Is international experience still a must for future CEOs? | Fortune

"For decades, the path to the CEO suite often ran through a foreign airport. A rotation in London, a turnaround in São Paulo, a regional post in Singapore. These were the proving grounds where future leaders built global fluency and earned credibility with the board. But in an age of regional supply chains, rising protectionism, and AI-powered everything, the question has resurfaced: Does international experience still matter?"

""Not all companies are global," she says. "We have clients who are purely national and others that operate around the world. If you want to be a global CEO, then it's important to have had that global, culturally diverse experience." In other words, a stint overseas is still a marker of strategic reach, especially if it aligns with the company's scale and ambition."

"The benefit, researchers suggest, comes less from geography than from what it teaches: how to operate in ambiguity, manage risk, and balance corporate strategy with local nuance. One recent paper even linked global experience to a longer-term strategic mindset, finding that CEOs with advanced-market international backgrounds were more likely to invest steadily through volatility, rather than chase short-term returns. Matt Guffey, UPS's chief commercial and strategy officer, has seen those lessons firsthand."

For decades, executives often gained CEO readiness through international rotations and regional leadership roles. Global postings historically built cultural fluency and board credibility. Contemporary trends — regional supply chains, protectionism, and AI — have raised questions about the necessity of overseas experience. International assignments remain important for firms with global operations because they develop the ability to manage ambiguity, assess risk, and align corporate strategy with local nuance. Empirical studies link international experience to higher CEO promotion likelihood, greater pay, and a longer-term investment mindset. Practical leaders report that advanced-market exposure encourages steady investment through volatility rather than chasing short-term returns.

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