Simon Lucas heads up the global Immuno-Dermatology Mission at UCB. To stay up to date with the rapid changes within digital and analytics, he turned to the Leading in the Digital Era program at HBS Executive Education.
This was a great opportunity to take a step back and really think about how I can make an impact by using digital to tackle the challenges facing my team and organization. The program is very diverse, with people from different industries, geographies, and backgrounds. Through the case studies, the data, and the faculty research, I was able to expand my perspective and deepen my knowledge.
What's been fabulous for me is that not only did we work through the case studies in terms of the theoretical elements, but we were also able to meet the individuals who were part of these case studies in real life. They really brought the challenges and opportunities in the case studies to life.
When I arrived through the front gate, it was quite breathtaking in terms of the history that sits behind the campus. The accommodation was great and allowed us to collaborate within our small working groups. We met every morning to talk through what we had done the previous day and discuss the case studies for that coming day. It was great to share our different perspectives and experiences, to examine the theory and the research and then see the practical realities that people are facing in their different roles.
Strong relationships were built over the period that we were together. And I honestly think this is a group that will continue together on the digital era leadership journey.
So many different professors have shared their diversity of knowledge. What was impressive is that it's steeped in reality through their strong connections with the organizations and leaders presented in the real-life case studies. So we can learn from organizations that have successfully navigated this transition in the digital era.
What the case studies have also shown is that for any change that you want to take an organization through, there's a strong element of cultural leadership change as well. It’s about creating individual catalysts who can lead a cultural shift within an organization.
I thought the program might be overly focused on the more technical digital elements. But it was much more about the digital mindset, behaviors and capabilities that we need to inspire lead and embed across our teams and organizations. There was a lot of discussion on leading in the digital era, and the cultural change that an organization needs to go through.
One of the key takeaways for me is how I will lead my team on a journey of rethinking the challenges that we're trying to address—and how we can use digital more holistically, and as an integrated enabler, rather than something that's just bolted on. I'm looking forward to embedding the tools I've gained from the program into the ways that we work as a team and as an organization.