Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Executive Education: Beyond High Potentials?

Tim Westerbeck, President of Management Education Enterprises, has a thought-provoking article over at Business Week's site about executive education. He argues correctly that companies increasingly want more customization in the leadership development offerings provided by business schools, consultants, and other management education entities. Despite all the talk about customization, many business schools offer very limited amounts of it. The "off-the-shelf" nature of executive education continues to frustrate many companies.

Beyond that, Westerbeck argues that companies should not only focus on high potentials in their development programs. They have to think about the whole enterprise, including senior leaders. He argues that you can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks.

I would take his argument one step further. Many firms do have multiple programs, with each development program tailored to a different segment of the employee population (i.e. each program focuses on a different level in the organization). I would argue that firms should consider programs designed at mixed populations. Get senior leaders in a room with more junior executives. Connecting people across levels of the hierarchy has great potential for improving collaboration, communication, and innovation in organizations. Moreover, connecting senior folks with promising young people can help executives understand better social and technological trends, as well as frustrations that young people feel in large, complex organizations.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent post Michal. I especially liked your emphasis on cross pollination. Do you think this applies also to an organization that is trying to rediscover its purpose, values, and vision? In the past, the model has been for the top leadership team to be the only ones involved at that level. Do you think that cross the hierarchy is applicable here also? How would you do it?

Michael Roberto said...

I do think it applies, as presumably you would want an inclusive process for discussing how to redefine an organization's purpose, values, and vision. That inclusiveness would lead to more buy-in over the long haul.

Unknown said...

Good post. I wonder if the "off-the-shelf" model shouldn't be scrapped all together.

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