When I signed up for the Italy study abroad trip, my main focus was getting a good grade in business law, and I figured the other class (Global leadership) would be a blow-off class to follow along. However, I learned far more than I thought I would about global leadership. There are two main reasons for this. Our group of study abroaders was very blessed to have received an excellent textbook for our assigned reading and a professor who is the perfect fit for teaching this class. The book that we read was the most actionable textbook I’ve read for a college course, and I was able to find situations perfectly applicable to the material. Some of my favorite tips were about adapting to cultural situations, like how to eat unfamiliar foods. Additionally, emphasis on how you’re understood rather than saying the right thing is equally important in cross-cultural situations as it is domestically. The second half of the trip varied significantly from the first in how I was understood when interacting with others. It’s not like I learned new languages over night, but I was more able to apply principles across all interactions like slow down your speech, repeat important words & phrases, and refrain from using compound and complex sentences. There are many other tips from the book that I’ve applied and could include in this post, but I think most of the learning has been tacit rather than explicit. As for what professor McFarland contributed- he inspired in me greater appreciation for other cultures, and he taught me how to better understand and deal with power structures in organizations. Most people my age are worried that they’re going to graduate and hate their job because of organizational politics. When I brought this up to Professor McFarland he taught me that power is only for those who you choose to give it to, and true power comes from living morally and treating other people the right way. In the long run, Machiavelli doesn’t come out on top as most people would like to believe. Stabbing people in the back isn’t sustainable, the better way is living out the RELLIS principles. That’ll lead to a more fulfilling career and life.
