Today I will begin my third Global Leadership Class, based on doing business in Latin America. The first of these courses is a Global Leadership class on the United States, where we learned about macroeconomic issues releveant to the United States and the rest of the world economy. Then, I took my second Global Leadership class that was based on the European Union.
As an additional offering for these classes, we can travel abroad to gain a more complete understanding of the economic situations in the world. Last Spring, I travelled to Greece as part of the European Union Global Leadership class. We had to propose a finance plan for a renewable energy project in Greece. Doing the research for the project, formulating a proposal, and then presenting the plan to board members to board members of our renewable energy client was an experience that I will never forget. When I traveled abroad as part of the program, I was not just a tourist visiting another country. I was a student who learned more about the culture and even tried to contribute to the future of the country.
I will not be traveling to Latin America for this class, as the trip is during a very busy time of year at my job. However, when things settle down later this year, I will attend the Asia trip and likely travel to China for a similar trip that I took in Greece. Although I will not travel to Latin America, learning about the different ways people conduct business around the world is valuable. With globalization becoming a more important factor in business, new busines leaders must not only understand their role within their own country, they must know how to successfully operate in other countries as well. I feel like I am gaining an edge over other business students that are not required to take these types of classes and the traveling experience is certainly an opportunity that I will take as often as I can.
Jonathan Jouet
PMBA Candidate