Many years ago I joined a multi-national conglomerate that has franchises all over the world. I started with the organization right out of university as a manager-in-training and was given my first major assignment in my late twenties.
I have now worked for that organization for over forty years. In that time, they have sent me on short term and long term assignments to over sixty countries. Some assignments can be as short as a few days and others as long as seven years.
I am often asked to troubleshoot and work on team building in different franchises. Sometimes the franchise is strong and I just need to train new leaders and set-up some good systems. Other times, the franchise is having deep problems and needs a complete overhaul.
The largest franchise that I worked at within North America had over one hundred and eighty-five employees and thousands of direct customers. The largest franchise that I worked with overseas had over five hundred employees and over one hundred thousand customers. The smallest franchise I was sent to assist had only three employees and a small customer base of a couple of hundred.
The head office has often surprised me by giving me assignments in remote parts of the world. My first major assignments were in South East Asia. In a five month period I travelled to over nine counties from Japan to Indonesia. After that trip was finished, I spent time visiting franchises in Canada and the United States.
My next major international assignment was in Poland where I visited different large franchises nightly for a month. Some of those large franchises had a customer bases of five to seven thousand. In that time period the company added over eighteen thousand new customers. Directly after that I was sent on assignment to England, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
As I became more experienced, I was given bigger assignments and a larger staff to work with. In one location I worked with over three hundred people. This group was comprised of full-time employees, trainees and other volunteers.
One of the unique joys and perks of the job is meeting so many great people from so many cultures. It has been a great experience to see how the franchises adapt to the different cultures and societies they deal with. I also have enjoyed taking my wife on many of these trips and we have had some amazing adventures; enjoying great sight-seeing tours, incredible meals and varied experiences in many different countries around the world.
At the present time, my company serves over two billion people in almost every nation on earth. I have been to seventy-two countries so far and I hope to eventually visit one hundred.
One of the nice perks of the job is occasionally getting a few months off between large assignments. I recently finished a year’s sabbatical, which was amazing. One of my more recent assignments was working with my wife, helping a small franchise in Western Canada. It was exciting to see that franchise grow 245% in just over 16 months.
Working for Jesus and His Kingdom is, and has been, an amazing adventure!
