultures at play— among Bakhtiyor’s team in particular and within Tajikistan in general— that responded in differing ways to the ideas he represented as CEO.
- In a country where hiring relatives is common…„There wasn’t a complete organizational structure for me to work with,” said Bakhtiyor. He estimated that approximately 60% of his staff „were there [being paid] for nothing” and had been hired prior to his start with the company without internal policies and procedures for hiring. Bakhtiyor set about the task of identifying what skills were needed to fill the gaps. His professional ethic was based, in part, on the assumption that employees necessarily represent financial value and are to demonstrate achievements in the workplace. At the same time, employees who were others’ relatives were hired because of the value ascribed to them by who they knew.
- In a country where firing is avoided, if at all possible…Because connections in the workplace are so prevalent, Bakhtiyor understood that firing employees is “very difficult to manage or lead, especially in Tajikistan.” Still, he did it for the team. Mostly in the U.S.—but also from his work with various international NGOs and his own professional development reading—Bakhtiyor had learned to “work with people in their strengths.” In other words, his brand of professionalism was, in part, based on the grounding assumption that employees’ purpose is to positively motivate the business. Rhetorically, he asked, “What’s the point of having someone [in the workplace] that is not qualified?” But his question had been answered with the trend of workplace relatives. Again, these employees offered a value that Bakhtiyor could not see in an organizational chart and which capitalism could not calculate: Preserving relationship was a key value add of hiring relatives.
- In a culture where professionals working in international organizations have not had access to opportunities to work internationally…One of the reasons that the international education company in Khujand existed was to open opportunities for international study and intercultural experiences to young people; to offer them exposure that their parents or peers may not have had. Still, in meeting this mission, there existed a cultural divide between those who had been abroad and those who had not. When some employees—including a couple of key staff members—didn’t understand Bakhtiyor’s leadership style, they left the organization. According to Bakhtiyor, the “people that have not studied abroad, they started leaving the company because they thought that they would not be accepted in the corporate culture or the culture of the organization.” This duality played out also in the speaking of English in the workplace on Bakhtiyor’s part and others’. “For some,” he said, “speaking English was exciting. For the staff that has not had the opportunity to study abroad, it’s a threat.” Unfortunately, “global” thinking alienated those working locally.
The Incongruence of „Foreign” Thoughts in the Local Workplace
Bakhtiyor was not a stranger in a strange land. He was a Tajik native who had left his country as an adult and returned to a familiar country and to a workplace unfamiliar to the ideas that he advocated as CEO. Yet, his culturally-nuanced leadership style was not a fit for this particular workplace, and arguably for other, local workers whose scope of the world may be more local than global. The cost-benefit of international exposure and international working does not weigh favorably for all people.
“You can’t lead by yourself; you have to have followers.”
Different ways of thought in the workplace can make someone a cultural mis-fit among their staff or team. In this case, while hiring someone with Bakhtiyor’s credentials was intentional, the organizational culture was not yet prepared to absorb the kind of difference that he represented. It is less important to identify the ideas that he carried back to Tajikistan as U.S. imports than to understand that the prevalence of any significant differences in thought or behavior can alienate a team player from his/ her team. For Bakhtiyor, the power of culture redirected his efforts to lead in ways that he did not intend. Reflecting on his efforts to lead his team, equipped with his “good [well-educated] background”, Bakhtiyor said, “You can’t lead by yourself; you have to have followers.” Leadership must be congruent with those who will follow.
Start Thinking Differently
(Re-)Visit our article, “Women, Organizational Culture and Change,” that includes related ideas about cultural fit in the workplace. It defines organizational culture; questions cultural fit as an acceptable workplace bias; speaks to culture as a means to change and increase performance; and, advocates for increased workplace inclusion and equity.
One Piece in the Puzzle
Setting Future Expectations
Bakhtiyor has since moved up in the company—and also moved on! In the last several months, he negotiated the role of Co-Owner of the international education company. His hard-learned and hard-earned lessons as CEO led to a joint decision by him and the company’s founding owner that the structure of the company could not support its operations and that the company would be broken down into three, separately managed centers. In his new role, it has been decided that Bakhtiyor’s focus will be on strategic business development. His characteristic enthusiasm is seemingly the “gas for his engine” as he has also transitioned into a full-time role with the Institute of Economics and Trade at Tajik State University of Commerce, also in Khujand. As Head of the Department of International Affairs, Bakhtiyor oversees international education programs and promotes access to international education and training for students and educators.
Lessons Learned
Beyond Bakhtiyor’s story, there are important lessons about our globalizing workplace to be learned for those who identify as a foreign-educated local nationals—as well as for their colleagues, direct reports or leadership.
- Anticipate the rise of the “foreign-educated local national”
- Assume that workers “think locally”—unless they demonstrate otherwise
The ways in which we work are influenced by the cultures to which we belong—be it national, professional, generational culture, etc. Cultural norms will not readily change to bolster your bottom line. How does leadership communicate in ways that resonate with the whole of your diverse workforce?
- Strategize on how to build an organizational culture over time
Culture is learned over time and shared. Be intentional about building it. Both research—and our day-to-day workplace experience—has shown that organizational culture has the power to “make or break” organizations. (See Kelleher and McLaren referenced in the “Women, Organizational Culture and Change” article referenced above.) How does leadership co-create organizational culture with its network of employees, consultants, business partners, etc.?
- Anticipate hard-learned, hard-earned lessons and incremental progress
Working better globally is a practice. What stories and lessons learned will you courageously share about managing the complexities of your global workplace?
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[ii] According to Merriam-Webster of Encyclopedia Brittanica, “brain drain” is “the departure of educated or professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another usually for better pay or living conditions.”[iii] Quote retrieved on 21 Aug. 2014 from the website of the Institute of International Education (IIE), one of the foremost international education organizations in the world.