Three weeks ago I didn’t realize that Sydney, Australia, is a 16-hour time difference from Minneapolis, or that Minnesota/London office hours take place during “my morning” and “their afternoon.” In short, while I was aware of life and commerce outside of “The Land of 10,000 Lakes,” I didn’t need to operate in a global environment on a daily basis.
I recently started a new job at a large multinational organization, which means my days are now spent working in a global environment. It’s exciting and a bit humbling to see how business is done on an international scale and I get so energized communicating with, assisting and learning from my colleagues around the world.
This weekend, a colleague (who is now a friend) from London came in and I had so much fun showing her around the Twin Cities. Although I traveled to England on a school theater (or “theatre”) trip when I was 16, it’s been a long time and I had so many questions about life across the pond.
Luckily, on my first day at the office almost one month ago, I overheard a gentleman talk about developing a global mindset and he exclaimed, “Follow the sun!” Business is always taking place somewhere and I’ve let this phrase float through my head many times be it when setting meetings, fumbling through time zones, or simply contemplating the importance of thinking globally.
I am so thankful to be learning about international business, and it's a topic that keeps being brought up throughout my MBA studies at St. Thomas. From statistics to economics to marketing and ethics, the importance of being able to work cross-culturally is fully endorsed. This spring I will even be going with the Evening UST MBA program to Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg to negotiate contracts in the European Union. I'm really excited about international business and agree whole-heartedly: Follow the sun!
This post is by Lindsey Buhrmann, student in the Evening UST MBA program and comes from her blog, Lead Changes.
