Apr. 30, 2018 "How two schools are creating battle-tested leaders": Today I found this article by Jennifer Lewington in the Globe and Mail:
Two Canadian schools, among 30 institutions recognized for innovative practices in business education, are being lauded for introducing new strategies to teach and train future leaders.
For its annual list of “innovations that inspire” issued last week, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, a U.S.-based global accrediting body, named the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business for a customized executive MBA tailored for promising employees at Telus Corp.
The other Canadian winner, the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey Business School in London, Ont., was recognized for an intensive, experiential leadership course for business undergraduate students and developed with current and former top Canadian military leaders who have war zone experience.
The other Canadian winner, the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey Business School in London, Ont., was recognized for an intensive, experiential leadership course for business undergraduate students and developed with current and former top Canadian military leaders who have war zone experience.
“We feel it is our responsibility in a changing world to facilitate and drive change in business education,” says Dan LeClair, AACSB executive vice-president and chief strategy and innovation officer, of the “innovations that inspire” showcase introduced three years ago.
Beyond accreditation, his organization recently adopted an expanded mission to promote curriculum reform. “Ultimately we want to make business education a force for good and enable global prosperity in a broader context than just wealth creation,” he says.
Beyond accreditation, his organization recently adopted an expanded mission to promote curriculum reform. “Ultimately we want to make business education a force for good and enable global prosperity in a broader context than just wealth creation,” he says.
The Canadian schools, he says, signal two emerging global trends in business education: increased collaboration between business schools and industry and a rise in experiential opportunities for students to learn outside the classroom.
“We are breaking some boundaries that have been around for a long time,” says Mr. LeClair.
For example, in 2015 Gustavson reimagined the traditional executive MBA model that delivers training to mid-career people from various industry sectors in the same classroom.
In response to a request for proposals from Telus, the school tailored a new two-year program, delivered in the classroom and online for a cohort of 20 employees, identified as corporate up-and-comers and nominated by the telecommunications company.
In response to a request for proposals from Telus, the school tailored a new two-year program, delivered in the classroom and online for a cohort of 20 employees, identified as corporate up-and-comers and nominated by the telecommunications company.
“The [Telus] participants are highly engaged and motivated,” says Gustavson dean Saul Klein. “The faculty feeds off that, and that creates a powerful learning cycle. The projects they are doing are tailored to fit real issues that the organization is going through.”
Telus screens candidates based on their company track record, community service and corporate leadership potential, but the business school applies university academic criteria to determine who joins the program. The company pays almost all of the tuition costs, with an expectation that graduates remain with Telus for several years after graduation.
Class members are drawn from across Telus operations in four provinces, remain in their jobs but also receive time off to attend seven residential sessions at Gustavson over the two-year period. Between classroom sessions, students work in team-based, online collaborations, sign in for faculty-led webinars and take a study abroad trip as part of the course.
Gustavson faculty sign a confidentiality agreement so that, in addition to teaching MBA course content, they have access to Telus data required for class projects on company problems.
“The return has been phenomenal compared to the investment,” says Dan Pontefract, program director for the Telus MBA and the company’s so-called chief envisioner. “We recognized wins and gains and cost efficiencies,” he adds, with three additional cohorts now scheduled by the company.
Through class assignments, he estimates the initial cohort identified $33-million in operational savings for Telus along with identifying an eye-catching $300-million in potential new revenue over time. As well, 35 per cent of the first Telus MBA class have earned promotions to new roles at the company.
“We are future-proofing our pipeline of leaders,” he says.
Unlike Gustavson, Ivey developed a new leadership course several years ago as an elective for those still in school. Largely delivered outdoors, Leadership Under Fire is a five-day intensive program for 40 undergraduate business students (split between male and female) in their first year of a two-year honours business administration degree.
“In academia we talk a lot about leadership but when it comes to leadership there is a big difference between talking and actually doing,” says Gerard Seijts, executive director of the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership at Ivey, and a researcher on the traits of successful leaders.
Five years ago, he and a fellow Ivey professor developed the course in collaboration with former top Canadian Forces military leaders who have combat experience overseas.
Students work in four teams of 10 people to perform tasks that test their ability to lead others and solve problems under deadline in circumstances (including mild sleep and food deprivation) that test their physical, emotional and mental stamina.
Through a combination of the outdoors activities (which includes some camping out under a tarpaulin), faculty lectures and mentorship by the retired military leaders, students apply what they learn through several days of hardship to a business setting.
Through a combination of the outdoors activities (which includes some camping out under a tarpaulin), faculty lectures and mentorship by the retired military leaders, students apply what they learn through several days of hardship to a business setting.
David Quick, chief executive officer of Pathfinder Leadership Associates, is a retired Canadian Forces Lt.-Colonel and Star of Military Valour recipient who led more than 20 combat missions in Afghanistan. He and fellow-retired elite officers assist Ivey in delivering the course, with each student team expected to assess and reflect on their performance on each task.
“There is a military-esque flavour [to the course] because it is easy to get people in large groups to bond and connect and follow specific directions, but the content has nothing to do with the military,” he says. The student assignments, he adds, “are fun, challenging, mentally draining and emotionally troubling and deal with the friction of people and how you lead people.”
During the exercises, each team member has an opportunity to lead, with the military mentors and Ivey faculty offering feedback to students as individuals and in groups. Students are also assessed by peers on their leadership strengths and weaknesses exhibited under pressure.
The course mark is entirely based on a 25-page reflection paper completed several weeks after the outdoor experience, with students expected to map their next steps in building their capacity as leaders.
“I tell the students that this a formative course but above all a transformative course in terms of your leadership and your self-discoveries,” says Dr. Seijts. Initially designed for undergraduates, the course may soon be offered as an MBA elective.
As an Ivey business undergraduate, David Brooks signed up for the leadership elective in 2015 and praises its simulation of real-time “high-stress” situations that “allow for leaders to actually develop and allows you to see a completely different side of leadership.”
Now on Ivey’s faculty, Mr. Brooks says the course spurred him to reflect on his leadership style that he describes as a “bit too controlling.” Through the course, he adds, “I had to learn when it was time for me to lead and when it was time to allow others to lead.”
The Ladder: Patrick Lor: Today I found this article in the Globe and Mail:
Patrick Lor, 50, is a managing partner of Panache Ventures in Calgary and Montreal. He co-founded iStockphoto and is a former president of Fotolia North America.
Every time I go to Vancouver or San Francisco, somewhere warm, there’s a massive desire to not be in Calgary’s -20 weather and snow. But it comes down to home – it’s super comfortable. You have friends, family – know where the great restaurants are.
I’ve come to love part of the business attitude here, more creation than managing. Once you’re into third- and fourth-generation wealth you become a manager. Massive pools of money are managed in Eastern Canada, whereas here, even second-generation, it’s still a creation attitude.
I was born in Hong Kong, my parents immigrated when I was 5. I’ve vivid memories as a seven-year-old, things I view as serendipitous. My parents were skilled but didn’t have English abilities, had to take factory jobs in Vancouver. We packed everything in the car and drove to Toronto.
The first day at school, I ran into a swing set’s A-frame and broke my leg. My mom said, ‘We can’t live here, it’s horrible luck.’ We packed and drove west, to Vulcan, Alta. I struggled. I was different, picked on because I was nerdy. You adapt; become a bit funnier or learn to work into certain circles.
My degree was an artifact of my parents’ expectation. I was brought up in an Asian culture to be an engineer, doctor or lawyer. I started university in sciences, almost got kicked out – a 1.58 GPA.
It turns out transferring to sociology I developed thinking skills, writing, logical argument skills I still use. We had Apple Macintosh. At that time, artists didn’t know how to use computers.
I got a designer job at the City of Calgary, mentored by this fantastic woman. Cindy [Pickett] gave us so much freedom. The combination of her belief in our abilities, curiosity and computer capabilities coalesced in workflow magic. Once I started working, I found traction, understood my skillset, where I could add value.
I was being told I was a great execution guy, but I’d never be handed the keys to strategy. My MBA filled that gap, transformational in my attitude to be the contributor I wanted and a better communicator.
An Adobe colleague, Bruce Livingston, starting a little thing called iStockphoto with 50,000 photos on CD-ROMs, asked me to work for a chunk of the company. I helped add strategic and business thinking.
I feel very fortunate, being in the right place at the right time, taking advantage of opportunities. The first part of your career is proving and trying to understand yourself, wandering through the woods. Then, the world’s seen a bit of your track record and brings opportunities to you. Fotolia found me.
Panache is diving in deep with entrepreneurs, supporting them in a big way – and early. We’re going to invest in more than 140 companies, typically less than 10 employees, valuation as low as $2-million when they still have a lot to figure out. That’s where I and some partners started, creating multimillion-dollar businesses.
Men have always been given more access than women. There are very few 100-per-cent qualified candidates for any position, but we’ve allowed semi-qualified males to come into positions and learn; let semi-qualified females in and let them learn. Somebody gave me the benefit of doubt, allowed me to learn on the job and make mistakes.
We’re changing that access, giving women equal opportunities in our hiring and investment practices.
We’re changing that access, giving women equal opportunities in our hiring and investment practices.
We’ve been through highs and lows – all the partners – we take an empathetic approach. We genuinely try to be helpful to entrepreneurs, provide introductions, a little coaching. For us, this is such a passion.
I look at a person’s ability to be likeable, within the first five minutes. You do the analysis but when it comes to writing cheques, it’s a relationship built on trust and rapport.
I look at a person’s ability to be likeable, within the first five minutes. You do the analysis but when it comes to writing cheques, it’s a relationship built on trust and rapport.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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