When Aileen Goh packed her bags to take on her first overseas role, she wasn’t just changing her address — she was redefining what it meant to lead, to grow, and to balance ambition with family.

In this special Boss Abroad feature, created as part of the Singapore Leaders Network (SGLN) Fellowship 2025 Action Learning Project, Aileen shares her journey from Singapore to Thailand and now Indonesia, where she leads Mastercard’s operations in one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic markets.

Her story is one of courage, humility, and perspective — of learning to lead beyond the familiar, to make decisions in uncertainty, and to find strength in vulnerability. As Aileen puts it, “Leadership is about driving results through complexity. The world is much more uncertain than we care to admit, and good leaders learn to stay steady in that.”

Through both the article and podcast, we follow Aileen’s reflections on:

• Building a global career that stretches skills and mindsets beyond borders
• Navigating the realities of working and living abroad, from adapting to local cultures to leading diverse teams
• Balancing family and leadership, and the difficult trade-offs that come with global mobility
• Redefining success not just as achievement, but as resilience, empathy, and clarity

She speaks candidly about the lessons she’s learned — the imposter moments, the difficult relocations, and the importance of kindness, both to oneself and to others. “You’ll never know as much as the locals do, but you still have to perform, lead, and deliver. That means forgiving yourself, staying open, and learning every day.”

At its heart, Boss Abroad is not about career glamour or global postings. It’s about how leaders grow when they step outside the known — and how courage, empathy, and family keep them grounded along the way.

Below, explore both the written and spoken versions of this story.

🎧 Listen to the podcast:
Boss Abroad – On the Ground and On the Move

📖 Read the article:
Mastercard’s Aileen Goh on Leading Abroad: Growth, Family, and Making the Move
Download the whitepaper here.

About This Resource

This resource was developed as part of the SGLN Fellowship 2025 Action Learning Project by the following SGLN Fellows: Hooi Mun Hon, Mohammad Matin Mohdari, Chung Xin Lei, Michael Yeoh, Eileen Tan, and Jean Zhai.