Learning International Skills From A Course Or A Book

By Cindy King  ·  33 Comments
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I have had a few requests on what course to take or what book to read.  And I guess it depends on what you need and what you hope to get out of it.

There are a few courses out there for international business skills and cultural skill development.  To be honest, this is not the route I took.  My method involved getting up, moving house and finding local jobs.  I learned through total immersion.

Now I know we cannot all do that. Sometimes we want specific results within a set time frame.

Now, this is the first way I would look at it.

First, let’s separate things into two categories.

Personal Training

On a personal level you need to get out there and learn how to rub with different cultures.  It is exactly like riding a bike or driving a car.  No matter how many books you read and how many times someone might tell you what to do, you can only learn by sitting in that seat yourself.

So, if time is of the essence, and you want to look at a course, you might get something out of it, but plan on following up with real live experience right after the course.

I think most of the cultural skill development books are either idle entertainment or for scholars…unless they are used in an active learning environment.

Group Training

If you are part of a group, and your group needs to gain international skills, I think things are a bit different.  You see, there are advantages to international skill training as a group.

There are certain dynamics that come into play.

Individuals within the group will notice differences between themselves and the other members of the group.  This can be a stepping stone towards opening up to even greater differences.  This is a small stepping stone.  But some people might find this useful.

Also, if the group as a whole needs to improve international skills, why not participate in training as a whole?

More Soon

Now, I know the people who asked these questions may not be satisfied with these answers.

If I hear about specific courses to develop international skills from reliable sources, I will let you know.

What do you think? Please leave your thoughts and comments below.

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  Filed under: international sales skills

                      


Cindy King