What can global mobility learn from the "Tiger King?"

For me, this post proves the truth of a quote I saw recently: "There is always something to learn from everyone you cross paths with, because it's either you can learn how to succeed or how to become a failure in life by looking at someone else's life." I have to admit, I tapped out after about the first episode, but there were plenty of people who saw it through to consider the painful lessons offered up by the "Tiger King." 

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Gina Grover, one of the precious members of our Consulting team here at Plus. As a Consulting Services Specialist, Gina helps our team members, clients and partners implement great programs and policies, along with managing numerous other benchmarking and program projects. We were recently discussing the post I had written on "How can Ted Lasso help global mobility?" when she shared that Netflix announced that the Tiger King was coming out with season two. I quickly challenged her to try to find some lessons for global mobility from that show...and by golly, somehow she did!

So, take it away Gina:

Netflix recently announced a second season of their hit show, “The Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” which kept us distracted as the COVID-19 crisis began in March 2020. While, admittedly, it is a stretch to even consider the show as something to model our professional behavior after, maybe we can take away some nuggets of what not to do that can help us as we navigate through the ever-changing world of global mobility. Let's consider these three lessons for global mobility:

1. Don’t let your ego get in the way of your goals

Joe Exotic’s ego is second to none. There is nothing he thinks he can’t do. He even ran for president! But that ego and lack of empathy ended up destroying everything he worked for. In the “real world,” we’ve all probably worked with someone who didn’t listen to your good idea or always had to win the argument. It’s hard to work for someone who pays more attention to their personal achievements than the good of the team. To run a world-class global mobility program, we have to keep our egos in check and listen to what others are saying, both within and outside of your organization. Read some of our Trending Topics posts to get some new perspective. This will not only lead to a more collaborative work environment, but will give you some great and unique ideas on how to improve your mobility program.

2. You must treat people fairly — no favoritism

Joe definitely had his favorite employees. When it comes to policy exceptions, do you have an unconscious bias? How do you make sure you are treating each exception request fairly? Being fair and treating everyone the same are not the same thing. If you treat an unreasonable exception request the same as a reasonable one, you are not being fair to relocating employees or the company. Take the time to listen to each request, keeping in mind the need to be flexible in today’s complicated and challenging world. What would have seemed unreasonable a year ago may now be our new normal.

3. Be for something rather than against something

Joe focused his energy on destroying Carole Baskin, which eventually led him to jail. Instead of focusing on his own organization, he tried to take someone else down. There are many things that are out of our control, but instead of focusing on what you can’t control, we need to focus on what we can control. Remind yourself why you got started in global mobility in the first place. This is an ever-changing, fast-paced, globally focused industry where we have the opportunity to provide the best employee experience possible. We can’t control things like the extended time required to get a household goods shipment delivered, but we can control how we adapt to the unplanned. Be for making the best out of a difficult situation, not against what got you there.

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Thanks, Gina! The first word out of my mouth when you mentioned season two was a comin' was not "yeet!" I'll look forward to you watching this next season on my behalf and letting me know more about what NOT to do!