There are lots of reasons to travel for pleasure. In many cases, most of the memorable vacations that you’ve gone on are probably to places other than in your hometown. But when it comes to business, there are lots of benefits to traveling as well when you think about it.
If you are traveling specifically for professional reasons, you are expanding your network, experiencing other business cultures, padding your business resume, and showcasing your professional flexibility. Whether your trips are short or long, the more you choose to embrace the idea of business travel, the sooner you’ll get ahead in many different aspects of your professional career.
Expanding Your Network
No one can deny the importance of networking. And depending on what professional industry you are in, a good network may be the difference between being able to compete in a job sector successfully, and having to choose something else. The more significant and better your network, the more financial opportunities you have. By traveling on business trips, you are regularly and consistently meeting new people to add to your web of resources. People that you meet on business trips aren’t necessarily going to be your best friends forever, but they at least will recognize your face and name in a professional setting.
Experiences Other Business Cultures
Not every business culture is the same. Imagine the difference in a meeting of board members in the United States, and then a meeting of board members in Japan or China. There are going to be vast differences when it comes to the method of communication, deference, respect to ideas, the focus on individualism or collectivism, and so on. By traveling on business trips, you get to experience different business cultures in a way that would not be possible otherwise. Yes, there are virtual conversations over the phone or by video chat, but being there in person is different.
Padding Your Business Resume
It’s never a bad time to add more elements to your business resume. When you travel as part of your career, those are bullet points that can be the difference between you getting picked for promotion or not. Those destinations may be seen by potential employers as the reason that they hire you as opposed to someone else.
Showcasing Your Flexibility
When it comes down to it, if you choose to opt for business travel, it showcases your flexibility to your employer and your clients. The fact that you aren’t nailed down to a specific geographical area means that you have a lot more openness to different business experiences and opportunities. If you consistently turned down chances to go and meet new people and do new things, then your ability to expand upwardly into your industry will be significantly diminished over time.
Originally posted on November 8, 2017 @ 2:18 pm