Off the Record: The Lightning Rod - When GM Gets Blamed for the Uncontrollable

We have all been there. You open your laptop on a Monday morning, and before you can even take a sip of your tea, your inbox is glowing red. A senior stakeholder is frustrated because a visa is delayed, or an assignee is personally offended because the rental market in London is more expensive than they imagined. They aren’t just looking for an update; they are looking for someone to hold responsible for the state of global geopolitics.

In those moments, you realise that "Global Mobility Manager" is actually code for "Liaison to the Universe."

It is a strange phenomenon in our profession. When something goes wrong on the global stage - a sudden change in immigration law, a postal strike in a far-flung consulate, or a housing shortage in a key hub - the assignee doesn’t call the Home Office or the local government. They find the person who signed their assignment letter. Suddenly, you aren't just managing a move; you are being held personally accountable for the bureaucratic machinery of entire nations.

The "Off the Record" truth? It is exhausting. It is the mental gymnastics of offering sincere empathy for a situation you didn't create and, more frustratingly, a situation you have zero power to change. We spend our days apologising for the "un-apologisable." We spend hours on the phone with agents, trying to soothe the nerves of an executive whose furniture is stuck in the middle of the Atlantic, all while trying to maintain our own sanity.

But here is the thing we don’t always say out loud: there is a peculiar kind of pride in being the lightning rod.

While it is unfair to be the scapegoat for a sovereign nation’s visa processing times, the reason people turn to us is that we are the human face of a very complex, often cold process. In a world of automated portals and "no-reply" government emails, the Global Mobility Manager is the one person who actually listens. We become the anchor for families whose lives are currently packed into boxes, even when the only "resolution" we can offer is a sympathetic ear and a promise to keep pushing.

So, to my fellow Mobility professionals: the next time you are being blamed for a change in tax law or a shipping delay, take a breath. Remember that you aren't actually the cause of their chaos, you are the person helping them navigate through it.

Document the madness, share the more ridiculous stories with your peers (over a drink or two at Expat Academy events), and keep steering the ship. You can't control the international borders, but you are the reason the assignees feel supported until they finally cross them.

- Anonymous Expat Academy Member