Leaders have to lead
For executive education to work, the top management has to demonstrate an enduring commitment and belief in leadership development
Rishikesha T Krishnan
Enhancement of employees’ knowledge, skills and behaviour helps companies adapt to fast-changing environments. Executive education is one way in which this can be made to happen. And it can be a ‘win-win’ for participants and their organisations if its objectives are thought through clearly, participants are selected carefully, the programme includes multiple modes of learning, and it is part of a well-aligned change management agenda for the organisation.
Yet, executive education does not always achieve its objectives. This could be because of a gap between the learning needs of the participants and the learning delivered by the programme. This can arise because of participant heterogeneity, poor understanding of learning needs, providers talking about "what they know" rather than what participants need, poor programme design, inappropriate pedagogy, or poor delivery.
Often, the problems faced by companies arise from poorly designed organisational structures, systems or processes. But changing these structures is a difficult task, and arranging an executive education programme as a visible sign of tackling the problem is much easier. However, while such training programmes would enhance individual learning, they may do little to address the company’s core problems. A third issue with executive education is that it is often equated with classroom learning. But executives have vast experience that needs to be harnessed. This requires opportunities for reflective learning. Also, classroom learning needs to be reinforced by practical application—‘learning by doing’ is essential, particularly when skills are involved.
Holistic learning
The ideal form of executive education incorporates different modes of learning. At IIM Bangalore (IIM-B), we have worked closely with several Indian companies and MNCs to create such learning programmes. For example, the business leadership programme (BLP) that we co-created with a leading conglomerate starts with a short module to understand the values and aspirations of the group based on insights shared by the top management. This is critical because learning needs a context if it is to be effective. The second module is an ‘outbound’ exercise, where the group gets to know each other and bond as a team, creating a foundation of trust and cooperation that is essential for team-based learning. In the third module, BLP participants attend a personal growth laboratory that helps them understand themselves and their fellow participants, thereby facilitating reflective learning.
BLP participants then attend a two-week programme at IIM-B, where they get a
Identifying challenging roles for those who complete the programme is equally important |
contemporary perspective on how to manage the strategy and different functions of the organisation. To apply this learning, they conduct an in-depth study of a group company (other than the one they are working in). This is followed by another week-long classroom programme at IIM-B where the focus is on integrative, cross-functional learning, and topics of broader significance such as sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. The finale of the programme is a business-plan project, where participants use all their learning from the programme to prepare a business plan for a new business and ‘sell’ it to the top management for funding.Obviously, conducting such a programme involves a serious commitment of resources—time (of both the participants and their bosses), money, and managerial attention (in identifying the right candidates and then mentoring them through the programme). This doesn’t happen unless the top management has an enduring commitment and a strong belief in the potential of leadership development. And even in the case of the BLP, the organisation’s work does not stop with the implementation of the programme—identifying challenging roles and responsibilities for those who successfully complete the programme is as important as the programme itself.
Executive education is important even in a downturn. In the early-1980s, Jack Welch was nicknamed ‘Neutron Jack’ for aggressively downsizing GE in difficult economic conditions. But, there was one area he spared—it was the hard and soft infrastructure at Crotonville, GE’s legendary leadership development centre!
Source :outlookindia
