Young, free and single - just kiddin'. But maybe only half so.

I can't imagine how tough it'd be for the family to be following their father around (it's usually their father, isn't it? surely something which needs to change fast?). So maybe single would be (very arguably) preferable to "double", although this isn't to say there aren't many married expatriate managers out there who've been (and are still) doing a great job.

But the bottom line would be that your expatriate (especially since he'll be away from home) must not have huge family problems holding him/her down.

I personally know one high-flying friend who flew off on the day the wife went into the maternity ward.

Young sounds idealistic and hence unlikely. You probably don't want a semi-green horn holding the weight of your regional project on his/her shoulders. So a well-honed street-smart pro with close to a decade of experience with 'proven' results would, in principle, be a better choice.

Having said that, you can't have people who are overly senior. One of the directors of a project in Jakarta had to call it quits after a while (and smack in the middle of a project) because his neck couldn't take all the flying - and he was flying Business!

And then there's the obvious factor of cultural sensitivity/receptivity, willingness to listen and understand, adapt (even dress appropriately). Expatriate must be very people-oriented, not least because he/she will be meeting new kinds of people from different ethnic backgrounds.

You don't want to have a guy who, finding the food not salty enough, pours more soya sauce into the dinner his Chinese host cooked, huh?

This keeps the person fully "localised".

But what about being "globalised'?

Perhaps a less popularly acknowledged (but no less urgently required) trait would be a knack for working/'performing' online. This would ensure that the manager makes it second nature to remain in communication with head-quarters and fully utilizes the technology at his/her disposal, build high-tech bridges, champion new technologies and get those numbers up.

How do we measure 'connected-ness'? Maybe at the interview, the candidate should be asked:

• Do you blog or run a website?
• What are your favorite tech sites?
• What do you think of the latest mobile communication/PDA models?
• How do you keep up to date with the latest tech stuff?
• How would you exploit the power of the Web for biz growth?