Leadership Development in EMBA Programs - GMAC Leadership Conference, January 2011

Models for Assessing and Developing Leadership CompetenciesLee KonczakSenior Lecturer, Leadership and Organizational Behavior Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis

Jeffrey Kudisch Managing Director, Office of Career ServicesRobert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

Neta Moye Principal Research Scientist, PDRI Former Faculty Director, Leadership Development ProgramsOwen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University

How well do business schools meet expectations?

• Rubin & Dierdorff (2009) – “Business schools are out of touch with the real world.”

• Graduate Management Admission Council (2006) – MBA programs can enhance their relevancy by devoting more attention to people-focused competencies – leadership, communication and interpersonal skills

• Wall Street Journal (September 2010): “[EMBA] students are increasingly paying their own way and searching for new jobs even while they’re still enrolled.”

• “Newly minted MBAs lack essential leadership skills, teamwork, critical thinking, creativity and innovation, and cultural awareness” (Dater, Garvin & Cullen, 2010).

Developing Leadership Competence

• How are programs addressing the need to develop leadership competencies?

• What role do assessments play and how are they incorporated into programs?

• What are the key factors to consider in curriculum/program design?

Assessing and Developing Leadership Competencies

Lee KonczakSenior Lecturer, Leadership and Organizational Behavior Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis

Olin Executive MBA Program

ObjectiveTo prepare global leaders capable of solving complex, cross-functional business

problems at the C-level.

Class Profile38 peer professionals , 70% male, 30% female• Average age: 41, 15 years of professional experience• Professional Background: Business, arts and sciences, professional schools (medicine,

law, architecture) and engineering • Company size: Family business to Fortune 100• Industry: Aerospace, Agricultural Chemicals, Banking/Financial, Consumer Products,

Farm Products, Industrial Equipment and Components, Industrial Metals and Minerals, Pharmaceutical, Technology, Utilities

• Geography: 30 percent come from outside the metropolitan St. Louis region

Principles of Management Development at Olin: An Integrated Approach

• Principle #1: Management development must involve both management (“hard”) and execution (“soft”) skills– Management skills: the skills of figuring out what to do (e.g., finance,

statistics, operations, marketing)– Execution skills: the skills of getting things done (e.g., building a team,

negotiating effectively, leading others, communicating a vision)

• Effective leaders must be skilled in both of these areas


• Principle #2: Management development must be grounded in valid measurement and assessment

• Why?– Stimulates self-awareness– Allows for personalized learning efforts– Facilitates development planning and goal-setting


• Principle #3: Management development must combine theory and application

ConceptualConceptualLearningLearning

Real-WorldReal-WorldApplicationApplication

• Your organization• Real world cases• Group experiences


Latestmanagementthinking


Refine

Apply


• Principle #3: Leadership development must combine theory and application

ConceptualConceptualLearningLearning

Real-WorldReal-WorldApplicationApplication





Refine

Apply

Key Implications:

1. Assessment and developmentshould be tied to related courses(where you can receive supportingtheory, illustrative cases, and applicationexercises).2. Assessment and developmenttakes time – it’s a process not an event (spread across the curriculum).


• Principle #4: Management development should involve both faculty and peer feedback and coaching

• Why?– Faculty - are you applying concepts correctly?– Peers - provide real-time feedback as you apply frameworks and can

help you understand your own strengths and weaknesses.– By providing feedback to one another, we refine and practice our

coaching skills and reinforce our knowledge.

EMBA Curriculum Map

OrientationOrientation

CoreCore

ReflectionReflection

AdvancedAdvancedExecutiveExecutiveTrainingTraining

CapstoneCapstone

Management SkillsManagement Skills““Figuring out what to do”Figuring out what to do”

Execution SkillsExecution Skills““Getting it done”Getting it done”

Interpersonal & Team Competencies - Team skills - Coaching skills - Negotiation skills

Leadership CompetenceLeadership Competence - Leadership theme (your - Leadership theme (your

leadership profile, informal leadership profile, informal leadership, change leadership, change management)management)

Global Awareness - Part of Global theme- Part of Global theme

General Management Literacies - Accounting & Finance - Operations & Quant. Analysis - Economics & Strategy - Marketing

Top Management Challenges - Growth theme - Global theme - Innovation & creativity theme

Assessment at Olin

OrientationOrientation

CoreCore

ReflectionReflection

AdvancedAdvancedExecutiveExecutiveTrainingTraining

CapstoneCapstone

Management SkillsManagement Skills““Figuring out what to do”Figuring out what to do”

Execution SkillsExecution Skills““Getting it done”Getting it done”

Interpersonal & Team Competencies

Leadership CompetenceLeadership Competence

Global AwarenessGlobal Awareness

Man

agem

ent S

kills

Sel

f-Ass

essm

ent

Man

agem

ent S

kills

Sel

f-Ass

essm

ent

Team-Level Assessment Emotional Intelligence Conflict Styles

Team-Level Assessment Emotional Intelligence Conflict Styles

Extensive battery ofleadership assessments

Extensive battery ofleadership assessments

Cross-cultural sensitivityMulticultural awareness

Cross-cultural sensitivityMulticultural awareness

TDS

and

TB

I

Ass

essm

ents

TDS

and

TB

I

Ass

essm

ents

Management Skills Self-Assessment

General Management Competencies• Part I: Accounting and Finance• Part II: Operations Management & Quantitative Business Analysis• Part III: Economics and Strategy• Part IV: Marketing

Executive Leadership Competencies• Part V: Interpersonal, Team and Leadership• Part VI: Managing Growth• Part VII: Managing in the Global Environment• Part VIII: Managing Innovation and Creativity

The Management Skills Self-Assessment: Competencies

General Management Literacies:• Part I: Accounting and Finance

– Strategic Cost Accounting and Control• Utilize financial statement information to conduct cost and profit

analyses• Appropriately utilize established approaches to transfer pricing

– Financial Accounting• Read and interpret financial statements – balance sheets, income

statements, statements of stockholders’ equity, and statements of cash flows.

• Utilize (i.e., calculate and interpret) conventional accounting tools including free cash flows, profitability and risk ratios, and pro forma financial statements.

• Etc. ……………

The Management Skills Self-Assessment: Measurement

• Professional development: – Given your mid-term career goals (5 years out), in which

domains/courses do you need to focus during the EMBA program?– Based on strengths and developmental gaps

• Dimensions:– Experience: How many years of experience in jobs that require regular

use of this competency? [years]– Perceived proficiency: How proficient are you?– Targeted proficiency: How proficient do you need to be given your 5-

year goal?

EMBA 35 Team Development Process

Orientation Week – Team

Formation ---

September ‘09

Team Development Workshop

---November

‘09

Team Development

Survey---

February ‘10

Team Behavior Inventory

---June ‘10

Reflection(including TBI

feedback)---

July 30-31 ’10

•Building a team – Life Styles Inventory (LSI)•Lencioni – Five Dysfunctions of a Team•Team charter

•Revisit Lencioni framework and LSI•Lencioni team assessment•Re-visit team charter

•Team Development Survey (TDS)•Team feedback sessions – schedule March & April

•Team Behavior Inventory (TBI - peer assessment)•Feedback during Reflection Weekend

•Review TBI group results and distribute individual feedback reports•Team and 1:1 follow-up and coaching as needed

Coaching WorkshopJanuary ‘10

M

A B C D F

Regulatory AgencyExecutive Team

M

A B C D F

E

M

A B C

E

M

A B C

M I I I I

I I I I I

M

A B C

Your Firm Partner Firm

Supplier Firm

E E CEO

E E E

M

A B C

Professional Association

Board of Directors

CHR D D

D D D

S S S

ShareholdersSociety

Leadership and Influence in OrganizationsFormal Leadership What makes some leaders more effective than others when it comes to:• Setting direction, • gaining alignment around key objectives, • engaging direct reports, • creating a climate for superior performance, and• leading change?

Informal LeadershipWhat makes some leaders more effective than others at getting things done

within the informal organization when it comes to:• Navigating organizational politics,• Developing and exercising “power”,• Gaining buy-in from key stakeholders,• Exercising effective influence to achieve organizational objectives?

Leadership and Influence in Organizations

Pre-WorkConsultants’Preparation

In ClassConsultationSeptember

25th

Portfolio - Due October 9th

ClassDiscussions,

Cases & Simulation

Assessments

AssessmentResults

LeadershipContext

Consultants’Feedback

LeadershipDevelopmentConsultation

LeadershipDevelopmentConsultation

‣Leadership Context‣Assessment Results‣Personal Application Essays‣Consultants’ Feedback‣Response to Consultants‣Leadership Development Plan

Provide Context Statement, Assessment Results,

Application Essays and Reflected Best Self Summary

to your Coaches by September 18th

Benefits, Challenges and Lessons Learned

Benefits• High impact• Assessment and coaching value 10/10 from student point of view• Reflection – time to evaluate and “re-calibrate”• Professional development plans• Olin branding

Challenges and Lessons Learned• Relevance• Resources

– Time, budget, technology• Uniqueness

What’s next?

• Technology platform• Coaching• Team assessments

– Repeated measures• Validation of assessments• Enhance leadership development planning• Research on impact


Neta MoyePrincipal Research Scientist, PDRI

Former Faculty Director, Leadership Development ProgramsOwen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University

Overview: Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management

The school offers thefollowing degrees:

•Full-time MBA* •Executive MBA* •Master of Finance •Master of Accountancy* •Master of Management in Health Care*

*Programs that include Leadership Development Programming

Our Context: Like a VC Funded new product launch

• In a context where quant is king• Find a way to get students to do it, without requiring curriculum

change• With the support of a donor, who sees this like seed $$

– Five years to get to “proof of concept”– Budget increasing from $75,000 to $200,000 over three years

• To survive , make sure it “sells”; students and faculty• Make it consistent with Owen’s differentiation strategy:

capitalize on the advantages of small

Instill a habit of personal development

Our Objective:The END GOAL of our program

Our Objective:Taking the long view

When it comes to having long-term success as a leader…

“Everyone wants to know the secret of success, and there is one. It’s called: continuously learning to do what you don’t know how to do”

Lombardo and Eichinger, Leadership Machine

“Experience is the classroom of leadership”Morgan McCall, Jr.

High Flyers: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders

• Help students MAKE THE MOST of experiences as opportunities for development of critical leadership capabilities

– within the two years of the MBA program

– and beyond the MBA program

Our Objective:Make experiences count

Our Approach:Give students a general framework

Creating the new and different

Figuring out how to get it done

Engaging others to help get it done

The three functions of leadersand the skills required to do them

Our Approach:Give students a “target” for development

Creating the new and different

Figuring out how to get it done

Engaging others to help get it done

*Those competencies that will help give you a competitive advantage. Based on research from Korn/Ferry’s Lominger

Self-awareness

Hogan Leadership Assessment

and Competitive Advantage

Competencies

Self-awareness

Hogan Leadership Assessment

and Competitive Advantage

Competencies

Development Basics

“How To” workshops

Korn/Ferry Intellectual Property

Development Basics

“How To” workshops

Korn/Ferry Intellectual Property

Build your plan:

Self-guided

Hogan ThinkBox

Build your plan:

Self-guided

Hogan ThinkBox

Where do I stand?

What should I work on?

Build your plan:

High Touch

KF Voices 360 Tool + Executive Coaching

Build your plan:

High Touch

KF Voices 360 Tool + Executive Coaching

What’s my specific plan of action?

Take Action

Recalibrate and check-in along the

way

Take Action

Recalibrate and check-in along the

way

MOD 1MOD 1 MOD 2MOD 2 MODS 3 & 4MODS 3 & 4

Our Approach:Give students tools/guidance to support development

1:1 Support with LDP Staff1:1 Support with LDP Staff

Our Lessons Learned:Things we learned the hard way

• Voluntary is hard, but has its advantages– “prisoners” can be very distracting

• MUST create a compelling reason to motivate action -- the “pitch” really matters

• Assessments can be a powerful motivator• Sustained commitment to development takes more touches,

more often• Over communicate your value and success internally

What’s next?

• Continue to build and refine SELF-GUIDED path

• Build SKILL BUILDING experiences into year two

• Add more and more creative ACCOUNTABILITY aids

• Expand and up the rigor on MEASUREMENT


Jeffrey KudischManaging Director, Office of Career Services

Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

Our Context: Start-Up (“Greenfield”) EMBA Program

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Your competition can copy every advantage you’ve got – except one. That’s why the world’s

best companies are realizing that no matter what business they’re in, their real business is building

leaders.”Geoff ColvinFortunate Magazine

Courses

“The Right Tools”

Leadership Mastery Seminars

“Targeted Skill Development”

(e.g., Building Team Charters; Promoting

Collaboration by Actively Managing Conflict)

ActionLearningProjects

“Practice and Impact” (including use of team assessments based on Lencioni (2002) framework)

Assessment& Coaching

“An Integrated, Personal Leadership Development Plan”

Our Objective: An Integrated & Intensive Leadership Development Program

Here was our initial approach for our 1st EMBA cohort…

• 18 months of Data-driven 1:1 executive coaching

• Paper and pencil psychological assessments

• 360-degree feedback• Leadership and development seminars• Action Learning Projects

• 18 months of Data-driven 1:1 executive coaching

• Paper and pencil psychological assessments

• 360-degree feedback• Leadership and development seminars• Action Learning Projects

Here is where we are now as of our 10th cohort…

• Assessment Center-driven 1:1 executive coaching (18 months)

• Behavioral and paper and pencil psychological assessments (e.g., Hogan HPI, HDS, & Values; SDI, TKI, KAI, Watson Glaser CTA, etc.)

• 360-degree feedback• Targeted leadership development

seminars• Action Learning Projects linked to team

assessments and team coaching

Our Approach: Dynamic with a Psychological & Behavioral Focus

• Individuals participate in a series of situations that simulate the real world

• Behaviorally-oriented process used for a variety of organizational/human resources purposes

• Candidates evaluated on multiple competencies across multiple techniques

• Use of multiple assessors (raters) and integration session to reduce rater bias and thus increase rating accuracy

• Effective tools for predicting future overall job performance, management potential, performance in training, and career advancement; valid across cultures.

• Entry-level to executive applications; used increasingly around the world.

Popular Simulations:• Written:

• In-basket exercise• Case analysis

• Interpersonal:• Oral Presentation• Group Discussion exercise• Interview Simulation

Pictured: Stress Interview (OSS, WWII)

A Brief Overview of Assessment Centers (ACs)

• Learning Outcome Assessment– 1980’s AACSB partnered with

Development Dimensions International (DDI)

• Undergraduate-Level Efforts– Evaluating career readiness of

business majors (Riggio et al., 1997)

– Predicting early career success of business majors (Waldman & Korbar, 2004)

• Learning Outcome Assessment– 1980’s AACSB partnered with

Development Dimensions International (DDI)

• Undergraduate-Level Efforts– Evaluating career readiness of

business majors (Riggio et al., 1997)

– Predicting early career success of business majors (Waldman & Korbar, 2004)

• Graduate-Level Efforts: Guiding Leadership Development

– University of Tennessee MBA and EMBA programs

– University of Maryland EMBA program

• Graduate-Level Efforts: Guiding Leadership Development

– University of Tennessee MBA and EMBA programs

– University of Maryland EMBA program

Use of ACs in Business Schools

The Smith School is using the AC, in conjunction with the other

Executive Coaching components, to help you diagnose and enhance your leadership

strengths and development needs. The data may also be

used to facilitate administrative issues related to enhancing the

effectiveness of your EMBA endeavors.

The Smith School is using the AC, in conjunction with the other

Executive Coaching components, to help you diagnose and enhance your leadership

strengths and development needs. The data may also be

used to facilitate administrative issues related to enhancing the

effectiveness of your EMBA endeavors.

Smith School EMBA “Acceleration Center”: Mission & Process Overview

Sample Acceleration Center ReportBehaviors Observed

7 Competencies Measured

• Positive participant reactions– “Jolts”; high impact insights – “Ah hah”

moments

• Accelerated coaching– Tapping “Can Do” Behavior vs. “Would Do”– Richer development plans

• Cohort-level needs assessment data

• Accelerated on-the-job leadership development

• Enhanced Smith Brand– Driving applications to our EMBA program– #22 EMBA Program Worldwide, #15

Management Skills Rank (Wall Street Journal, 2010)

Benefits

• Investment Cost– As high as $10-14K for

executive-level assessments

• Time• Staff Resources• Top Management

Commitment• Intellectual Capital• Demonstrating ROI

Challenges

• Organizational change easier because “start-up/Greenfield operation”

• Custom Program Success with Fortune 500 firm– Top Management Intrigue & Buy-In– Saw as a unique value proposition

• Narrowed the focus to key competencies

• Used fewer exercises• Leveraged In-house expertise• Raised EMBA tuition

How We Overcame These Challenges & Lessons Learned

• Expanding our assessment center methodology and coaching– Leveraging technology/internet

• Using more assessment methodology in our EMBA admissions process

• Using more assessment methodology in our full-time and part-time MBA programs

– Importance of handling feedback in a culturally sensitive manner given student diversity (40% FT MBA International)

• More systematically exploring our ROI– Smith Executive Coaching Consortium

What’s on the Smith Horizon…

• How do you determine which assessment tools to include in your leadership development toolbox?

• What are some of the more common challenges and dilemmas that program designers might encounter when using assessments to develop leadership competence?

• In terms of confidentiality and use, should assessment information be shared with Program Administrators? Faculty? What are the pros and cons?

• When, if ever, should assessment data be used for other purposes beyond student coaching and development?

Q&A - Thought starters

Education

Leadership Development in EMBA Programs - GMAC Leadership Conference, January 2011