Leadership development requires learning new ways of being, which is necessary to solve increasingly complex strategic organizational problems. The two-pronged responsibilities of the leader — reaching organizational goals and developing people in their teams — can be challenging, particularly when professional, personal, and global pressures compete for one’s inner resources. Being an effective leader requires an inner transformation, yet changing oneself in adulthood has proven for many to be a difficult task. This course offers students frameworks and techniques through which they will set their developmental priorities and gain the techniques and skills necessary to complete the transformation.

At the core of this course is an intensive residential retreat, during which students will be provided with carefully curated exercises designed to help them take decisive steps toward new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. The intensive work during the retreat is designed to support students in achieving crucial insights that can propel their whole development — as a leader and, more broadly, as a person. The sessions that precede and follow the retreat will help students continue working on their developmental priorities throughout their MBA experience. The final session will allow students to debrief their Retreat experience and refine their developmental commitments going forward.