Dawn Harris, a program director for IBM was sent to the Philippines in 2013. She says the experience helped her gain contacts in the tech industry which she has used for mentorship.
Harris says the biggest thing she received while working abroad was training in cultural diversity, a necessity in today’s tech space. She adds that her communication skills improved tremendously. “[The program] helped make me stronger in managing a team,” Harris says. “I learned that I needed to build relationships with my team and my peers.”
Sharon Dinneen, a project manager, was sent to Turkey in 2013. She says that the project she was assigned to while in Turkey was one that she had never done before. However, working outside of her comfort zone forced her to tap into her wide range of skills and also “unleashed hidden talents.”
“As I deal with my own team now I enable folks to really showcase their talents rather than having them go with my own prescribed notions,” she says.
Dinneen adds that working in this new role challenged her thinking, forced her to rely on soft skills like listening and helped her grow her subject matter expertise.
