Leadership with Passion through Kokorozashi
The key ingredient to success? Passion.
Finding your kokorozashi will unify your passions and skills to create positive change in society. This GLOBIS Unlimited course will help you develop the values and lifelong goals you need to become a strong, passion-driven leader.
You don’t need a degree in international business to understand the impact that a career in international settings can have on your career. In addition to the opportunity to expand your horizons, increase global awareness, and learn a new language, taking advantage of international job opportunities can significantly boost your average salary.
Teaching English abroad is a great way to spend a gap year, but how do you find a job abroad that will truly help you reach your career goal? And what are the other benefits to an international education and career?
Bernard Delmas is a member of the board of directors at Nissan Motor Corporation and a former Senior Advisor at Michelin. Delmas has a wealth of international career experience in the automotive and food and beverage industries, with a focus on global markets in Asia.
He is joined by GLOBIS faculty Trond Varlid in his GLOBIS Unlimited course, The Power of Education and Experience, Lessons from Michelin and Nissan. The course explores the benefits of education and international experience on a global scale.
Below is a transcribed excerpt of his course.
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Transcript:
Why should you consider working abroad during your career?
Bernard Delmas: When I finished my MBA at HEC School of Management, my first idea was to work in an international company. Because my father, grandfather, myself as well, were passionate about cars, it should have been an automotive company. It became Michelin because it matched very well. Also, I had a major in material physics focusing a lot on plastics, which is not too far from rubber.
Leadership with Passion through Kokorozashi
The key ingredient to success? Passion.
Finding your kokorozashi will unify your passions and skills to create positive change in society. This GLOBIS Unlimited course will help you develop the values and lifelong goals you need to become a strong, passion-driven leader.
So I had all these ideas all together.
Trond Varlid: Right, so it was a good fit for your start at Michelin.
Delmas: Right.
Varlid: How important would you say your international experience has been?
Delmas: My parents first, when I was a child, we traveled a lot in Europe. Almost all the European countries do summer holidays. We had the opportunity to visit.
It was really great to realize that, even very close to France, there is different behavior, different mindset. You discover other things, but you discover yourself, as well.
Varlid: Yes.
Delmas: It’s a mirror of your own country, in a way. So when I entered my MBA, they proposed an exchange with other MBAs in the world. This opportunity to go to Brazil was there. I jumped on it immediately. I thought that would be a great experience. It was. Maybe I didn’t like everything, but it was very fruitful for my understanding of the world.
And when I entered Michelin, I started the six first years in Clermont-Ferrand, but traveling because I had to work with different factories—several in France, one in Spain, and one in Canada, actually. Then, when my boss asked me what I wanted to do, I said, “Oh, I would like to gain more international experience.”
Actually, Michelin was developing at that time. It continues to develop today, but at that time, it was developing fast in the Americas—North America and South America. But it was just the start.
Finally, it was not a big surprise. Initially, it was a surprise, but not a big surprise when I was offered [the opportunity] to go to Japan.
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