IBM employees, from left, Tsegga Medhin, Smith Doss and Al Chakra chat about their upcoming overseas assignments with IBM in Tanzania, the Philippines and Romania. Photo courtesy of Ted Richardson/Raleigh News & Observer.

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IBM is breaking the mold again. While a number of multinational companies like Procter & Gamble and General Electric are sending employees overseas, IBM is offering staffers a chance to work with colleagues from around the world on projects that emphasize team leadership development.

IBM’s new Corporate Service Corps program helps participants learn how to work in the global marketplace with people from very diverse backgrounds – skills that are particularly important for individuals whose encore careers may take them outside of the United States.

In an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, Carol Hymowitz quotes one participant, Al Chakra, as saying, “I felt like I won the lottery when I got accepted.” He was one of 100 selected out of 5,500 applicants for monthlong assignments on six teams this year.

IBM plans to send 500 more employees overseas during the next three years on similar projects.

Chakra traveled from Raleigh, N.C., to spend July in Timisoara, Romania, where he helped a furniture manufacturer cut costs and use computers effectively. He worked with eight other IBM colleagues from five countries who lived in the same house but assisted different companies.

Together, they helped local employees think more creatively. For example, Jennifer Vickery, a New Yorker, helped a local network of female entrepreneurs change the focus of their annual fundraiser. Instead of donating the proceeds to local charities, they have started a scholarship fund to help provide training for women who want to start their own businesses.

To read about IBM's new program that helps employees transition to nonprofit careers, click here.