Lisa Hughes, portfolio director of the Program for Leadership Development (PLD), works hard behind the scenes to assemble a diverse cohort and deliver a powerful learning experience. Below, she explains how participants can maximize their learning and accomplishments—before, during, and after the program.
PLD participants are strong performers in their organizations. They are ambitious, have ideas about their career direction, and are looking for an opportunity to accelerate their progress along the path they've chosen. They are eager to come to HBS, figure out what we can do for them, and identify what they can do for their company and for others. They bring curiosity and a desire to seek out new ideas that can inform their day-to-day work.
People who come with a very open mind and with 10 to 15 years of really solid experience get the most value from the program.
I am always eager to meet the participants. To select a cohort, we spend a lot of time reading through the applications and sponsor statements. After people are accepted into the program, we read the personal bios that they post online to gain a better sense of who they are as people. During the first off-campus module, we watch them interact on the webinars and through email. This helps us prepare for their arrival and arrange the living groups. Having already started to get to know the participants "virtually", I am always delighted to finally meet them in person.
When the new PLD participants arrive on campus, each is nervous and excited—checking out the other participants and trying to figure out how the program will work. They know our faculty are rock stars and can't wait to engage with them. I enjoy watching the participants at that moment because I can imagine how different they will be at the end of Module 4, by which point they will have transformed from a roomful of strangers into a roomful of friends.
Come early and come prepared! Especially if you are traveling far, plan to arrive a few days early. Stay in a local hotel, enjoy Boston for a couple of days, and give your jetlag time to subside. If you do that, you'll feel stronger, more alert, and in a good frame of mind to take on this exciting experience.
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—for example, why is this exhibit even here? Second, read the study questions to understand what the faculty want you to look for. 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 to your living group.
We organize participants in small groups of eight that live and work together throughout the entire PLD experience. The living group is one of three important contexts where learning takes place; participants also study and reflect individually, and they engage with faculty and the larger group in the classroom.
We design living groups to be as varied as possible. Each living group has eight individuals who are able to bring their diverse experience, points of view, personalities, and moral frameworks to bear as they help one another make sense of the work they're doing together. 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 as friends and helpers. It's an afternoon of creative, joyful fun!
The living group provides a safe environment where people can try out ideas with peers and be exposed to new perspectives. For example, after studying a case on their own, participants discuss the case with peers in their living group. After that, they move on to a discussion in the classroom with faculty and the larger group.
The living groups also contribute value to other program elements such as the 360-degree feedback exercise and the personal case project. All participants come with a personal case they want to work on—either an opportunity gap or a performance gap. They present those gaps to their living groups and get feedback from peers about how to begin addressing these challenges.
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.
Participants also work with their living group on the Alumni Challenge, an exciting new element of the program where teams of participants design a solution to a current business problem submitted by past PLD participants. For example, we might have five challenges from five different organizations, with three to four teams competing to come up with the best solution for that challenge.
At the end of Module 2, the first on-campus module, representatives from the past PLDer's company present the challenge to the assigned teams and answer their questions. During the off-campus module, the teams work together at a distance to develop their solution. When they come back to campus, they present their solution, and the faculty and company representatives pick the winning team for each challenge.
We organize social events during each on-campus module. We might go to a Red Sox game, the Museum of Fine Arts, or the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. We also make recommendations for people who want to explore the area on their own, such as restaurants, our great sports teams, Boston Common and other parks, and our nearby beaches. Some of my favorite Boston outings include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Lyric Opera, or the Handel and Haydn Society. We also have historic sites such as the U.S.S. Constitution, the oldest ship in the U.S. Navy, along with many activities in the coastal towns outside Boston.
PLDers go through a significant transformation. They become much more self-aware, less self-conscious, and more confident. They begin to express their ideas with much more focus and purpose. They've developed concrete action plans with clarity about the steps, the sequence, and the strategic reasons for each step.
As the program ends, there's an energetic, positive feeling among the participants, and many new friendships have formed. Many people leave with new interests because they've become intrigued by one another's philanthropic activities. To celebrate, we hold a closing dinner at the end of Module 4 at the Harvard Club. They're happy, proud of their achievement, and making plans to reconnect.
PLDers from all cohorts and from all over the world find many ways to stay in contact and support one another. They enjoy spending time together and can't seem to get enough of one another.
One great vehicle is the Global PLD Summit. These conferences are 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.
PLD graduates always ask what they should do to earn HBS alumni status, but no single answer fits everyone. Each person needs to choose the path that accelerates progress toward his or her goals. If people want a very personalized post-program experience, they can put together ten days selected from our many focused programs. Perhaps a specific industry program meets their needs, or they may want a deeper dive 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 dive 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. If you're interested in these areas, enrolling in PLD Module 5 is a great way to earn alumni status.
To learn if this program is a right fit for you, contact Lisa Hughes at lhughes@hbs.edu.
