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Dean's Column
Executive Challenge: A Reality Check
By Robert L. Joss
It was quite a moment when the winners were announced. In fact, the entire adrenalin-charged Executive Challenge competition was downright inspiring. It brought together alumni and students who were pumped up and ready to give and take advice. Students cheered as they realized just how far they had come and what great relationships they had formed. Last year was the first time all entering students went through the leadership program, which culminated with the Executive Challenge, as part of the new MBA curriculum. Here is a taste of what that Executive Challenge was like and what the next incoming class can expect.
“We were really intimidated going in,” said Brad Hively, Class of ’09. “It’s kind of terrifying having to present to five executives with all our peers watching. But everyone did well. It was a real confidence booster.” Arsen Kitch, Class of ’09, remembers: “I walked into my first role play … and found the former CEO of PepsiCo, my pre-MBA employer. Here he was judging my performance. The quality of the alumni feedback was outstanding. It was valuable to practice what we learned in a realistic setting.”
The portfolio of fall courses for entering students includes Strategic Leadership, taught by Professors Garth Saloner and Charles O’Reilly, who cover strategic insight and execution. As part of the course, all 372 first-years will go through a series of team-based, situational exercises designed by Evelyn Williams, director of the Leadership Laboratories in the Center for Leadership Development and Research.
Working in squads of 8, students collect data about themselves in their first 10 weeks. This includes feedback from their peers, from videotaped interactions, and from Leadership Fellows, second-year students who serve as coaches. This is an opportunity for 35 second-years to learn how to mentor a team. “Leadership is as much about impacting and empowering other people as it is about taking control,” said Paul Blanchfield, MBA ’08, who was among the first cadre of Leadership Fellows and who led a team of eight last year. “Suddenly the real world doesn’t look quite so challenging.”
The final test in the leadership program is the Executive Challenge competition. The judges: GSB alumni. Last year 162 alumni arrived from as far away as Germany, Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom. They took part in a series of role-plays in which students had to present strategic options from a case and get sign-on from a board of directors and protagonists played by alumni, including real-life venture capitalists, CEOs of public companies, and senior executives from Fortune 500 firms.
Students sweated, worried, pondered, huddled with teammates, and ultimately emerged with new skills and new understandings. One of my favorite comments came from Jim King, MBA ’77: “The most important lesson for them to learn is seeing outside their own point of view.” In some sessions, students had to rethink strategies on their feet. It wasn’t exactly American Idol, but the judges didn’t hold back on instant feedback.
Here are some excerpts of alumni feedback given to students: “Presentations are not descriptions. … Asking a board’s opinion is commendable, but it can end up being a tangent. Debate among board members is not advancing the ball. … Enough happy talk: Where are the issues? Get to the point. … They could have tried to better understand the individual interests of the board members. … Be careful in meetings not to be too casual by calling board members ‘you guys.’ … You have to put yourself in your audience’s shoes. … Don’t ask a decision group, ‘What do you want to do?’”
We want our students to motivate others, to persuasively navigate and lead projects to conclusion. What better resource to include than our alumni? As one alumna put it, “This is one of the more fulfilling interactions I have had with the GSB.” I am full of enthusiasm for the curriculum we now have in place. It is packed with management perspective, depth on the basics, and leadership development. With this approach our students are armed to change lives, change organizations, and change the world.