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MLDP Recap: Developing a Global Mindset

Read a student's account of our most recent session in our Management Leadership and Development program below. For more information, about MLDP, click here.


On behalf of the Dickey Center for International Understanding, educator and academic advisor Christiane Hardy Wohlforth taught the MLDP group about “Developing a Global Mindset”. The presentation focused on cross-cultural experiences and the affect they have on developing a comprehensive state of mind.
Wolfforth gave us three substantial points to think about when dealing with being a cultural “outsider.”  The first objective concentrates on the importance of developing an understanding for global mindsets and how it enhances your effectiveness. The second was the ability to recognize cross-cultural experiences and associating them with learning. Lastly, the importance of creating a customized map that will assist us in cross-cultural management.
With these objectives in mind Malcolm Leverett ’14 remarks, “The presentation was very helpful; it had me thinking about what type of global mindset I would adopt when going on my FSP trip to Madrid”. I could not agree more with Malcolm’s sentiment on global mindsets. The world we live in has been growing increasely smaller because of modern technology and new modes of transportation. Because of such we experience a new hypersensitivity for the different cultures surrounding us. We have a responsibility to embrace these backgrounds and use them to cultivate out experiences. These results can be only be achieved through actively learning the language, traditions and practices of such culture. We need to leave behind denial, ignorance and the ridiculous notions of cultural supremacy. Only then can we truly expand our modes of thinking and develop a global mindset.

 -Alicia Rodriguez ‘14