Leveraging 15 years of industry experience, Padma Satish recently started a new job managing IT for the trading, compliance, cash, fixed income, and alternative investment business of State Street Global Advisors. But her job is not all that's changed. Thanks to the Program for Leadership Development (PLD) at Harvard Business School she is taking a new approach to leadership and problem solving.
PLD is not just another leadership skill development program. It's a unique educational experience—with learning and networking not easily found elsewhere. One big benefit was the exposure to so many different perspectives. In daily life, we communicate with people in our own narrow circles—at home, in our jobs, and in our communities. We see things through the filters of our own beliefs, culture, and professional experience, and there’s often not a great deal of difference between our view and that of someone else in our circle. PLD connected me with individuals from around the world.
In addition to widening my scope of thinking, PLD helped me to become a better person, a better problem solver, and a better leader. PLD is a big commitment, but by not attending, you're missing a great life experience. It changes you forever.
The people in my living group were all leaders with unique perspectives and knowledge. We learned a great deal from case discussions because they brought out the entire range of perspectives in the room. When our living group sat down to discuss a case, we shared the common goal of finding the right answers to the questions. But that discussion continually opened our minds because we actually discovered many different answers.
In the larger classroom, we came into contact with even more perspectives, as our PLD cohort represented 150 countries. Professors did not give us answers—we discussed the questions. Our search always began with a single question: "If you were the leader, what would you do in this situation?" There was no right or wrong answer. With so many different filters, people interpreted each problem very differently—and everyone had a different approach to solving it.
By going beyond book learning and discussing situations with peers and professors, you become a better decision maker. By gathering multiple perspectives and by employing authentic leadership principles, you make many fewer mistakes. Even the best leaders make mistakes—we’re all human—but the probability of making a truly bad decision is drastically reduced by the PLD experience.