Many important factors influence the process of shaping young people mindsets. Of course, the process of learning the tolerance, acceptance, and the reasons why people differs should start at home, but schools and universities may be equally important. They give possibilities to expand our knowledge and find ways to be international even without leaving the country. As Global Attitude Protocol states one of the character traits that will define a person with a global mindset is the knowledge of foreign languages, which we learn mainly in schools. But is it really possible to shape a global mindset? Is it a quality that some are born with and just deepen it during the lifetime, or can we really acquire it? To reflect on it, it is worth considering what the global mind really is. A global mindset is defined as the ability to recognize, read, and adapt to cultural signals, both overt and subtle, so that your effectiveness is not compromised when you are dealing with people from different backgrounds. In other words we can simply say that it is all about understanding people that differs from us and being possible to work and socialize with them easily.
Firstly, people can and should learn to recognize culturally related behaviors such as those seen in their colleagues. Personal development is believed to be the most important feature of the global mindset. Even if someone comes from a family with some prejudices, learning about other nations' culture, religion, or behavior can help you understand people and learn to think differently. Especially those we are supposed to work with later or those we are supposed to manage. The beginnings are different, sometimes it is a high school exchange, sometimes a student relationship, and sometimes just a job in an international company. When starting a relationship with someone from a different country or culture, we should learn about their typical behavior. Getting to know other countries not only develops our mind, but also makes us more open to the world, easier to understand other people and the conditions around us. Thanks to this, we can become a better manager who looks at the world more globally and sees more opportunities or problems related to the company's operations.
Secondly, each person can develop a personal adaptation strategy to different cultural management or behavior styles. Globalization undoubtedly affects every aspect of our lives, we can meet people from different cultures everywhere, be citizens of the world, but of course we do not have to follow every behavior. Even if we ourselves do not want to be an international person, we should have a strategy of working with others. For example, we should have a strategy to deal with behavior that is not acceptable to us in our culture or religion or that is inconvenient for us. We should then speak clearly about our feelings but respecting the culture of others. It is undoubtedly a learning through practice. Additionally, since we are very often not in the same place (we work remotely), we cannot read each other's body language - and since we come from different cultures, we probably would not be able to read it thoroughly, even if we were working in the same country. The more we work with people from other cultures in remote places, the less we perceive the subtle meaning and the more we fall prey to misunderstanding and ineffectiveness. Communication is important here. Some of these behaviors can be learned and polished throughout our lives - but are these features of a global mindset? Not exactly, but it will definitely help to function in an international environment.
Finally, shaping a global mindset means being open to constant learning, traveling, and exploring other cultures. Under the Global Attitude Protocol, having a global mindset means speaking multiple languages, enjoying traveling and meeting people from all over the world, or knowing the socio-economic / political implications of world events. All of these and many other things can be learned. However, one should remember about the attitude of teachers, both school and academic, and therefore care should be taken to educate teachers and educators all over the world. They should encourage students to be tolerant and curious about the world. According to A. Lin Goodwin, they should care for education in four dimensions in the context of globalization: program, professional, moral, and personal. Education should be adapted to the currently changing world, to the constantly progressing globalization and disappearing borders between states. Shaping a global mindset should be mandatory at every stage of life.
To sum up, mindset can be associated with both individuals and organizations, but what makes an organization are the people who work in it. The strategic importance of the global mindset of organizations, says that leaders, especially those from international organizations, must have a global approach to connect managers across the organization. While an organization is not dependent on one specific person's ability to think globally, it is crucial to have as many employees as possible who think this way. Answering the question of the thesis, I believe that shaping a global way of thinking is possible when a person is in the right environment. Parents, teachers, schools are very important. They can encourage finding new information about other cultures, languages, or religions. They can make people travel more or find it exciting. All this means that such people see the world more widely and can work in an international environment. This is definitely not just a metaphor.
Bibliography:
http://www.globalmindset.info/home.html
A. Lin Goodwin (2020), Globalization, Global Mindsets and Teacher Education, Action in Teacher Education
Questions:
1. What do you think about shaping global mindset? Is it really that important?
2. Please share what part of your life has the most impact on your global mindset?
3. Do you think it is possible to shape global mindset? Is it a quality that some are born with or can we really acquire it?
Comments
There are two things which have made me a citizen of the world, shaped my global mindset I suppose. Reading, and listening. I try to read the works of other cultures and their philosophers, and I try to make acquaintances of people of different cultures, orientations, gender identities, and listen to them talking about their experiences.
Cosmopolitanism is certainly not a quality that one is born with. It's a quality of one's knowledge, the depth and breadth of one's perspective on the world. It can absolutely be shaped and fostered, chiefly through education but also media, art, even political rhetoric. And in my opinion, it should be. We're all humans of planet Earth, allegiance to artificial things like religions or countries should always come second to that.