In our international business course, we were taught to differentiate between truly global, multinational, foreign and regional companies. Every foreign company may not be a multinational or global company. Hence, their organisational culture, operating model and risk management modalities are also likely to be different.   

I was only 40, quite young to become the CEO of a global bank here in Bangladesh. According to the Bank Company Act, one must have at least 15 years of relevant experience to become the CEO of a bank in Bangladesh. Credit goes to my seniors at Citigroup – they wanted a local to be at the helm of affairs in the local entity to drive growth.

I didn't have much clue about what to do and what not to do as the head of an entity in an emerging market like Bangladesh. Client booking, client relationship management, trade finance or project finance were not much of a problem, but maintaining global compliance standards, a world-class management style and being able to stay away from controversies were very difficult, especially in a US company here in Bangladesh after 9/11.

My risk senior in London, who himself was a former country manager in one of the Southeast Asian countries, whispered into my ears: "As a local CEO in a global corporation, you should first stay away from any recruitment. Let HR and the functional heads do their jobs. Second, stay away from recommending any clients for credit facilities despite knowing them well. Third, stay away from making any procurement decisions or recommending any supply vendors."

Throughout my nine years, I remembered those words and was able to stay away from anything odious. Many seniors in the South Asia office, as well as the Asia headquarters, literally coached me and taught me "the Citi way" of doing things.

I also received a lot of guidance from my peers and a few other local CEOs in European pharmaceuticals and in one or two FMCG giants. They were, of course, a few. We didn't have many to consult or follow.

Knowing the local corporate ecosystem, business culture and regulatory set-up, I am much happier today seeing many local CEOs in regional or multinational foreign companies here. This must have been very tough for each one of them to occupy the top role, especially in companies known and respected across the world.

The Bangladesh market has been very tough for locally-grown CEOs. Pressure from the government, hostility from peers and the inefficiency of juniors are among the challenges that can drive one crazy.

The regional office would doubt you, HR would suspect you of recruiting your friends and kin, finance would doubt you for nepotism, and the regional office would curse you for failing to implement the "Foreign Corrupt Practice Acts."

Though it is changing gradually, the local market even seemed to be ready to accept a high-school graduate European CEO over a North American business-school graduate from Bangladesh.

Most of your bosses may apprehend how a local CEO may "succumb to undue pressures" from the local authority, especially political or politicised regimes.

There are challenges, and you can rest assured that there will be even more once this market becomes more attractive and less of a trouble to govern or commute. Yet, our men and women will be occupying larger, increasingly senior roles locally and regionally, if not globally.

For that, they must be groomed well, think globally, and accept the best global practices as their way of life. More importantly, they must stay away from nepotism, incompetence and wrongdoing.

The author is a former banker and economic analyst