As scheduled, our second international week in Buenos Aires started on July 24th, but it actually started many months ago when all of us began to plan it, sharing flight information, accommodation details and proposals for city trips. We were all counting the days until we would meet up again and, as for the kick-off week in Milan, we were full of expectation and curiosity as to how the week would go; on this occasion, however, the feeling was different because after eight months, we would at last be seeing our colleagues and friends face-to-face again.
Almost all of us arrived one or two days beforehand and we had the opportunity to go around the city visiting some of the Argentinian capital’s most important sites and to enjoy some excellent meat and wine together. For many, it was their first time in South America and so this was a totally new experience in a country where the culture has a great combination of Latin style and European influence.
When we all met up on the Monday, it was an amazing moment. We shared hugs and warm greetings, we all had big smiles on our faces and the feelings of friendship and familiarity were incredible.
The first two days with Professor Raffaella Bossi Fornarini provided us with some very interesting and practical tools to use in multicultural team environments, enabling us to approach diversity in a proper and professional way and to manage emotional intelligence. A great insight to share: “Avoid stereotyping people… a good leader is one who understands that people are focused on different values”.
On the third day, we visited the IAE Business School. In the morning, we were received from Professor Marcelo Paladino and his son, Juan Pablo Paladino, who made an introduction to the Argentine Paradox: a complete overview of the Argentinian economy in recent decades and how the government and the people have been dealing with it. In the afternoon, we did a very interesting exercise with Professor Florencia Paolini, analysing in groups how a real company faced the Argentine crisis in order to gain in-depth knowledge of what it will be like to do business in an emerging market.
Last but not least, we had three magnificent days with Professor Filippo Passerini, who shared with us a complete understanding of the personal skills required to be a successful leader, such as how to manage business meetings, handle interactions with others and sustain personal effectiveness. We were also given a useful guide and relevant tips for time management that made many of us to think about and analyse how we used to approach our jobs and distribute our time in everyday tasks. A great insight to share: “The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you are the pilot.” Michael Altshuler.
After the week had ended we went back to our cities and jobs, not just with a complete set of very useful tips and tools to implement in our everyday lives, but also with a group of genuine friends which had become closer and more familiar, a group that is a real classroom reaching right around the world.
