Written by Destiny Gautho | October 22, 2024
Learning to be a leader and adjust to newness in any of the spaces you occupy is always something people are striving for, whether it’s for the experience or as a career/resume builder. In my freshman year, I was selected to take a two-semester course called BUAD 101- Global Leadership Program, and then got the opportunity to go to Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand, during my Spring Break and got to experience the culture, the (food, as well as many of their industries. The Global Leadership program is one of the perks that comes with Marshall — when I was accepted into the business school I was also automatically selected to join this program.
This trip was the best combination of work and pleasure. If you’re a big foodie, you would love the ability to try all kinds of street food at any corner or even in the malls, eating authentic Pad Thai or some refreshing mango sticky rice (although hot take: I don’t really like mangos), and a lot of Thai tea. On the same run, we were able to ride in TukTuks, like these motorcycle taxis, and view and explore all the beautiful architecture, including their temples. We even played with elephants at a sanctuary.
As much fun as I had being able to explore so many aspects of Thailand, I had just as much fun being able to learn about and visit multiple companies. The companies we got to visit ranged from tech, medicinal, furniture, etc, and we got the chance to do everything from taking factory tours of a glass-making company to exploring innovation hubs for startups we were able to speak with the employees at the most entry-level positions to the ones who were the heads of their department. When you have the opportunity to talk to leaders who get to manage so many different employees across so many various fields, you take advantage of that by just asking as many questions as possible and picking their brains. With every visit, the goal was to have at least one question per person in order to absorb as much knowledge and insight as we wanted. I’d say my biggest takeaway from this was the difference in company culture— across almost all companies, you can both see and feel how interconnected the entire company is. A person’s role isn’t seen as inferior to another simply based on title, and that collectivist culture helps build such a positive workplace and that was very encouraging to see.
My favorite company visit was Oasis Spa. Thailand is known for its massages, and it was impressive to see the technique and training that goes into everything they do. Each company had something that made them unique, either in their industry or how they ran their business. Seeing the special ways in which the staff at Oasis Spa were trained and conducted themselves allowed me to see just a glimpse of how and why this place was so special.