Not only a recent EMBA graduate, but Ludovic is also a true “child of the world”. I had the opportunity to speak with him recently and he agreed to share his unique perspective on interculturality and his MBA…
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“Interculturality” ...
The way I approach and understand “interculturality” is very personal and mostly linked with my family, childhood and background.
Having parents from French and Spanish roots and being born and raised for the first seven years of my life in the “Azores archipelago”, on the Island of “Flores” in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean has most probably forged my understanding of other cultures.
My wife being American but with Chinese, British and Guatemalan descent, helped me for sure to understand the world as a whole.
When I try to analyze my ability to perceive other cultures, a very interesting point came to mind. In fact, I do not see any cultural differences and I totally blend into my environment.
In some countries the expatriate community will live in a compound almost in complete autarky without any interest in their surroundings, of the cultural differences or the different ways of life and they will miss everything. Language can be a barrier, but can easily be overcome.
When I was a child with my parents or even now with my own family, we always participate and merge into the communities we were living in.
I remember going with Portuguese fisherman in the Azores in a small boat when I was 8 years old for most of the day and receiving my part of fish to bring home for dinner. That was part of blending in with my surroundings.
"A two-way process"...
For the past 20 years I have worked in a multicultural environment in Africa, Eastern Europe, the U.S, China (mainland China & Hong Kong), Turkey and now Italy.
Having lived and worked overseas for such a long time I believe I developed a way of seeing first in front of me a human being, a person while not categorizing other people by their culture, country of affiliation, race or religion.
For example, when I was in Guangzhou in South China, I tried to learn from my colleagues but I also expected them to learn from me. It is always a two-way process.
The ability I have to listen to others, understand and feel their body language for sure helped me to manage people from different countries. I can understand very quickly if I do or say something that is culturally wrong and I will automatically adjust correcting my own mistakes.
Being curious and open minded to different cultures while at the same time not feeling different but a part of the same world might have been the key to living everywhere.
When friends ask me, “Where do I feel at home?” I always reply that I am home wherever I live. I am Chinese in China, I am Cameroonian in Cameroon, and American in New York. The world is my home and I always love understanding how others cultures perceive it.
For the future leaders or managers of tomorrow looking to start an EMBA experience and looking to enter the Kedge Business School EMBA, it is unthinkable for me not to have strong intercultural experience.
Most companies from the CAC 40, the Fortune 500 in the U.S or even the SSE & SZSE in China have a global presence. If managers / leaders do not understand the world they live in and have a narrow mind we will experience exactly what is happening now in the U.S, Russia, Turkey or China to mention only few. Be aware of populism and fundamentalism… but do not be afraid of others.
If I can give only one word of advice to future Exec MBA students, take your backpack and go experience the world.
Paris, London, New York or Beijing are not the center of the world!!!
