EXPATRIATES AND THE MYTH OF THE HEROS JOURNEY

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EXPATRIATES AND THE MYTH OF THE HEROS JOURNEY
Joyce S. Osland, Ph.D. University of Portland
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CATEGORIES OF HERO TALK

• Succeeding at difficult work assignments

• Accomplishing work goals under less-than-favorable
  conditions

• Making it on their own or going it alone
• Feeling special
• Taking pride in the ability to acculturate and
  adapt to change
• Succeeding in comparison with other expatriates
• Experiencing a sense of mastery and
  self-confidence

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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HEROISM
Mankinds common instinct for realityhas always
held the world to be essentially a theatre for
heroism. William James
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THE BASIC THEME OF HEROS ADVENTURE MYTHS

• DEPARTURE - Separation from the world
• INITIATION - Penetration to some source of power
• RETURN - Life-enhancing return

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THE HEROS JOURNEY
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
THE ULTIMATE BOON
THE ROAD OF TRIALS
THE BELLY OF THE WALE
THE RETURN
THE MAGICAL FRIEND
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THE CALL TO ADVENTURE ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGE
The usual hero adventure begins with someone
from whom something has been taken, or with
someone who feels there is something lacking in
the normal experiences available or permitted to
the members of this society. This person then
takes off on a series of adventures beyond the
ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or
to discover some life-giving elixir. Joseph
Campbell
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THE CALL TO ADVENTURE EXPATRIATE EXAMPLE

• Potential expatriates are asked to move to their
  assignments overseas some accept while others
  refuse the opportunity.

• Significance of the response to the call

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THE HEROS JOURNEY
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
THE ULTIMATE BOON
THE ROAD OF TRIALS
THE BELLY OF THE WALE
THE MAGICAL FRIEND
THE RETURN
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CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD STEPPING INTO AN
UNKNOWN WORLD
The adventure is always and everywhere a passage
beyond the veil of the known into the unknown
the powers that watch at the boundary are
dangerous to deal with them is risky yet for
anyone with competence and courage the danger
fades. Joseph Campbell
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CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD EXPATRIATE EXAMPLE
This stage represents leaving behind ones own
culture to cross both physical and cultural
boundaries.

• Uncertainty, stress, challenges
• Unexpected surprises and failed expectations
• Novelty, strangeness, exhilaration
• Accelerated learning

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CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD THRESHOLD GUARDIANS

• Lack of language ability
• Cultural impermeability
• Headquarters constraints
• The expatriate community

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THE HEROS JOURNEY
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
THE ULTIMATE BOON
THE ROAD OF TRIALS
THE BELLY OF THE WALE
THE MAGICAL FRIEND
THE RETURN
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THE BELLY OF THE WHALE
In this sub-stage of the heros adventure, heroes
are swallowed alive, falling into an abyss of
some sort over which they have no control later
on, they are resurrected.
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BELLY OF THE WHALE EXPATRIATE EXAMPLE
Expatriates immerse themselves in the other
culture to varying degrees. In doing so, they
confront their self and their own culture.
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THE HEROS JOURNEY
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
THE ULTIMATE BOON
THE ROAD OF TRIALS
THE BELLY OF THE WALE
THE MAGICAL FRIEND
THE RETURN
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THE MAGICAL FRIEND FINDING A CULTURAL MENTOR
For those who have not refused the call, the
first encounter of the hero-journey is with a
protective figure who provides the adventurer
with amulets against the dragon forces he is
about to pass. Joseph Campbell
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THE MAGICAL FRIEND EXPATRIATE EXAMPLE
This assistance is found in local cultural
mentors, experienced resident expatriates, social
nodes (international schools, clubs, churches)
and career mentors back at corporate
headquarters. They provide warnings, help, and
encouragement.
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THE MAGICAL FRIEND CULTURAL MENTORS
Cultural mentors interpret the local culture and
offer advice.

• More fluent in the local language
• Better adapted to work and general living
  conditions abroad, by their own self report
• Given higher performance rating by both superiors
  and themselves
• More aware of expatriate paradoxes

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THE HEROS JOURNEY
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
THE ULTIMATE BOON
THE ROAD OF TRIALS
THE BELLY OF THE WALE
THE MAGICAL FRIEND
THE RETURN
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THE ROAS OF TRIALS LEARNING TO LIVE WITH
PARADOX
Once having traversed the threshold, the hero
moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid,
ambiguous forms, where he must survive a
succession of trials. This is a favorite phase
of the myth-adventure. It has produced a world
literature of miraculous tests and
ordeals. Joseph Campbell
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THE ROAD OF TRIALS EXPATRIATE EXAMPLE
In addition to common obstacles and hardships,
expatriates are confronted with paradoxes and
contradictions

• Paradoxes are defined as the presence of
  contradictory, mutually exclusive elements that
  operate equally at the same time.
• Each paradox was experienced by 46-77 of
  expatriates. The expatriates reportedly
  experienced an average of five paradoxes.

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THE ROAD OF TRIALS MARGINALITY PARADOXES
Generally thinking well of the host-country
nationals while at the same time being very savvy
about being taken advantage of by them
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THE ROAD OF TRIALS MEDIATION PARADOXES
Being freed from many of ones own cultural rules
and even from some of the host cultures
norms, but not being free at all from certain
host-country customs
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THE HEROS JOURNEY
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
THE ULTIMATE BOON
THE ROAD OF TRIALS
THE BELLY OF THE WALE
THE MAGICAL FRIEND
THE RETURN
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THE ULTIMATE BOON TRANSFORMING AND
ENRICHING OURSELVES
The heros consciousness is transformed by
exposure to trials and illuminating revelations.
The hero penetrates to some source of power -- a
higher consciousness or a sense of the universal
power within. Joseph Campbell
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THE ULTIMATE BOON EXPATRIATE EXAMPLE

• Their consciousness is transformed by exposure to
  cultural differences, trials, and paradoxes,
  sometimes with the help of a cultural mentor who
  provides explanations or assurance. Almost all
  expatriates report that they changed overseas and
  can identify how.

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THE ULTIMATE BOON SOURCE OF POWER
The source of power or a higher consciousness is

• A bicultural perspective
• Increased self awareness
• The knowledge that they possess the inner
  resources to master a difficult situation

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THE ULTIMATE BOON HOW EXPATRIATES HAVE CHANGED

• Positive changes in themselves
• Changed attitudes
• Improved work skills
• Increased knowledge
• Closer family relationships

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THE HEROS JOURNEY
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
THE ULTIMATE BOON
THE ROAD OF TRIALS
THE BELLY OF THE WALE
THE MAGICAL FRIEND
THE RETURN
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THE RETURN MAKING MEANING OF THE EXPERIENCE
Whether rescued from without, driven from
within, or gently carried along by the guiding
divinities, he has yet to re-enter with his boon
the long-forgotten atmosphere where men who are
fractions imagine themselves to be
complete. Joseph Campbell
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THE RETURN EXPATRIATE EXAMPLE

• Expatriates face the challenge of reconciling the
  profound experience of living abroad with the
  reality of life at home once they are
  repatriated.
• 57 reported that coming home was difficult.

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WHAT THE EXPERIENCE MEANS TO EXPATRIATES

• Opportunity for lifelong learning
• Excitement
• Feeling special
• Feeling more alive
• More challenged

IN OTHER WORDS, MORE HEROIC
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IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

• Learn from successes and failures with your own
  expatriates
• Benchmark expatriate practices of other
  organizations
• Remove obstacles that make assignments even more
  difficult
• Select people with a strong desire to go who are
  seeking adventure
• Encourage them to learn the language
• Provide cultural mentors
• Expect that they will have changed overseas
• Utilize the skills and knowledge they acquired
  abroad
• If possible, assign them to jobs or projects that
  are as challenging as their overseas experience
  and that require the continuous learning they
  enjoyed abroad

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THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
THE ROAD OF TRIALS
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
THE ULTIMATE BOON
THE MAGICAL FRIEND
THE BELLY OF THE WALE
THE RETURN
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Furthermore, we have not even to risk the
adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have
gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly
known. We have only to follow the the thread of
the hero path, and where we had thought to find
an abomination, we shall find a god. And where
we had thought to slay another, we shall slay
ourselves. Where we had thought to travel
outward, we will come to the center of our own
existence. And where we had thought to be alone,
we will be one with the world. Joseph Campbell