Three of our Part-Time MBA students discuss how LEAD impacted their leadership goals, expanded their self-awareness, and jump-started their network.
Mittul Amin, Evening MBA student
Sid Prakash, Evening MBA student, Manager, Data & Analytics at HSBC
Emily Warden, Evening MBA student, Executive Assistant, Independent Publishers Group
Career Impact
What did you take from LEAD that supported your leadership goals in the workplace?
Mittul: One of my main aspirations is to build and improve on my leadership abilities. During LEAD, I learned a well-disciplined and influential leadership approach. It provided a broader perspective on essential leadership characteristics, such as being courageous in decision-making, being flexible, managing in difficult circumstances, and having an ability to influence without authority. LEAD taught a method of building trust while balancing credibility, reliability, and intimacy with respect to self-orientation. These characteristics pave the way for relationship building and creating a productive environment among peers in the workplace. LEAD taught me how to become an effective leader without imposing authority. A constant “problem solving” mindset along with compelling communications at various levels helped me create an impact on various critical product development stages and customer success strategies in my workplace, which otherwise would have been difficult to execute without having authority.
Sid: LEAD gave me helpful insight into my leadership style and the values and behaviors that accompany it. I learned to appreciate the diversity and uniqueness each of us possess, and the importance of working together to create an inclusive environment. The module "Compelling Communications" was a valuable lesson in conveying the role of clear, effective, and positive communication. Finally, for me LEAD underlined the importance of carrying forward an open and honest mindset in everyday life.
Emily: LEAD provided a framework for thinking about leadership that I had never encountered before. I expected it to be very prescriptive and concrete: work on these skills, embody these qualities, the evidence shows this is what makes you a good leader. That expectation couldn’t have been more wrong. LEAD was about establishing the kind of individual leader we each want to be and developing goals from our base idea to support and build a framework that will allow us to grow into that personal ideal. I learned to evaluate my strengths, manage perceptions, establish leadership goals, experiment with methods and actions, and take steps to meet the goals I established