After selling his first company, Collin Thompson wanted to challenge himself and broaden his skill base. The Program for Leadership Development (PLD) was an ideal fit. Immersed in a comprehensive business curriculum with an exceptional group of peers, Thompson found new confidence, new friends, and new thinking on the nature of business, value creation, and leadership.
When you get to campus and meet your living group, it's awkward at first. But in the end, these people become like your family, and I hope, lifelong friends. The program—including its modular structure, the way knowledge was selected, the living groups, and so on—immediately gives you and your peers a feeling of total immersion.
The learning environment is very dynamic because the faculty and other participants are absolutely exceptional. The topics you cover are current, contemporary, progressive, and directly applicable to your life inside and outside of business.
PLD is a very personal deep dive. When you really get to understand yourself within the context of an organization and the market, your thinking undergoes a paradigm shift. When you apply the principles—whether on macroeconomics, leadership, communications, or strategy—to your life or your organization, the effects are dramatic. It's difficult to describe. Words like "transformative" and "personal development" cannot do it justice. This experience is an important milestone in your life.
The quality surprised me. I wasn't anticipating the intensity or the intellectual level that is expected from everybody in the class. In addition, I was impressed with the way we examined each topic—not just from a business perspective, but also from a human perspective. I wasn't expecting that type of analysis from a traditional business school. It really changed the way I think about what business is.
What has changed most is my self-confidence. I've been given a new perspective from which to make decisions, lead people, and drive outcomes. I am more aware of who I am and the value I can create for individuals, groups, and communities. This is not a program that qualifies you for a specific job or promotion. Rather, it empowers you to apply the skills of the greatest business leaders out there. You're making an investment in yourself that will yield results you were not expecting. Take a chance on something a bit different from what you'd planned. You won't be disappointed.
