Unleashing the Collective Genius

What business challenges were you hoping to address through this program?

I run two companies in Australia—a not-for-profit company and a for-profit company. Both are growing very rapidly. My challenge is figuring out how to maintain the DNA of a startup while trying to run an efficient and effective operation. We have thousands of employees now, and I want to make sure that the staff in my team feel empowered to innovate at work. As a leader, how can I foster a culture of innovation top to bottom? That was a business challenge I was hoping to address.

What were some of your takeaways from this experience?

Going into the program, I thought I would gain an instruction manual that would show me what to do operationally to achieve an outcome. But I ended up gaining insights that I hadn't expected. One of my takeaways from this experience was the importance of looking after myself as a leader—journaling, listening to music, or investing in my own energy and capacity. I also gained insights for fostering cross-disciplinary teams and effectively communicating across my businesses. These are exactly the things that I needed to understand in order to take the next steps in my career.

This program employs many different teaching methods. Which ones did you find most effective?

I loved the variety of teaching methods used by the faculty. The days were long, but every time I started to get tired, we'd switch to a new teaching format and it reenergized me. In particular, I loved the case study method—the faculty guided our discussions in such an artful way. I learned so much from exploring how other businesses operate. I also really loved the video interviews with the case protagonists. What was most impressive was the way that the faculty members orchestrated different learning methods and turned them into something really cohesive. It was extremely well done and well designed.

What was it like living and learning on the HBS campus?

What struck me was the quality of the facilities. They were so pristine and comfortable. Everyone was so nice and extremely helpful. I had the feeling that everyone was there to make sure I had a comfortable stay. I had prepared myself for student-like accommodations, and they weren't like that at all. As I mentioned earlier, we were encouraged to think about our own well-being as part of the journey. The entire program exceeded my expectations—it was a very positive experience.

What did you find most valuable about this program?

I found three aspects of the program particularly valuable. The first was having the time to reflect. It's difficult to find time to reflect with a busy work schedule. To be supported and encouraged to reflect—not just on the subject matter but on other aspects of your life, such as time management, was a truly valuable exercise. It allowed me to come back with much more than a week’s worth of new perspectives.

The second piece was the content itself. You can see why HBS has the reputation it does. The content is world class. The combination of the teaching quality, learning techniques, and materials and exercises provided a high level of insight and knowledge.

The third part was the diversity of the participants. It was an unbelievably global class. I've stayed in touch with some of the people from my group, and we're now connected all across the world. I'm not sure where else you would have the opportunity to meet people with that level of global experience and build this kind of network.