On the move: Richard from New York

When I entered the UBS office in Zurich-Altstetten, everything seemed familiar already. My colleagues had created both a welcoming and enthusiastic environment. And they organized a number of meetings to get me in the loop as quickly as possible.

I'm deeply impressed by the friendliness of my colleagues, by their discipline and organizational flair.

I organized a kick-off meeting where we discussed how we can best transform MCF best practices from a local focus to a global, standardized one.

One major challenge we overcame was building a team that was (and still is) able to be self-sustaining and meet the program goals for the region.

Due to our different time zones and languages, I was worried that communication would be a bit more difficult and it might prevent us from reaching our ambitious goals. However, the collaboration worked out very well!

After three months, we had reached a level where details came into play. Today, we looked at our daily operational processes and defined the global standards.

I was so impressed by the input and engagement of the project team. There is so much know-how available.

I climbed The Hockenhorn, a mountain in the Bernese Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Bern and Valais (3,290m / 10,800ft)!

Climbing a mountain generated the same feeling of pride and gratitude as working with the people here towards a common goal. Sometimes it gets challenging, but the payoff is absolutely worth it. It was a great personal achievement.

Six months have almost passed and it's time to pack up. Before flying back to New York, I'll make a stop-off in London where we'll have a workshop with all the regional MCF teams.

I'm leaving with a tearful and a joyful eye. It was an unforgettable, valuable experience here.