A Woman who I admire

During this year I have learned so much about myself and I made so many steps out of my Comfort Zone. One of my activities was learning how to write a blog. I haven’t set any target for this, still have a lot to learn… But I want to publish this article by the end of this year; don’t want to be stuck in trying to reach the perfection.

One of the reasons is the fact that our success in next year will be impacted by the seeds we plant this year 😉

So, will I be a successful blogger? I don’t know, but I will write about a variety of topics – that’s for sure.

Now I would like to present you the woman I admire, true leader who inspired me and challenged me to grow:

Judith Goldmann, Vice president in Global Employment Center, responsible for International Assignments / Expatriate Management for Deutsche Telekom group, has very clear message:

Preparing “Back to normal” means also to promote the international mobility options in our company.

Let`s hear more from Judith – real Mobility role model and Globetrotter as you will find out:

1.What are the challenges for International Cross-Border Transfers @ DT or better to ask what the vision is?

International Cross-Border Transfers force you to step out of your comfort zone, challenge yourself and develop personally and professionally. These steps aren’t easy. Every expatriate will face challenges: There are administrational challenges like tax risks, apartment hunting, etc. and personal challenges like leaving your loved ones and starting a new life in another country. Also, from a corporate perspective sending employees abroad is a challenging task. Through interviews with employees, we have been able to identify a few weaknesses of our products and the lack of awareness of global mobility offerings of Deutsche Telekom. That is why I started a squad with international colleagues to solve these problems and foster a global mindset. We are constantly working on improving all our products and processes (#WeWontStop). Because we know that in the end everything will be worth it when you overcome these challenges and you will be a part of an intercultural team, broaden your horizon and gain so many new experiences. Living and working abroad promotes adaptability, quick learning ability, self-management and understanding of different perspectives.

And fortunately, there is the Global Mobility Center which supports you (especially with the administrational challenges) during the whole process. I became a customer of my team by going to Slovakia as an expatriate and my team became my consultants. I could not have imagined better support.

2. Why is Diversity so important, what would be the right recipe for one Global Digital Woman?

Diversity is the key to innovation. Different people, different perspectives, different solutions.

In my opinion, there is no recipe for one Global Digital Woman. The word diversity implies that we are all unique and @ DT we are pushing digitalization in our own ways. I am proud and grateful to be nominated for the Digital Female Leader Award (DFLA) but I definitely don’t want to swap with the jury, because I think that every nominee deserves this prize equally.

3. Please, tell us more about your background and intercultural mindset?

Intercultural collaboration happened to me during many stages of my career. Already in T-Systems we had an international team. Today I lead a department where the majority of colleagues live in Romania and also the squad that I mentioned earlier, to foster international mobility. Here we work together with colleagues from Germany, Greece and Romania. When it comes to moving physically, I challenged my intercultural competence on x-changes @ DT in South Korea, Slovakia and a one-year-assignment in Spain.

That wasn’t enough; Judith is now mastering a new challenge in Bratislava (Slovakia) since October as Vice President Procure-to-Pay International.

In the meantime, team is very active – they are holding monthly Lex Sessions. Kick Off was held in September – session was focused on Women with international footprint, Judith was a Key Speaker.

On one session we had opportunity to hear about challenging move by Sharareh Gherekhlar from Iran to Germany during corona pandemic.

On these sessions there were also other Expats who talked about their insights – I remember Nick Pavlidis and his enthusiasm & positive energy.

I would say that we all share the same passion to learn, explore and grow, hoping to encourage and inspire others with our personal experiences.