Wednesday, on the 20th of April 2011, from 19 to 22, I went at Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest (Regina Maria Conference Room) to take part to the INSEAD Master Class & EMBA/MBA Event. The Master Class on “Global Cosmopolitans” was held by Linda BRIMM, Professor of Organizational Behavior, INSEAD.
Below photos and my notes at the event.
Photos:
My notes:
You can learn enormously by living in different countries;
What can you learn?
– How to deal with people which are different;
– How to deal with complexity;
A lot of people that moved a lot have learned a lot of things from the global learning;
There are a lot of ways to learn in life;
Today’s world is dominated by:
– Diversity – you can learn how to deal with it (different styles / cultures / backgrounds);
– Change – adapt;
– Complexity – life is complex;
New context and loss of identity:
– A new country;
– A new school;
– A new job;
You learn you survive the life’s experiences;
You can find a beginning & a new way of doing things;
What’s a new identity?
– Adapting;
– Reinventing;
The inner journey, the uncommon challenges:
– Identity: who am I?
– Being different and still fitting in;
– Where is home?
– Who are my friends & family?
You have to find your own way of resilience;
People start to develop skills to adapt to things;
You know you can get through it;
You can deal with transition;
Learn new ways of thinking;
Learning from your experience – your story:
– Life as a world of possibilities;
– Uncommon complexity;
– Learning from experiences of global journeys;
– Perceptual skills – strength developed;
– Multiple lenses and perspectives;
– Learn ways of doing new things;
Global cosmopolitans know to go into a situation and see everything change;
Everything changes – they understand this;
Skills and “two edge swords”:
– Peripheral / kaleidoscopic vision;
– Insider / outsider perspective – you can be a little more impersonal;
– Move around – this can help you develop things;
– Empathy – you must have this to be able to move around in the world;
– Creativity – cosmopolitans have to find creative solutions & be adaptive to new situations;
– Risk-taking;
Two edge swords:
– Adaptation to a change;
– It can overshadow & work against developing the other side;
Some people become experts at observing, but it’s not enough, you have to be engaged;
Observe – good skill; how to get involved?
Flexible & willing to adapt; but sometime they don’t say what they want;
If you get around in the business, you have to be able to bring something that’s different;
Thoughts:
– Life is very complex;
– You can only live in one city, do a certain job – or you can do different things;
– Some cosmopolitans can’t take a decision;
Challenges => (can bring) better skills => (which in turn, can lead to) more challenges when you develop your skills;
Life is a developmental highway;
Challenges & opportunities moving forward:
– How can you use your differences?
– Managing the relational fabric of life (friends, network, people from home),
– Encountering identity change;
– Finding home;
– Finding personal meaning;
– Raising the next generation;
– Still not knowing;
Career challenges:
– How to get a company to send you to a different country?
– How to make them bring you back?
– How to convince a company to hire more cosmopolitans?
– How do I get my company to really let me take advantage of my global experience?
A challenge is also an opportunity – it pushes you to be creative; a challenge pushes you to find new solutions;
It is hard to build relationships with different people;
Do you have a global team? You need a way to communicate with people;
Knowing your story & understanding your story brings you a lot of power;
It is a great advantage to be able to tell your story;
You should know yourself & be able to create dialogue;
A lot of times cosmopolitans can feel so different and so alone, that they can be demotivated;
You can understand and develop skills without being an actual cosmopolitan;
On a different note, why do an MBA at INSEAD?
– For the relationships (you will get everlasting memories);
– For the business utility (you learn how to do better business);
– It is very challenging (it forces you to be better);
INSEAD’s goal: to get you into the school, not out of it.