LEAD GLOBALLY
Global Peace Leadership Experience
Dignity and Well-being in the Workplace: A French Perspective
Overview: A select group of ten students joined BLI Director Ram Mahalingam and BLI Staff on a one-week trip to France & Belgium over U of M’s 2023 Spring Break.
The future of work depends on promoting dignity in the workplace for the sustainable success of organizations where employees are cultivated and valued. Through enriching experiential learning activities abroad, students explored culture-specific labor practices and policies at the personal, organizational and societal levels that strive to promote dignity and well-being in a global workplace.
Students examined the cross-cultural communication challenges of integrating immigrants and refugees in a multicultural workplace and explore historical experiments in France that promote labor dignity in organizations through enriching experiential learning activities.
As emerging leaders in a global work environment, this peace leadership program provided unique opportunities to learn about the initiatives, challenges, and successes of labor unions’ role in promoting dignity, harmony, and wellness.
This Global Peace Leadership Experience primarily took place in Lille, France, with excursions to Paris and Brussels. Students had a broad range of experiences including exploring a Utopian Museum, experiencing an alternative tour through Paris, meeting non-profit leaders working with refugees and immigrants, and connecting with students from Lille University – all with built-in time to freely explore the destinations with peers.
