Reflecting on the Nature of Leadership

How did you come to attend GMP?

Since my college days, I had dreamed of going to Harvard for post-graduate education. At a previous job, I was offered full financial support to attend the MBA program at Harvard Business School, but I passed because of the long-term commitment it would entail. I was successful in my career, but as I moved up the corporate ladder, I realized the need to hone my skills in managing up and across. I enjoyed a fast-track career—at age 33, I was a vice president. However, by that time I knew that what had worked for me in the past would no longer work as I moved to higher positions.

I was quite settled at age 37 when I felt a spiritual calling and left corporate life to join a monastery in the U.S. Leading this life of solitude brought with it the great gifts of self-discovery and ingrained self-reflection—which I discovered to be very good attributes for authentic leadership at GMP 17. After six years of discernment, I found myself going back to the corporate world.

My former boss was only too eager to have me back in the fold. I eventually became vice president for strategy management and was assigned a very challenging project. I thought that my dream of having a Harvard MBA was impossible at my age. Yet within me, there continued to be that longing to study at Harvard. I began subscribing to Harvard Business Review, where the ads for executive programs caught my attention. I would linger over them, wondering if there would ever be a right time for me. This year I was happy to discover GMP and how it fitted my needs perfectly—it seemed like an MBA program for more senior and experienced executives.

Which aspects of GMP most impressed you?

The program went beyond my expectations in every way. Everything is so well packaged—the content, the faculty and support, the facilities. It was a crucible experience, one that transformed my way of thinking. I don't think I've ever experienced anything that made me say “wow” so many times. GMP offered the opportunity to experiment because it's a risk-free environment. There's no boss or grading or competition. Experimentation is encouraged, and errors become stepping stones to greater learning. I discovered the beauty of learning for learning's sake.

The professors were overwhelmingly good and passionate about what they do. You may forget the details they present in the classroom, but the important messages stay with you. A lecture given by Professor Clayton Christensen was for me the most powerful—he connected business concepts to practical life experience in a way that was very memorable. He ended with a thought- provoking question: "How are you planning to measure your life?"

Which aspects of the curriculum were most valuable?

The segments that covered authentic leadership were extremely helpful for me. As you move up in an organization, technical skills are not enough and you need to know how to manage up, down, and across. Equally important is the need to manage yourself, which is often overlooked by leaders and managers.

I expected a focus on typical management concepts, but I was surprised that Harvard Business School put such a strong emphasis on leadership founded on authenticity and ethics. We were often told of the HBS goal of educating people "to earn decent profits decently." That made me stop and think about what's really important.

I keep reflecting on two questions that I drew from the course. First, how do people experience me? Second—and even more important—how do others experience themselves when they are with me? My early training might have been in business administration and accounting, but my aspiration now is to be a leader with a heart.

How has the program changed you as a leader?

The self-reflection in GMP came naturally to me because it was core to my monastic experience. I've realized that the ability to reflect is necessary for leadership and is one of my strengths. The HBS course allowed me to integrate life experiences that I initially thought could never be merged. I'm coming from a very stable center now. I know that the technical part only supports what I do as a leader—and that my goal as a leader is to inspire and motivate people.

To me, one big sign of my growth was that at the end of the program, I could look at the people in my living group and in my class and see them as people and not as executives distinguished by race or color. Their differences disappeared for me. That was a big change as I moved from tolerance to a genuine appreciation of diversity. The time I spent working in my living group also improved my skills in listening and respecting others' perspective. I learned to be comfortable in not having to know everything and in having to rely on others.

The end of the program was not an end—it signaled the beginning of lifelong learning and development. We left the program with a long list of reading materials, and I plan to keep on investing in learning—and in using the perspective HBS has given me. Even more important is the network available to me from all over the world for advice or additional resources, or just having friends to share experiences with.