I never thought I'd be happy to be back in Bricket Wood

I thought I'd share a little about the past few weeks of 'training' here in Bricket Wood and more so, about the shenanigans that have taken place around the training.  The month-long program is mostly designed for participants of the various graduate development programs around the world.  Therefore it is an opportunity for those that have been identified as 'high performers' to learn more about the bank, learn more about the business overall, and most importantly, learn more about themselves and how to lead effectively.  Somewhere in that mix they toss in the new IM's as a chance to introduce us to the bank and to study our behaviour in a controlled environment before sending us out to the far reaches of the world. 

So far it has been great.  An excellent chance to better understand all the different businesses within the bank and how they operate in very different parts of the world.  Most of all its been a wonderful opportunity to meet and work with young 'high performers' from dozens of countries -- I refer to it as TASIS adult.  I've enjoyed getting to know so many different people and learning about the VERY different approach to leadership and teamwork around the world -- studying these concepts in an MBA classroom can only get you so prepared...

Needless to say we've had plenty of opportunity, both program facilitated and on our own, to enjoy our surroundings and make the most of our time in the UK.  Last week we attended a theatrical dinner that most resembled the Renaissance Festival from Colorado summers...

This past Saturday I ventured into London with some friends to tick off the typical sites...

 Not sure why these are sideways...remember I'm new to blogging...

 Making deals...

 Tea with David...

We capped off our journey with the Queen musical "We Will Rock You" which was, as expected, a rockin' good time. 

Sunday we headed north to the lake district on the Eastern coast of Britain near the Isle of Man for an Outward Bound course.  Although we were in a mystical location, staying in an enchanting medieval castle, let me be frank:  This was a weekend spent dangling WELL above the earth, in a constant panic, trying to hone our teamwork.  An awesome experience but not necessarily one I'm in a hurry to repeat!

Our view from the back deck

Our castle

 My Filipino friend in a South Bend t-shirt.  This was one of TWO SB t-shirt spotting's over the weekend

 Now that we're back on solid ground we're focusing our efforts on understanding and improving our individual leadership styles under pressure (there's no more pretending how we perform under pressure, we show our true colors 20meters off the ground).  Next week is the final week of the program and will conclude with the presentation of our 'values challenge' we've been working on the entire month.  Then I'm off to Switzerland to visit Nicky! 

Country Posting Update:  I was meant to have two weeks off between this program and reporting to my first posting.  I was told today that I will likely have more than two weeks but was given no indication of how much more.  I'm in the process of deciding where and how to spend this new found time -- will keep you posted!

Cool images of Lugano

Friends of ours from Lugano made this time lapse video (including the music!) of the surrounding area.  Take in all the beauty we've been enjoying!

Time lapse video

Welcome!

Friends and family, welcome to the greatest blog you've ever laid eyes on!


Nicky and I are new to the blogging world so that claim will surely be FAR from the truth but we will do our best.  We wanted to create a central location to share our upcoming adventures with friends and family and have an open forum for discussion, debate and debauchery.  It may be somewhat slow going at first but hopefully as we get going the site will be frequently updated and even include multimedia! (I can hear your gasps of excitement)

For those of you that don't know Nicky and I are soon to be headed off on another adventure.  I recently accepted a position with Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) that will lead me to a knew role in a new country every 18 months.  I am in London at the moment completing a month of training before beginning my first posting. 

View from HSBC office in London

Our walk to dinner with current International Managers (IM's)

Nicky has just completed her first year of Teach for America and is already a certified and accomplished teacher.  She has agreed to join me (not sure how I pulled that one off) wherever in the world I may be posted and will hopefully continue her teaching career wherever we land.  Unfortunately she is not able to join me at my training and so is headed back to Switzerland for another summer at TASIS where we have worked for three previous summers.

View from campus

Main building

Currently we don't know where we will be moving to, we just know we need to be there by mid July.  There are nearly 90 countries in which we COULD end up and we have certainly been trying to interpret every little event to shed light on where I will be placed -- this practice has proved largely unfruitful and exhaustive.

I'll be sure to let our adoring fans (I see you Markus) know where we are headed as soon as I know. 

Until then...

HSBC International Manager Program

Teach for America

TASIS