Michelin Vous Souhaite la Bienvenue

Having the chance to share six weeks with Javier here in Europe was a dream-come-true. Travelling around France, Italy and Greece has been an incredible way to kick off 2008.





My decision to dedicate two years of my life to obtaining an international MBA definitely took into account that I might have the chance to put that kind of icing on my "cake." But the "cake" itself had to be made of different ingredients: the mastery of my second language, the opportunity to put it to use in a professional setting, a deeper understanding of business in general and international business in particular, and the time to reflect about the next steps in my career.





So, now, we plunge into the cake.





Javier's flight to the States left two hours before I was scheduled to show up for my first day of work at Michelin here in Clermont.





Since that morning, my focus has shifted from calderas and sunsets to my new project with the "Mobility" team: How can Michelin improve the support and communication it provides for its expatriates?





Almost two weeks in, I'm already learning a great deal:





1. The structures for thinking that I learned at The Strategic Coach will always be an invaluable starting point for making sense of and organizing processes into experiences that work.





2. An entrepreneurial spirt is very useful inside of larger organizations - I was given a vauge idea of what questions the leadership team was looking to answer, and then it was entirely up to me to find best ways to answer those questions and develop a valuable "deliverable." I had expected that in hierarchical bureaucracies low-men on the totem pole (such as myself for now) would be given much more direction to execute other peoples' plans. It's been a pleasant surprise to be given this much autonomy.





3. I can conduct business in French! (Even if personal connections feel like they're still easier to establish quickly in English)





4. The best part of working, for me, is interacting with other people. When I graduate, it will be important that I find a position that has me away from my computer, in front of or on the phone with other people at least 60% of the time.