Management DecisionDeveloping future business and civic leaders: the Emerging Leaders ProgramPhilip L. Quaglieri Sherry H. Penney Jennifer Waldner

Article information:To cite this document:Philip L. Quaglieri Sherry H. Penney Jennifer Waldner, (2007),"Developing future business and civicleaders: the Emerging Leaders Program", Management Decision, Vol. 45 Iss 10 pp. 1685 - 1694Permanent link to this document:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00251740710838040

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Developing future business andcivic leaders: the Emerging

Leaders ProgramPhilip L. Quaglieri and Sherry H. Penney

Emerging Leaders Program, College of Management,University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and

Jennifer WaldnerState Street Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Abstract

Purpose – The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) at the College of Management at U Mass, Boston isan executive leadership development program for mid-career professionals (average age 35) in theGreater Boston Area. The program was founded because of the belief that the future leadership of oururban areas cannot be left to chance. The founders believed that if we are to have inclusive andcollaborative leaders in the future, we must find those potential leaders now and provide them withleadership training and development. This paper investigates this subject.

Design/methodology/approach – The model is one that could be replicated in any major urbanarea. Participants are nominated by their organizations, who select them based on their leadershippotential. There are usually 40-45 participants per year for the ten-month program: one week inJanuary and one day a month through September. The program is built around three areas: meetingand learning from current leaders, skill development, teamwork and collaboration.

Findings – The paper finds that extensive evaluations are done with frequent surveys toparticipants. The Leadership Practices Inventory is administered at the beginning and end of theprogram. ELP participants include 46 percent persons of colour and over half are women: the programmeets its goals of being inclusive.

Originality/value – The surveys indicate that a hands-on approach to leadership (rather than amore structured classroom approach) is quite effective for young professionals and that they citedevelopment, enhanced networking across sectors, and an increased appreciation for diversity as mostpositive benefits.

Keywords Leadership development, Learning, United States of America

Paper type Case study

BackgroundThe Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) is an executive leadership developmentprogram for mid-career professionals (average age 35) in the Greater Boston area. Itbegan in 2002 with a gift of $250,000 from State Street Corporation. The CEO of StateStreet at that time (Marshall N. Carter, now chair of the NY Stock Exchange) wasactively involved in planning the program and has been an active participant in theprogram since its inception. The program was founded because of the belief that thefuture leadership of our urban areas cannot be left to chance. Moreover, in the city ofBoston in 2000 persons of color accounted for 51 percent of the population, but theleadership did not reflect this demographic change. In addition, many of the businessesthat were once headquartered in the Greater Boston region are no longer here so newkinds of businesses are also important to our region’s future. The founders of the

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The EmergingLeaders Program

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Management DecisionVol. 45 No. 10, 2007

pp. 1685-1694q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0025-1747DOI 10.1108/00251740710838040

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program believed that if we are to have inclusive and collaborative leaders in thefuture, we must find those potential leaders now and provide them with leadershiptraining and development

After receiving the financial support from State Street Corporation, prominentbusiness and non-profit leaders in the Greater Boston region were contacted to get theirideas for the content and learning approach for the leadership program. They includedCharles E. Gifford, Chairman Emeritus Bank of America; William Van Faasen,Chairman, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Cathy Minehan, CEO andPresident of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; Rev. Ray Hammond, Chair, TheBoston Foundation; Marian Heard, then CEO and President of the United Way ofMassachusetts Bay; Judge Sandra Lynch (First Circuit); and other leaders in GreaterBoston. All these individuals also agreed to be speakers in the program, which is one ofits most important components. These individuals also became members of a board ofadvisors to the program. The board helped set the goals listed below and also assistedin the design of the program[1].

The initial cohort for the program in 2001 was nominated by leaders in the majorbusinesses and organizations in the Greater Boston region. Requirements were thateach nominee must have five to ten years of professional experience and support fromthat organization. The person remains in his/her job so also must be allowed releasetime to participate (one week in January and one day a month February-September). Atotal of 32 individuals were admitted to the pilot class.

The founders also believed that a new learning model was needed – one that wasmore hands on and one that addresses the issues the emerging leaders are now facingin their organizations. Many of the individuals in the program already have MBAdegrees. Several have law degrees, and we also have had four medical doctors in theprogram.

Therefore, the following program goals were established:. Select emerging leaders who are diverse by race, gender and profession who will

enhance their networking skills with other emerging leaders.. Expose the emerging leaders to a variety of Greater Boston’s current leaders in

order that they experience a variety of leadership styles and become familiarwith issues facing the region.

. Enhance their leadership skills in areas such as teamwork, communication,project development and completion, negotiation, the political process, anddealing with the media.

. Increase understanding of the concept and practice of collaborative and inclusiveleadership.

During the 2002-2006 timeframe 199 individuals have completed the program. Anadditional 45 individuals began the program in January 2007.

ELP design and learning approachThere are three main facets to the program: current leaders as speakers, skill sessions,and team projects. Each daily session involves these three elements. The learningapproach is one that addresses practical and real life leadership situations. Readings areprovided each day and leadership theories are also discussed so that there is a theoreticalbasis for the sessions. Sessions are intended to deal with pressing leadership issues and

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give fellows skills that can be used immediately in the workplace. For example, onesession is spent on how to deal with the media. This session has proved to be very usefulas has the time spent on examining how one gets things done in the political realm.Actual business case studies and practice sessions are used.

The program is based in the College of Management at the University ofMassachusetts Boston, which has a strong emphasis on skill enhancement and onteamwork. The model has worked extremely well and is one that could be replicated inany major urban area. Participants come for a one-week intensive leadership seminarin January and return one day a month through September. This schedule allowsparticipants to remain in their jobs while participating in the program.

In addition, the program stresses teamwork and collaboration. Participants are partof a real team working on a specific project. This has proven to be a crucial factor in thesuccess of the program. Every January, the fellows are divided into six to seven teamsto work on civic or business issues facing the region. In 2006, the issue was dealingwith the new immigrant populations in Massachusetts. Each team worked on adifferent facet of this issue. The topic in 2007 addresses talent retention: Why do youngprofessionals stay in the Greater Boston area? Teams work with local sponsors(organizations such as the Private Industry Council, The Massachusetts BusinessRoundtable, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Boston Foundation, MassInc,etc.) from January through August and in the fall of each year, they present theirfindings to these and other interested stakeholders from major organizations in theregion. The Mayor of the City of Boston has also attended each fall session in pastyears. The learning approach here is to have fellows participate in an actual teamexperience with a meaningful product. Issues of working in a team arise and weprovide team coaching along the way.

Innovative elementsHaving the leaders of the business community actively involved has been one of thestrongest features of this program. Members of the business community serve on ourboard of advisors (see the Appendix). Several businesses have sent participants eachyear of the program and these companies now have a cadre of emerging leaders withintheir companies who have a had a common leadership training experience. Manycurrent business leaders serve as speakers in the program, and the fellows consistentlyrate this element as one of the major high points of the program. Fellows benefit frommeeting first hand the current leaders and learning about their paths to leadership aswell as their leadership challenges and the issues they see as major ones for our region.

Another innovative element is the team experience – working on a real project.Some of the members of teams from 2002 still get together enhancing their professionalnetworks and civic commitment. We coach the teams along the way when problemsoccur, and fellows learn a great deal about teamwork and collaboration as well asabout important civic issues.

In addition, another innovative element is that the program never really stops. Thealums continue to be involved and we sponsor four to six alumni events every year sothat once one graduates from the program, he/she never really “leaves.” Some of theseevents are social and others are more substantive. We have sponsored a session withProfessor Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard discussing change strategies, anotherwith the Chairman of Bank of America and a special workshop on “How to Get on a

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Board and How to be a Good Board Member”. This spring we will do an alumniworkshop on working with executive search firms and with executive coaches.

We also have an active alumni association with officers and they help us plan theactivities. With the assistance of the alumni we held a GALA in October 2006 tocelebrate five years of the program. It was attended by over 350 individuals, includingSenator Edward M. Kennedy and Marshall N. Carter, chair of the NYSE. We raisedover US$200,000 for future support of the program.

Moreover, perhaps the biggest contribution of the program is that it encouragesindividuals to cross boundaries and sectors in meaningful and long lasting ways.Differences of race or gender are no longer the focus as these young professionals worktogether in sessions and on teams. Inclusion and collaboration become the norm.Related to this is that individuals from the business world work closely with thosefrom the non-profit and governmental sectors and within the business groups, there isinteraction between diverse businesses (banking and financial service people workingwith those from retail, energy services, health care, real estate, etc.). These moreinclusive ways of working together are essential for our communities in the future. Theprogram stresses capacity building and these leaders now apply what they learned indifferent contexts and environments.

Partnership with businessAs noted above, our major business partner has been State Street Corporation whoseformer CEO, Marshall N. Carter, helped us to establish the program (see Table I andFigures 1-5). He remains actively involved. The new chair of our alumni group, JenniferWaldner, is Assistant Vice President at State Street. The initial involvement of StateStreet helped us to secure additional business partners. Other consistent businesspartners include ATT, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Boston Globe,Citizens Bank, Sovereign Bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, NSTAR, andBoston Medical Center. They have provided speakers, space for meetings and the like.

Financial support beyond that from State Street has come from The ATTFoundation, The Boston Globe Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Mellon NewEngland, John Hancock Financial Services, Verizon, the Fleet Foundation, and BlueCross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Also we find that companies who send individuals one year will repeat and sendsomeone the next year. Several have sent Fellows every year. The program is viewedas a way to reward young talent and also as a way to retain such talent. Businessexecutives have reported to us that these young professionals return to their companiesas more committed employees and they clearly have benefited from the program.

Replicability and benefit to business and the societyThis program could be replicated in any area where a business school has establishedrelationships with local and regional businesses. Leaders at those businesses canbecome involved, and since all businesses are concerned about talent recruitment andtalent retention, the program has a great deal of appeal. Business leaders also benefitfrom meeting with a diverse group of young professionals, sharing experiences withthem but also listening to their concerns about the kind of leadership needed in thefuture.

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GenderWomen 139Men 106EthnicityAfrican-American 60Asian American 21Latino/Hispanic 21Caucasian 132Native American 1Multiracial/biracial 5Other 5Type of organizationCorporate 146Non-profit 72Government 27Organization categoryInsurance 6Financial/banking 55Community/human services 31Education 13Non-banking private organization 25Legal 1Health care 23Government 24Communications/publishing 13Telecommunications 10Foundations 5Non-profit, other 19High tech 18Other 2

Note: 245 fellows in total

Table I.Breakdown of ELP

demographics 2002-2007

Figure 1.Breakdown by gender

Figure 2.Breakdown by minority

status

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Business leaders can assist with curriculum development and also speak in theprogram. They can also suggest business or civic topics that can be used by the teams.The findings and conclusions from the teams address important business and civicissues and can provide new insights from our future leaders.

Figure 5.Breakdown byorganization category

Figure 4.Breakdown byorganization type

Figure 3.Breakdown byrace/ethnicity

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The program benefits not only the businesses, but also the community, as a newgeneration of leaders is now ready and poised to assume leadership in our companiesand organizations. These individuals have had leadership training and haveconfronted many of the challenges that contemporary leaders face. They havepracticed collaboration and teamwork.

Evaluation and outcomesExtensive evaluations are part of the program outline and we consistently look to see ifthe participants reflect the changing demography of the city. (Our city is now over 50percent people of color.) We are pleased that over 46 percent of the participants havebeen people of color and more than half women and that the major organizations in theGreater Boston region have sent participants (see Table I and Figures 1-5).

We administer several surveys to current participants throughout the cycle of theprogram – at the beginning of the program in November, after the January weeklongseminar, in June and again at the end of the program in the fall. We also periodically sendsurveys to our alums. Survey results show strong support for the program. Consistentlywe see that participants would recommend this program to another young professional.We also administer the Leadership Practices Inventory to participants at the beginningand end of the program and look at those results to see if participants have progressed intheir own leadership development. Again, we have seen positive results.

A follow up grant from the State Street Foundation provided us an opportunity toundertake a more extensive evaluation. Interviews were conducted with eight of thesending organizations as well as alums from those organizations to learn about theimpact on the organizations as well as the participants. The organizations found theprogram to have positive effects on recruitment and retention of employees and thatparticipant’s work skills were enhanced after their participation. Many organizationssend participants year after year indicating that the program is meeting a professionaldevelopment goal.

We also look at some indicators of community involvement. Several of our alumshave gone on to prominent boards in the region. One now chairs the Dorchester Boardof Trade; another is the Treasurer of the Boston Children’s Chorus; others have goneonto boards for the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, the CrittendonWomen’s Union, The Red Cross, The Boston Municipal Research Bureau and otherprominent boards. We are now frequently called when board appointments are to bemade and asked to nominate alums of the Emerging Leaders Program.

As described above, evaluation is a regular part of the program. Our multiplesurveys give us guidance on the success of the model and also suggestions for futuredirections. We have added program elements on ethics in business andentrepreneurship as a result of participant feedback.

The cohorts have represented the major business organizations in Greater Boston.For 2008 we plan to add bio-tech and have met with representatives of BostonScientific and Genzyme. In 2007, we had participation from EMC, which we expect willcontinue in 2008. As noted above, the program should reflect the changing businessclimate in our region and new areas such as bio-tech and high-tech are essential toinclude.

We have learned that the next generation of leaders for the Greater Boston region isamong us. They are the talented young professional individuals who have been

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identified, received training, and now have the skills and experience needed to take onmajor leadership roles as the current business and community leaders retire. MarshCarter has recently published an opinion editorial in the Boston Business Journal (seeFigure 6) citing the readiness of these individuals to take on leadership positions. Forexample, one of our Fellows was Deputy Campaign Manager for our newly electedGovernor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, and recently he was appointed to theGovernor’s cabinet as community liaison.

They are ready and they are skilled. They are the new leaders for the new century.

The University of Massachusetts BostonThe University of Massachusetts Boston offers bachelors, masters, doctoral, andcertificate programs in over 90 fields of study. It enrolls approximately 13,000 studentsand boasts an internationally distinguished faculty of over 800 members. The College

Figure 6.

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of Management is Boston’s public business school and is accredited by the AACSB –the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In addition to the College’sacademic departments it offers business and outreach services through its EmergingLeaders Program, the Financial Services Forum, Small Business Development Center,Environmental Business and Technology Center, and Greater Boston ManufacturingProgram. For additional information about the College see www.management.umb.edu

Note

1. Penney et al. (2002), Penney (2003), and Quaglieri (2003) provide additional backgroundinformation on the development of the program.

References

Penney, S. (2003), “Urban universities and urban leadership”, Metropolitan Universities,December.

Penney, S., Leigh, J. and Norassakkunkt, V. (2002), “New leaders for the new century”, BuildingLeadership Bridges, International Leadership Association at James MacGregor BurnsAcademy of Leadership, College Park, MD.

Quaglieri, P. (2003), “Urban universities and urban leadership”, paper presented at the Academyof Business and Administrative Sciences (ABAS) International Conference, Vancouver,June.

Appendix. Steve Ainsley, Publisher, The Boston Globe;. Wayne Budd, Senior Counsel, Goodwin Procter LLP;. Marshall N. Carter, Chairman, New York Stock Exchange and Chairman and CEO

(Retired), State Street Corporation;. Missy Carter, President, Work/Life Decisions;. Grace K. Fey, Executive Vice President, Frontier Capital Management;. Rick Friedel, Vice President, AT&T;. Carol Fulp, Vice President, John Hancock Financial Services;. Charles E. Gifford, Chairman (Emeritus), Bank of America;. Robert Glassman, Chair Wainwright Bank;. Rosalind Gorin, President, H.N. Gorin Associates;. Paul Guzzi, President and CEO Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce;. John Hamill, Chairman, Sovereign Bank New England;. Reverend Ray Hammond, Ten Point Coalition Pastor, Bethel AME Church;. Robert Haynes, President, AFL-CIO of Massachusetts;. Marian Heard, President and CEO, Oxen Hill Partners;. Joanne Jaxtimer, Executive Vice President/Director of Corporate Affairs Mellon New

England;. Hubie Jones, City Year, Inc.;. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor, Harvard Business School;. Paul La Camera, General Manager, WBUR;

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. Gloria Larson, Esq., Co-Chair, Government Strategies Foley, Hoag LLP;

. Sandra Lynch, Circuit Court Judge, US Court of Appeals;

. Ralph Martin, Partner, Bingham McCuthen LLP;

. Jose Masso, Former Regional Director, Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration;

. Tom May, Chairman and CEO NSTAR;

. Cathy Minehan, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston;

. Robert Mudge, Senior Vice President, Northeast Verizon Communications;

. Philip Quaglieri, Dean, College of Management University of Massachusetts Boston;

. Sue Reamer, Senior Scholar, Center for Collaborative Leadership;

. Robert Smyth, President and CEO, Citizens Bank of Massachusetts;

. Michelle Trousil, Past Chair Alumni, Boston Medical Center;

. Elaine Ullian, President and CEO, Boston University Medical Center;

. William Van Faasen, Chairman, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; and

. Jennifer Waldner, Alumni Chair Assistant Vice President, State Street.

Corresponding authorSherry H. Penney can be contacted at: sherry.penney@umb.edu

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