Improving the world through a global role

Featured Events | Dec 07, 2016 | Casey Shenloogian

Go big or go home.

This is the motto many Gabelli students live by on their quests for success. And when your home is New York City, going big means going global.

So when International Business Week came around, the Gabelli School invited professionals in global positions to share their experiences with students.

Kip Allardt and Sanju Kumar are in constant communication with both global and domestic clients in their respective roles as global relationship manager for Discovery Capital Management and global brand solutions lead at YouTube.

“We’re going through a mobile revolution,” said Kumar, on what being in a global position is truly like.

Allardt added: “Humans have succeeded by remaking what is already around.”

For businessmen and women, that’s the goal: to better the world by improvement. It prompts questions such as, “How can we make this easier?” or, “What could make this process more efficient?”

The two also had advice on collaborating effectively with other cultures. They emphasized the importance of knowing how the other culture operates in order to have a coherent and successful meeting.

“It’s not just knowing what to say, but how to say it,” Kumar pointed out. “Not all cultures operate the way we as Americans do.” Kumar highlighted his work in India and explained how his approach in that environment differs from a domestic one.

To close the panel, Allardt and Kumar had some advice for students looking for internships and jobs.

“Your résumé is a story of progression,” said Kumar. “It should tell the employer exactly how you improved and what skills you developed in your experience.”

“If you find out those core attributes of your strengths, you can transfer them into any job, anywhere around the globe,” Allardt said. “Know yourself and your strengths, and you’ll go far.”

Sanju Kumar is global brand solutions lead at YouTube, where he is responsible for building, packaging, and commercializing ad solutions to help global clients exceed their marketing goals.

Kip Allardt is global relationship manager for Discovery Capital Management and its affiliates which manage roughly $8 billion of assets invested in more than 60 countries across all asset classes.