The Case for Every Leader to Travel Internationally

<<Quick Note of Thanks: I am lucky that my full-time job with SOL Digital is fully remote - I got to travel to London, Madrid, Barcelona, Zurich, Basel, Berlin, Salzburg, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Amsterdam while working full time. A HUGE thanks to all my friends who let me stay at their places - Kaitlynn/Sergio, Eugenia/Didac, Ankit, Ty/Fabi, Sam, Alix, Aakanksha/Rohit, and Mariana/Bas. >>

Every time I come back from travel, I come back refreshed, inspired, and more confident to take on new challenges...even perhaps…a bit wiser. I'm definitely biased, but let me make the case that international travel is not only a nice-to-have, but a necessary experience for leaders of the future.

Even on a personal level - did you know that international travel is shown to relieve stress, boost happiness and satisfaction, and lower the risk of depression? And there are many other mental health benefits. With burnout and mental health issues being driven by work and often bad managers...international travel can be one tool to help.

Theoretical Frameworks Supporting Benefits of Travel

First, let's ground international travel in adult education theory - experiential education and adventure-based learning. Experiential learning is exactly what it sounds like - learning through doing and not through a formal classroom/educational resource. International travel is in itself an experience and requires learning to do successfully.

Adventure-based learning, an offshoot of experience-based learning, is usually billed as those retreats where you do a ropes course or team activities. But in general, it consists of activities that require both interpersonal collaboration, as well as intrapersonal constructs such as self-concept and self-efficacy in dealing with a new environment.

Let me share my personal experience of how I've benefited from travel:

New Ideas

We are entering a new geopolitical, technological, economic, and even environmental phase of the world. All these changes are happening dynamically at the same time, creating a new reality that we have to face. Leaders cannot solve today’s problems with yesterday’s paradigms - in this new more complicated world we live in, we have to keep refreshing ideas.

While books, classes, and other learning materials are great, nothing beats a new experience. Travel is a fun and natural way to have novel experiences that you can’t help but add fresh ideas back into your own context.

As a leader, you have to ensure you company continues to inject fresh ideas into the company and be as adaptable to a changing world as possible.

New Opportunities and Connections

In addition to new ideas, getting out of your usual routine also enhances your sense for opportunity. You see how big the world is, you see problems all over the place, you see how something cool abroad can be applied back home. I personally thought about my current approach to my business, and saw some new alternatives for how to grow my business that I hadn’t seen before.

You will also inevitably meet new connections and activate connections you already had if you are visiting people - which are fresh opportunities to create something new. This happened with multiple people on my trip, whether it was starting a coaching relationship or creating a new opportunity for partnership.

Stronger Grasp on Global Reality

Whether you like it or not, you are subject to the global environment. We consume media from all over the world; we are subject to the global economic environment; and many of us have friends in other places.

One thing I realized going to business school in Spain was that us Americans, the former global hegemons, that all we really knew about was us, and we only looked through 1 lens to understand the world. Our knowledge and perspective is distorted.

Traveling gives you a greater sense of reality on the ground, both through observation, and through discussions with local people. Unfortunately, there is only so much truth you can get from media, and media will always distort reality - so see the world for yourself!

Discomfort and Courage

Travel is not comfortable - you have to figure out a way to, through, and from a new place; sometimes deal with a foreign language; navigate different cultural customs; and try new things that seem scary. This is a fun way of learning to deal with discomfort and build your tolerance to deal with discomfort.

I’m excited as I come back home that I return with a greater willingness to take on tasks that I was too afraid to tackle before. As leaders, there will always be moments where we need to display courage - making an unpopular decision, a difficult conversation, launching a new product - and sometimes we just need a boost to get over the hump.

Humility

Traveling reminds me of how big, beautiful, and diverse the world is. It reminds me of the great things those before us have done and the great things we are building for the future. It reminds me that I am just one small piece of a huge puzzle, just happy to be a part of it.

I always look for the good in the places I travel, because I want to learn how to be better and how to live better. It’s humbling to be in Europe and see all the ways in which Americans are doing life wrong (in my humble opinion).

As a leader, you have to keep your eyes out into the world to keep reaching for new heights. Companies that look outside their industries are found to innovate better. People who look outside their surroundings are going to see bigger and better things out in the world - there always are.

Appreciation of Difference, and of Your Own

While the global economy seems to be having a fracturing moment, populations inside countries will continue to mix more and more. Sexual and gender diversity has become a hot topic, as has neurodivergence, shining light on the many different dimensions that make us all different.

Travel will always enhance your appreciation and understanding of people different than you. And at the same time, we humanize others by realizing they want essentially the same things as we do.

On the other hand, as someone pretty critical of my home country, I’ve learned to love my own country and people. You miss certain things when you are abroad. Me? I usually miss being really loud, the Swiss are very quiet 😆

[[ A little gallery of photos around Europe! ]]

Some Travel Tips to Leave You With…

Before I do that, here’s what I recommend to get the most out of international travel:

1. Talk to local people whenever you can, and do things they recommend - bonus if they take you around!

2. Always ask about local products - what foods, drinks, clothes, etc. are unique and local to the place you visit - try them out!

3. Adapt to local language and customs - notice and copy, in a respectful way, the local cultural customs, and language when you can. This helps you internalize the new environment you are in (let alone others will appreciate it)

4. Get a basic sense of their history - how far back does history go, what are major events or important people that tell the story of this place?

5. Wander and observe details - what do you notice about the city’s organization and its architecture, transportation, ways of communication, art, technology

6. Use this opportunity to try something new - eating fish with the head still on…taking the bus…asking for help!

Conclusion

We are demanding more of our leaders as the world gets more complicated. Leaders have to be more creative, adaptive, agile, and skilled in all things EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) - and international travel helps build all of these. I would argue, therefore, that travel is not a nice-to-have - it’s an imperative.

For Learning and With Love,

Chris