Month: April 2011

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Day 3: Classes Begin

Monday begins our regular class day schedule, and we have a long day of varied and rich experiences.

We start with a trip to the U.S. Commercial Service offices for an overview of the Chinese economy and business environment.

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The session will put our company speakers and visits in perspective during our stay in China, but knowing people here and about the Service is also a must for anyone wanting to do business of any kind in China. Uncle Sam is active here and ready to provide American businesses with support of all kind – and we want our students to know about those and how to access them!  The Bloch Executive MBA is all about networking, knowledge, and empowerment.

We stay at the offices and welcome the head of Capital Eight, a Shanghai-based global investment banking firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, to update us on financial markets and the banking environment in China. 

That’s followed by a quick lunch at a Western-type salad and sandwich shop in the neighborhood – like our Ingredients back in Kansas City – that’s very popular with locals and expats alike. Then it’s back on the bus and out to Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services where we’ll meet with the CFO and tour the facilities. See, we really are studying international management.

With no rest for the jetlagged, we’ll end the night at the Shanghai Circus World, another of the city’s distinctive buildings, after a quick dinner in the neighborhood to see the famed Shanghai acrobats.

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Chinese acrobatics has a long history and is an art form of which the Chinese are quite proud. Acrobatics is the collective name for a wide variety of stunts, classical dances, and feats, some of which date back to the variety shows popular during the Han Dynasty in the early 200’s AD.

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There will be heavy eyelids in the bus on our way back to the hotel – and it’s only the first day of classes.

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Day 2: Enhanced Executive Presence

On Sunday morning China time, my favorite part of our hotel in Shanghai. the breakfast buffet.  There are stations with multi-cultural selections and chefs: Chinese, American, Japanese, Muslim, Eastern and Western European, plus things like an omelet bar, cereal bar, fresh fruit bar, and more.  Food is plentiful and freshly made – hand-pulled Muslim noodles (see below) in a tasty broth are nice for jet lagged stomachs.  I prefer the sushi and tropical fruit.

Student fears of going hungry are allayed. No one will starve!  Quite the contrary. We’ll continue the Bloch Executive MBA tradition of eating our way to enhanced executive presence, now taking it to the global level.

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Our other plans for today:

We’ll begin our exploration of Shanghai with a walk from the hotel to the Yu Yuan Garden which dates back to the Ming Dynasty in the 1500’s. That will be followed by a Chinese tea tasting at a nearby tea house from the same era.

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Our travels through local neighborhoods to the ancient Garden that is still very popular with local folks – and our encounters with a few of the 1.3 billion fake Rolex salespeople working the streets in the shops’ area surrounding the Garden – provide a vivid picture of the contrasts between old and new that live side-by-side in China today.

 

 

We’ll then board a bus and tour the city, with a stop at the Jade Buddha temple. The temple is also a working Buddhist monastery – interesting in a country where politics has long controlled religion, eh?

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There will be shopping in the afternoon for those still rarin’ to go – and a chance to practice our negotiation skills. Not for the faint of heart!  We’ve got out notes for how to play out this enjoyable and everyday theater of market economics. I’m looking for a special kind of jacket for my son.  

We’ll end the evening with a welcome dinner on the Bund. Our pre-dinner speaker is local historian Peter Hibbard, author of the Odyssey Guide to Shanghai, Bund Shanghai, and others to provide a local perspective on Shanghai, past and present.

The Bund is the historic old colonial banking area that borders the Huangpu River running through the city.

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It is also the best place to view the skyscrapers of modern Shanghai by night that are located across the river. Clear weather provides a breathtaking view.

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Day 1: Hello Shanghai

The Bloch Executive MBA Class of 2011 has arrived in Shanghai: left on Friday morning from Kansas City and arrived in Shanghai Saturday, thanks to the International dateline and time zone differences.

The Pudong Airport is sleek and modern – and an immediate reminder that this is not your grandfather’s or grandmother’s China.   

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Our hotel is pretty glamorous and contemporary, too. It’s allayed the fears of weary EMBA travelers who really weren’t sure what they’d find half-way around the world. (Take a peak at the link, family and friends, in case your loved ones complain about how hard we worked them in the classroom while abroad!  True, the schedule is packed come Monday morning, but they are not roughing it in the hutong!)

Shanghai is a happening place, and I love its energy and cosmopolitan feel.

The architecture is extraordinary by day, and even more so at night. Shanghai is one of the great skyscraper cities of the modern era, and with all the current construction is on track to claim the title of the world’s #1 skyscraper town.  Simply amazing!

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After unpacking – and resisting the desire for a nap that would totally blow our ability to adjust to the 13 hour time difference – we’ll venture out for a light supper before turning in early.

Jet lag is a reality, and everyone is feeling it to some degree.

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A Special Series: Travel With Us Through China

Today begins a special series in this blog, as a colleague and I set off for our international immersion residency in China with 40 Executive MBA students.

For the next ten days, you’ll see where we are going each day, what we’re doing, what we are learning, and what this international immersion residency is really all about.

In the process, you’ll get to see some of China (albeit through pictures) and learn something important about China today and about good global leadership. (I’ll share a few teaching points along the way about living in a diverse world that are relevant beyond China, too.) 

So join us and follow our travels.

This is the culminating learning experience in the final semester of our Executive MBA program. It’s also a transformational life experience that will make our students stronger and more effective global leaders. By following us each day, you’ll understand why.

This series was conceived for three specific purposes – although its possibilities for learning are broader.

We wanted families, friends, and significant others back home to know what was happening for their loved ones, to feel connected, and to learn about China, too. Executive MBA programs are intense, compressed learning experiences for full time working professionals; and we appreciate the support and sacrifices  made by those at home that have enabled our students to concentrate on their studies.

This series is a concrete expression of our appreciation to the important others who have supported our students over the past two years. We’ve noticed, and we thank you.

We wanted to give first year students and new recruits to our program a taste of what they’ll be doing next year this time. Immersion study and China travel are difficult to envision. These posts will reduce the human tendency to worry about the unknown.

Finally, we wanted our corporate sponsors, local organizations who hire our students, and our students’ current bosses and colleagues to get a grounded feel for the quality of our degree program – and why our immersion residencies are our competitive advantage. They have a new China expert in their midst. In today’s world, that’s important.

NOTE: To make sure China’s internet firewalls and policy fluctuations don’t block the ability for daily posts – as they did last year or as recent g-mail blocks made us fear they might this – posts for the next 10 days have been drafted so that they can be sent from here (based on the learning agenda and itinerary of the day) or updated and uploaded on the ground from China.

May this not become a 30 Rock experience where what you read bears little resemblance to what unfolds!

We have a 6:00 am departure from Kansas City International Airport. Our Executive MBAs have been preparing for this trip all year, including the development of individual China projects as independent studies to make themselves experts in their organizations or industries on a relevant area.

They have read, studied, listened, questioned, and met with those here who know international business and China today. They have developed networks and colleagues in China through the wonders of technology, and will soon have opportunities to complete the final phase of their efforts.

Let’s the journey and the deep learning begin. Onward!

2008 China 057

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Shimomura’s Art: Moving Beyond East-West Stereotypes

I’ve recently discovered Roger Shimomura’s art. It’s gorgeous, engaging, and provocative – and can be found in the permanent collections of over 80 museums. (Thanks, Brian!)

It’s also a powerful vehicle for thinking about the East-West stereotypes we hold and about how they interfere with our capacities to connect with those different from us.

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Shimomura’s paintings, prints, and theatre pieces address sociopolitical issues for Asian America, and many have been inspired by diaries kept by his late immigrant grandmother for 56 years of her life. They also reflect the artist’s own experiences, including as a child in a U.S. internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II.

Oh, the power of art to provide opportunities to discuss the undiscussable!

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It’s human nature to have assumptions and to try and understand others by grouping and evaluating them against the standards and culture that we know. When that process anchors us in bias and fear, we and the world are in trouble.

Take a look at Shimomura’s art. It’ll enable you to appreciate more deeply what that really means.

His pieces speak about the pain in being objectified, misunderstood, excluded, and dehumanized. Equally important, they remind us of all the everyday missed opportunities to connect with others whose differences can make our world richer, brighter, and deeper. 

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Global Leadership: Conquering the Fear of Differences

Days have been filled preparing for our Executive MBA international residency which begins in three days.  We’re going to China. Part of my preparation involves enabling 40 experienced leaders, most with little international experience, to appreciate and respond to cultural differences without paralysis. 

It’s key to their career advancement and professional development. It’s essential for all in a global world. 

As we move closer to the departure date, students have begun acknowledging their fears of anticipating a vastly different world and of the unknown. Some report dreams of not knowing what to do or of being lost in the China-size crowds, others feelings of losing the control over their lives that they have at home.

These are powerful admissions – and they are right on. We all fear the unknown. Human nature loves predictability, and we all want to believe that everyone thinks and sees things just like us. They don’t and that’s OK – and we’ll be OK in a world where that is true. Accept that, and you’ve got the global citizen piece down cold.

How do we take in and use all the knowledge about cultural differences that we can gain through reading and studying without freezing our capacity to act?  The quick answer: with patience, persistence, and humility. It’s like learning and integrating anything new into effective practice.

Preparation helps – the better you know something, the better able you are to call it into play when you need it. So does remembering the Joan Gallos 2 Rules of Thumb for Learning Any New Behavioral Skill:

  1. 1.  go slow. Add anything new and you’ll need to be more deliberate – less automatic – in doing it. It will feel awkward, and you will feel clumsy and ineffective. It may be counter-intuitive – to slow down and to do something that’s awkward and uncomfortable in order to be more effective. But it’s the only way.
  1. 2. be patient with yourself. This is especially hard for successful people: you’ll make mistakes, feel lost, or be scared. It’s OK. Stay open. Figure out what works and doesn’t. Keep trying. And have a sense of humor. You are the only one taking yourself so seriously!

And remember: people are people are people.  When we talk about an increasingly diverse and global world, we tend to focus on differences. Comparing and contrasting how other cultures are different from ours is a good way to recognize and break out of our narrow mindsets about life and the world.  But bottom-line: people share a common humanity. 

Approach any meeting with authenticity and an open heart, and you will connect well with others – even if you struggle with language or customs. Be curious – ask. Relationships are built on connection and conversation.  Make a mistake?  Step on a cultural toe?  Stay alert and respond as you would to any friend.  An honest and humble “Oh, my apologies, please” will go far.

You know more than you may realize about conquering the fear of differences. 

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Becoming a Roz Savage: Leading Like You Want to Be Remembered

Roz Savage is a fascinating woman. Next month, if all goes well she will become the first woman to row solo across the Indian Ocean and the first to solo “the Big Three:” she already has the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans under her belt .

The rowing the distance in solitude, ambiguity, and potential danger is inspirational. It takes a lot of planning, courage, persistence, and self-confidence. Equally interesting is the process that got Roz out of her business suit and into her small boat.

“I worked as a management consultant for my entire adult life, despite knowing from the very first day that this was not the career for me.”[1] Her peers were all becoming consultants or investment bankers after college graduation, and Roz followed the crowd. “The pay was good, and it would do as a stopgap until I figured out what I wanted to do with my life.”

You guessed it. Years later – eleven to be precise – Roz was still a consultant and increasingly unhappy by her own admission.

“Who I was on the inside didn’t match the besuited management consultant I had, almost inadvertently, become on the outside.”

She decided to take stock and engaged in a classic life clarification exercise. She wrote two versions of her obituary: the first as she would like to be remembered, and the second as she would be if she stayed on her current life course. Comparing the two gave Roz courage to make a change.

“So I pared life down to the basics to find out what really mattered to me, to find out what was left when I was defined by who I was, not by what I owned or who I was with.”  Roz experimented with different businesses and projects, but none fit quite right – and she knew this time around to let go of those. In the process, she discovered her passion for extreme rowing and environmental work. The rest, as they say, is history.  

Are you living the life you want? Are you doing things that really matter to you? Are you excited and happy to get to work each day?

The answers matter to you. They also matter to those you lead.

Leadership is about passion and commitment. It’s about inspiring others to find that in your shared work. If you are just pushing the papers, playing the role, or waiting for a paycheck, others will know. Your capacity to influence diminishes, and the days go by.

So what’s your leadership legacy going to be?  What do you want to be remembered for? Are you on a track that will get you there?  If not, what are you waiting for?

[1] Roz Savage (2011). “My Transoceanic Midlife Crisis (I quit my job and ended my marriage to row the Atlantic. Adrift and alone, I found a woman I never knew). Newsweek Online. March 20, 2011. Accessed March 28, 2011 at http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/20/my-transoceanic-midlife-crisis.html