Leadership, Friendship, Chairs Made From Balloons & Pretzels… Sehr Fantastish!

During our time as IMLPs, we undertake a week-long course known as Foundations of Leadership (FOL). First in a whole range of leadership classes provided by GE, FOL brings together employees from all GE businesses and fields such as Engineering, Finance, Law, and of course the delightful IT folk. It is a true mixture of people with different backgrounds, cultures, attitudes, working environments, ideas, views. Taking the course in Munich with other European-based GE employees means these differences are elevated even more by coating the social obstacle cake with an additional layer of the language barrier ‘icing.’ How then do we build a rapport with these people, work with them and produce results?

While there are many lessons taught in the classroom on interacting with different social types and building up a general work rapport, true team bonding comes from activities outside of the classroom – outside of the workplace – outside of the work frame of mind. What better place for us to have this experience then in Munich? World famous for its Oktoberfest celebrations, pretzels, and of course lederhosen – Munich was a fascinating city to be located in during the training.

During our free time we had the privilege of witnessing the magnificent architecture and strong cultural scene of Munich and got to know our fellow GE employees from across Europe over some famous German food and drink. Truly an unforgettable experience, our shared adventures not only aided us in succeeding throughout FOL, but also in building our GE network and understanding of the broader working environment.

Please share your FOL experiences!

- Phil H., Aviation UK IMLP