Working Globally Through the Pandemic

One month ago, I lead a virtual panel on “Working Globally Through the Pandemic–The Outlook for a Global Career in a Post-COVID19 World”, sponsored by The George Washington University-Center for International Business & Education Research (GW-CIBER). We had 8 fabulous global thinkers across many different disciplines. Leaders who not only have had successful global careers, but who are working through the pandemic now AND found the time to give back.

I’ve been fortunate to work with GW for the past 10 years as we strive to help students understand the vast array of global careers out there, prepare job seekers for the ups and downs of working cross-culturally, enable a global workforce to succeed across a wide swath of industries and fields, and, of course, to inspire people to seek out the fulfilling life as a global citizen without ever leaving one’s home country.

Working internationally takes effort. It’s more than just flying to a destination, meeting with clients and solving problems. Above all, it’s about relationships, trust, meeting people half way or more than half-way–somewhere on common ground. Listening to what people have to say. And picking up on the non-verbal cues going on in a room. All of this is made much harder by the pandemic. Closed borders mean virtual meetings and increased opportunity for misinterpretation and miscommunication. Country-specific pandemic responses have created a silent uneasiness as different cultures grapple with their responses. People wary of globalization and the downsides are speaking up. Yet, globalization is here to stay. But that does not mean that we keep things status-quo. Instead, we should look toward learning what we can from the pandemic’s interrupted production effects of interrupted supply chains, export restrictions and xenophobia–and instead focus on the positive aspects of sharing ideas and creativity to learn from each other.

In that spirit I’m sharing the recording of the panel discussion, which is insightful and timely advice on global careers.

I hope that you and your friends and family, your circle, is doing well and everyone is healthy. #GoGlobal