How Stars Become Leaders
Lisa Hughes, portfolio director of the Program for Leadership Development (PLD), works hard behind the scenes to assemble a diverse group of participants and deliver a powerful learning experience. Below, she explains how participants can maximize their learning and accomplishments—before, during, and after the program.
Who is the ideal PLD participant?
PLD is especially well-suited to star individual contributors with 10–15 years of experience and high leadership potential. Typically, they have succeeded in their career mainly on the strength of their own IQ, EQ (emotional quotient), CQ (cultural quotient), work ethic, performance, grit, and creativity—largely as individual contributors. Eventually, they reach an inflection point where they find themselves challenged by expanded leadership responsibilities. It's at that point when a lot of high performers are derailed, because many of the strategies that paid off the most when they were individual contributors are the ones that can hurt most when leading others.
How does the program help these rising stars?
Executives who bring an open mind and a desire to seek out new ideas get the most value from the program. HBS strives to develop these individuals' sense of themselves as leaders and as instruments of change. We want them to leave the program with a powerful and practical toolkit. Our goal is to ensure that PLD is personally and professionally transformative and is the best development experience of participants’ adult lives.
What makes PLD unique?
PLD offers a broad curriculum via a set of intense modules that require only two weeks at a time on campus. Just as important, we address all three aspects of leadership—knowing, doing, and being. The case study method is key to this type of learning, but we also provide many other ways to learn and receive feedback, such as exercises, coaching, and special projects. Participants can personalize PLD to their own organizational challenges and learning objectives in ways that I don't think many other curricula can. All of these factors combine to foster genuine leadership growth. In addition, by completing PLD, executives are well on their way to earning full HBS alumni status. (See below for more on alumni status.)
How do the living groups work?
The living group provides a safe environment where people can test new ideas and consider other perspectives. We organize participants in small groups of eight executives who live and work together throughout the entire PLD experience. These individuals bring very different experiences, points of view, personalities, and moral frameworks into the mix as they help one another make sense of the material. It's important for living groups to be able to work well together, so we begin new sessions with exercises that help living group members get to know each other.
When participants study a case, they first read and reflect on the case individually. They go on to discuss it with peers in their living group, which prepares them for a broader discussion with the faculty and the larger group in the classroom. At each stage, they are exposed to new perspectives that stimulate thinking, learning, and growth. The living groups also bring value to other program elements such as the 360-degree feedback exercise and the personal case project.
Working together so intensively creates bonds. Living groups sometimes take on the personality of athletic teams, demonstrating group pride and competing with other groups in a good-natured way. Again and again, we see people make lifelong friends with members of their living group.
What's the value of getting away from work and learning alongside a new group of peers?
If you are tasked with something that is very challenging or are trying to identify areas for personal improvement, you may not want to ask your co-workers for advice, especially in a competitive environment. And there's only so much that your spouse, partner, or friends can tell you about behaviors you should change to be a more effective leader.
PLD provides the opportunity to get input and learn from 159 other high-performing professionals. You don't have to deal with office politics. You're not competing for grades or jobs. As a result, you can share your strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures much more openly. Through this exchange, you develop a network of friends and advisors who can provide feedback as you move on in your career.
What is the personal case?
The personal case is another way PLD participants try out new skills. All participants come to PLD with a personal case they want to tackle—either an opportunity gap or a performance gap. As they work to address the problem, they apply a great deal of new self-awareness that's informed by the feedback they're receiving daily—both direct, explicit feedback and also indirect, implicit feedback from faculty, coaches, others in their living group, as well as from people back in their organization—feedback about what they're doing effectively and what they're not doing effectively.
What role does personal coaching play in PLD?
Coaching helps to maximize the learning for each individual and for each group across the program—from the personal case to the self-assessment exercises and beyond. Coaches do provide advice, but they are even more likely to ask a lot of questions. The goal is to encourage reflection and build self-awareness. Participants say that coaches help them see themselves more accurately, clarify their thinking, and learn to ask the right questions—so they can get to the right answers.
How has the PLD curriculum evolved?
We're always adjusting the learning methods and the topics based on what our faculty are learning through their research and consulting, what they hear in the classroom, and what participants tell us on program evaluations. Over time, we've added faculty to the program to provide additional depth and breadth to the curriculum. And of course, we’re always incorporating new cases developed by our faculty.
We've gradually added more experiential learning and also more ways to personalize the program. For example, we've incorporated some electives that enable participants select topics that interest them. In addition, we make time for optional peer-led sessions on special topics during Module 4.
What do PLD participants do when they're not studying?
We organize social events during each on-campus module. For example, we might go to a Red Sox game or one of Boston's many museums. Boston offers many wonderful restaurants, parks, nearby coastal towns, cultural venues and historic sites, so there is no shortage of activities for people who want to explore the area on their own.
What do you see as the ultimate impact of PLD?
On an individual level, PLD transforms executives inside and out. They become much more self-aware, less fearful and self-conscious, and more confident in their own abilities—as individuals, as members of their families, and as leaders in their companies. By developing greater technical and interpersonal competence—and becoming energized with a new sense of optimism—they become better, more informed leaders who make a much bigger difference in their worlds.
Of course, the PLD impact goes far beyond the individual. Every time we develop a group of more self-aware, better-equipped leaders, we have a positive influence on the lives of many different people in companies worldwide.
How do PLD participants stay in contact after the program?
As PLD wraps up, there's an energetic, positive feeling among the participants. People leave with new friendships—as well as with new interests because they've become intrigued by one another's philanthropic activities.
PLDers from all over the world find many ways to stay in contact and support one another. One great vehicle is the Global PLD Summit, a conference organized by and for PLD participants and graduates. The organizers put together a stimulating program that recaptures a bit of the PLD experience. The day might include keynote speakers or experiential exercises, along with opportunities for networking. Our PLD team from HBS attends and throws a reception at the end of the day for the participants and for their invited spouses, sponsors, colleagues, or friends who want to learn more about the program.
What advice do you have for people starting PLD?
Come early and come prepared! If you are traveling to Boston from far away, plan to arrive a few days early. Stay in a local hotel, enjoy Boston for a few days, and give your jet lag time to subside. If you do that, you'll feel stronger, more alert, and in a good frame of mind to accept this exciting challenge.
Before you come, read all of the cases. Don't dwell on details, but figure out the big issues. First, look over the exhibits. Write down what you think is happening in each exhibit and any questions you have. Second, read the study questions to understand what the faculty want you to examine. Finally, read the case, pull out the big picture ideas, and write down your preliminary thoughts. You'll spend more time on each case later, but if you have prepared in advance, you won't feel quite so pressured. You'll start out as a strong contributor in your living group.
How can PLD graduates earn alumni status?
No single answer fits everyone. Each person needs to choose the path that accelerates progress toward his or her goals. If participants want a very personalized post-program experience, they can earn a total of 10 PLDA Points by completing other qualifying HBS Executive Education programs. Perhaps a specific industry program meets their needs, or they may want to dive more deeply into finance, marketing, or strategy. I encourage PLDers to look over the programs and talk with me or one of our client service specialists. We can discuss their goals and help them figure out a plan.
Over time, we realized that many PLD graduates focused on the same next steps in their learning. In particular, they asked for more finance, negotiation skills, and a deeper investigation into leadership—especially ethical leadership—along with other topics. That's how we came to offer PLD Module 5, a two-week optional module for graduates of the program. We've specifically designed this program to build on participants’ learning in PLD and to enable a more in-depth exploration of leadership, finance, and negotiation. If you're interested in these areas, enrolling in PLD Module 5 is another great way to earn alumni status.