Claudia, thanks for joining us today. I'd like to talk about your experience with BU Brussels's MSL program. What initially interested you about getting a Masters in Leadership degree at BU?
I was at the time cycling through a career transition, leaving a highly politicized working environment to set up my own consultancy in cross-cultural communications in Brussels. I had held senior management positions in EU public affairs for twenty years. I had gathered significant experience building international teams, managing international projects, organizing European-wide campaigns and developing international media strategies. And I felt ready to design and deliver leadership programs for companies and organizations challenged by the complexity of multicultural working environments: when seeking to enter new markets, when sub-contracting to other countries, when driving a change process...
At the same time, I wanted to update my knowledge, preferably in an academic environment. The BU Masters in Leadership degree seemed to fit my objective: the courses are being taught by industry-experienced professionals who combine their practitioner’s skills with academic structure.
Did you have any expectations about what you would be learning? If so, what were they?
My expectations were clear, at least I thought so. I wanted business-focused knowledge for immediate use in my daily work. But I got so much more out of it than just topical content. I learned about strategy, finance, negotiating, leadership and team dynamics. But I also learned that good leadership development programs – whether in higher or in executive education – are not just a series of classes you sit through to obtain your degree or certificate.
Good leadership development programs are those that have a long-term value because they become a transformative journey. They do not simply teach you about leadership, telling you what you should do to be successful. They also help you capture the spirit of leadership by integrating emotionally intelligent leadership practices. They are not only about achieving learning goals, they also address the powerful drivers of leadership behaviors. And those are skills you need in today’s international workplaces. Ignore the real state of an organization you work for, ignore the norms of the groups you interact with in your professional relationships, and you are set up for failure. Know how to navigate complexity, and organizational systems and cultures will support you.
Every choice to go back to school involves weighing out time and money investment against what you perceive the value of the program will be. What did you expect the value of the MSL to be for you specifically (not just value to the typical student)? Were there certain issues you wanted to address, or career goals you wanted to obtain? Did you use the MSL to help you in a career transition to a new career, or to advance in your current position?
I wanted to position myself on the market. There are many consultants around- many competent colleagues. So how would I make a difference? I already had my academic credits, but I felt that a postgraduate Masters from a renowned American University would help.
And indeed, it has. Not only have I embarked on new learning, I have accessed new networks. Two former co-students of mine in Brussels have become business partners. A professor on the campus in Boston has given me valuable advice relating to my professional activity, though we never met in person. I can present myself as a seasoned professional who combines twenty years of experience in the industry with up-to-date academic learning. This has by the way helped me win an important contract last month. The MSL has opened many doors for me: to new learning, to exciting business partnerships, to an academic community I feel that I belong to, and to new clients.
How have you applied the knowledge from the program in your work life?
I integrate much of my theoretical learning at BU into my own leadership programs. But, most importantly, I use a lot of BU’s teaching methodologies, blending them with my own. I love bold mixtures of learning techniques that are conducted over a period of time.
My programs are not designed as one-time quick-fixes – or correctives -, but built as multifaceted processes that permeate the three layers of any organization I work with: the individuals, the teams in which they work, and the culture of the organization. They combine intellectual and emotional learning. They blend contextualized content with action learning and coaching, where participants use what they are learning to diagnose and solve real problems in their organizations.
No doubt BU has inspired me to design leadership programs that are different from what you normally find in the executive training arena.
Do you look at others (peers, underlings, bosses, clients) differently now? If so, how?
Studying leadership, if taken seriously, transforms you. It changes the way you relate to colleagues, business partners and clients, because it changes your mindset. You learn that being a good leader does not mean that you have to be the toughest gal or guy on the block, nor that you have to head a team or an entire company. You learn that leading is about inspiring people, about creating places of resonance, and about making sense. You learn that leadership effectiveness goes well beyond the management of resources and the rational operation of organizations. And, yes, studying Leadership has fundamentally changed the way I look at others. I have become more open, more tolerant, more curious – and more aware of the need to create innovative leadership practices. Interestingly, I seem to always be meeting people – new colleagues, partners, friends – who share my interest in helping leaders cultivate a broader range or depth of social and emotional competencies not just for added leadership strength in their own organizations, but for the vitality of our economy. That’s synchronicity at its very best…
Why do you think that leadership is such a hard topic for people to understand? I've found that many people feel they should be interested in it, but very few actually go forward and try to learn more about it. Do you agree?
I believe that strong leadership programs have to be focused on intellectual and emotional learning. They are not just about tackling reality, they are about implementing ideals too. This is not what you typically find in most business schools and executive training centers, at least not yet. They continue to operate according to traditional metrics, such as financial performance and organizational strategy. These will of course always be important considerations. But in today’s diverse and constantly changing global market we need a new generation of leaders with that extra dimension that makes the difference, with that extra set of new skills. We need people not only responding to economic challenges, but to ethical and cultural challenges too. People not only interested in aligning their underlings, but also in developing attuned relationships.
This is a principle that many colleagues of mine, my business partners and myself apply when developing our leadership programs targeting the executive education arena: we increasingly build on the concepts of authentic leadership and emotional leadership. Our clients love this approach as it combines business-focused know-how with techniques to uncover their own strengths and ideals, and to use their daily work as a laboratory for learning and personal development.
I am convinced that the most forward-thinking business educators will over time recognize the importance of transmitting, alongside topical content, certain skills and behaviors in higher education to help their graduates become true leaders instead of mere managers. That would be long-term value for people and organizations. Imagine what our societies would be like if they were structured around the concepts of resonant leadership. What would our parenting be like, our schools, our businesses, our communities…
And I am sure that we will get there. Remember how unusual the breakthrough concept of « emotional intelligence » (EI) seemed to us when Daniel Goleman first coined the term in the early nineties of the last century ? How could EI possibly exist when it could not be measured, unlike the intelligence quotient, the IQ ? Today, EI is a respected area of academic research. We know from two decades of analysis within top organizations that resonant leaders excell not only through skills and smarts, but also by connecting with others.
One question we've been asking people is "Why Leadership and Why Now?" If someone were to ask you why they should learn about leadership now as opposed to later, what advice would you give them?
Today’s markets are complex and highly competitive. The sooner you position yourself with a degree from a top-ranking university, the better. And Leadership it should be, provided that the classes blend proven traditional management models with these new work skills: self-awareness, empathic understanding, self-mastery, and personal responsibility. Learning about leadership now makes you fit for the future. It helps you navigate international business environments - building trust, developing attuned relationships with colleagues and clients, detecting differences in management and leadership styles in other countries or organizations - and adapt your strategy. It will take you into the ranks of leaders-to-be benefitting not only their own organizations, but also their families, their communities, and society as a whole. I have witnessed it myself when enrolling as a student with BU: learning about leadership in an academic context not only changes the way you interact in your professional, but also in your personal relationships, in addition to opening up great networks.
Thank you for your time Claudia. Congratulations on all your successes.
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