Looking Critically at Yourself and Your Business

What led you to pursue executive education at this point in your career?

After practicing at a law firm in New York, I joined Coca Cola HBC, which had been one of my clients. We are the third-largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world. As deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer, I lead a team of five lawyers who are members of the group legal team, and through them, another 90 lawyers in the 28 countries where we operate. I find work very rewarding because I am energized by relationships with colleagues across our locations.

In my company, we very much believe that an effective legal department must be business-minded. It made sense for me to expand my business perspective so that I could improve my ability to lead a legal team that effectively supports our business.

For senior managers, executive education provides a unique opportunity to step back and take an outside view of yourself and your organization, work on your skills, and broaden your view of the world and your business. This is not a chance you get very often. You cannot go back and go to university again. Executive education gives you an opportunity at a time in your career when you might need to recharge, reset goals, or change direction. With new perspective, you can start asking different questions and hopefully help your organization to steer a better course.

Why did you choose GMP?

A mentor told me that Executive Education at Harvard is the best in the world. In my view, the value of general management education has been increasing in recent years. I chose GMP over other programs in part because I wanted to really stretch myself. I also liked the format—the mix of on-campus and remote learning. GMP had a very ambitious scope that I preferred over shorter programs with a more focused topic. Finally, the global makeup of the program was important to me. I didn't want a program focused solely on North America or Europe. Given today's interdependent world, it's impossible to have an effective executive education program unless all parts of the world are represented.

It felt both strange and exciting to leave home and work to come to HBS and spend almost two full months on campus. My boss, my team at work, and my wife were all very supportive, which made it very easy.

How did the reality of the program compare with your expectations?

GMP fully lived up to my expectations. I wanted a high-quality program that would go deep, require hard work, and enable me to spend significant time understanding all aspects of key business problems that companies like mine are facing. GMP delivered just that.

Beyond building core technical skills, we spent time studying business cases and dealing not just with leadership questions but also with business and industry questions—in marketing, innovation, and commerce. The global focus of the program—in the curriculum and in the diversity of the group—was key to its effectiveness. People came from all over the world and many different industries were represented.

The most surprising part of the program was the strength of the relationships I formed. In particular, the living group experience definitely exceeded my expectations. I knew I would be meeting people and working with them in class, but by working and living together with the same seven people every day, we got to know one another very well as professionals and as people. Over time, we formed deep bonds and were able to give very valuable personal and professional feedback to one another. These exceptional individuals contributed a great deal to making GMP an effective and enjoyable learning experience. I know they will be friends for the rest of my life.

What appealed to you most about the case study method?

The case study method is the core of GMP. During the on-campus modules, we studied two or three cases each day. The cases focused on a business problem that executives faced at a particular point in time. First, we individually studied the problem and considered what we would have done in that situation and why. Then we exchanged views with our living group. Finally, we discussed it again with the entire class.

The benefit of the case study method is that people remember stories better than reading about something in a textbook or hearing a lecture. It's an effective way to teach business lessons because it's concrete and stimulates discussion. I enjoyed the challenge of putting myself in the shoes of a real-life person who has to make a difficult decision.

How did your living group collaborate on the cases?

We all had doubts at the beginning. Were we going to work well together? But the group became more and more effective week after week, which was very rewarding. We all had the same interest in learning—and the same priorities. Our group included executives from across the world and from different industries, with interesting backgrounds and experience. They made very smart, highly varied contributions to the conversations and I learned a lot from them.

Each day we woke up and spent about an hour and a half discussing the cases we would be covering in class that day. We compared our personal readings of the case, exchanging views at a level of detail that enabled us to walk into class much better prepared. I realized after the second session that those living group discussions made a real difference in my ability to understand the case and participate effectively in class. I was much better prepared than I would have been just reading and analyzing the case on my own. My favorite part of the day was discussing cases in the morning with my living group.

How did the faculty impact the learning experience?

The quality of teaching was extremely high. Our instructors came from all over the world and had diverse styles, which was refreshing and also necessary. GMP is not about someone giving you the right answers. It's about thinking about the right questions. You need a diverse group of participants and faculty to help you get there.

The faculty continually challenged us in class, always playing two sides of the argument so we did not relax. But they were also very supportive and encouraging, helping everyone contribute to the discussion. They made every class exciting and enjoyable. In particular, I was fascinated by Warren McFarlan's techniques for engaging with the audience. I also liked the way Felix Oberholzer-Gee kept us guessing during strategy classes. You never knew where he was going because he kept it balanced until the very end. That was great because one of the important things we learned was not to take anything for granted—not to go down a path without checking the facts and thinking through both sides of the argument.

Outside class, the instructors were always available to help whenever we asked for advice on a particular business issue or had questions about a topic or case they taught in class.

What did you do during Module 3—the time back at work between the on-campus modules?

At the end of Module 2, I felt sad leaving my new friends behind, and I wondered, "Will it be a let-down--am I going to fall back into a routine at work and forget everything I learned?" But it did not work out that way at all. As part of Module 3, we had assignments that focused on personal learning and development and that asked us to think about ourselves and learn from other individuals. In addition, each of us developed a case study focusing on an issue we were facing in our organization. I spent a couple of hours after work each day on my GMP assignments.

n addition, I began to apply what I had learned. Recognizing the power of telling stories through cases, I used a couple of our cases to explore important compliance and governance issues with my team. Sharing the cases with them helped me get some key messages across and generate valuable discussion. Overall, I found the off-campus learning to be a great feature of the program because it allowed us to build our knowledge in technical areas and work on individual assignments. If we'd had to do everything on campus, those assignments would have taken time and focus away from the great interactions with our peers and faculty.

How did Module 5 help you apply your learning?

The biggest risk with GMP—or any learning opportunity—is that you'll forget what you learned when you are back to work. You will get back to your normal routine and have to deal with the same issues, challenges, and crises you faced before—and as a result, not take time to think about what you learned, work on yourself as a professional, and apply your learning. Module 5 puts structure around applying what you have learned—using the knowledge and skills you have acquired. It's about continuing to look at yourself from the outside, monitoring how you behave as a leader, and comparing your leadership before and after the program.

This is where my fellow GMP participants and the faculty have been the most valuable. Those connections make it difficult to forget what you learned. They're a constant reminder and they help you focus and push yourself to improve and to apply GMP lessons in your day-to-day work.

What advice do you have for executives who are considering GMP?

People learn in different ways. The advice I would give to prospective applicants is to think about why you want to do this program and how it fits not only into your organization's expectations, but also into your own learning and development goals for yourself. To get the most from GMP, you really need to believe that it is right for you and that it will help you.

You also need to be passionate about learning and self-improvement. In addition to working with excellent faculty and studying interesting cases, you are given an executive coach with whom you can discuss your development. You are encouraged to exchange feedback on your development with your living group. The mix of all these elements prepares you extremely well to re-enter your career not just thinking about business issues, but also having a better understanding of yourself.

How can GMP participants maximize the value they receive from the program?

My advice is to take the preparation seriously in Module 1 and throughout the program. Read the cases. Read the materials. Take the tests. The earlier you invest time and energy, the more rewarding it will be. Your time on campus is very fast-paced and enjoyable, so you want to prepare well for it. If you truly immerse yourself from day one, you will reap the rewards.

When you are studying a case, start out by preparing sufficiently on your own. When you discuss the case with your living group or in the classroom, listen carefully to the views of the other participants and to the faculty so you can learn from everyone and absorb the lessons.

How has GMP changed you as a leader?

You feel the effects of GMP every day. GMP helped me become a better, more confident leader. I have learned the importance of being intellectually curious and asking the right questions. My leadership style is to build capabilities within the team, give them the context—why we are doing what we are doing—and support them in reaching that objective and fulfilling their potential. I aspire to be a leader who communicates vision and context more clearly. Before GMP, I was very much focused on getting the work done, identifying talent, and supporting the talent we have. I tended to underestimate the importance of communicating clearly about context and vision. That is one of the areas I am working on.

I hope that I am now a more well-rounded leader who is more effective in leading the legal and compliance team for my company. I also hope that by gaining a deeper understanding of the business, I can now contribute more effectively to our company’s success.

How would you summarize the value of GMP?

GMP allows you to look at yourself and your business from the outside in. That is the only way you can really improve. If you are stuck in the day-to-day and you believe that the whole world is you, your team, your company, and the market and geography in which you compete today, you're not going to improve very quickly. By taking a step back, looking at what is happening in the rest of the world, and listening to the views of other people who face similar situations but in different industries or regions, you can learn to look at yourself and your company differently. That process opens your eyes and allows you to see many more opportunities. It increases your awareness and accelerates the pace at which you can improve, so you can do more for yourself and your company.

GMP is a high-quality program with a very supportive faculty and staff, but what makes it a great program is that it really stretches you. If you're looking for the best possible learning in exchange for the time you’re taking out of work—if you really want to understand how the world of business is working and to transform yourself as a professional—then choose a program that asks you to work hard. GMP is that program. If you are ready to immerse yourself, it will give you a great deal in return for the time you invest.