The Executive MBA program at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business provides seasoned executives with the opportunity to expand their skills and leadership capabilities by offering a thorough curriculum, stellar career services, and the ability to broaden their professional outreach through networking opportunities.
Aside from building a first-rate MBA experience, the Executive MBA team is dedicated to producing additional programs to engage and grow confident leaders primed to succeed in their current and future careers.
The Executive MBA Leadership Academy is one such program. It’s a new personalized program designed for students who want to become transformative leaders. The Academy welcomed its first cohort in Fall 2022, and although the program is optional, nearly all incoming students chose to participate.
As part of the program, students begin by taking the Highlands Ability Battery (HAB) Assessment, an online assessment to help them better understand and leverage their strengths as they progress. To maximize the experience, the MBA program staff brought in the Highlands Director of Training during the students’ first Immersion Week so students could learn more from their assessments.
Once students have received their assessment, they create a Personalized Leadership Development Plan (PLDP) to help them develop goals and strategies for becoming impactful leaders.
“Our Executive MBA students are often subject matter experts and exceptional leaders. We want to give them experiences to take their leadership to the next level and to achieve and impact the world. I believe that the combination of coaching, assessment, the Personalized Leadership Development Plan, and bringing together and reflecting on the leadership experiences Scheller offers will take them to the next level,” said Cynthia Lynch, director of Executive MBA student engagement, who heads three executive leadership coaching sessions throughout the program.
Additional program requirements include completing several short assignments, participating in team-building exercises, and writing papers related to their MBA experiences, which might include a capstone project, a class trip, a particular course, or extracurricular activities related to sustainability, entrepreneurship, women in technology, or other topics.
Students receive a certificate of completion at the end of the program.
“The Leadership Academy has been a great personal co-pilot to the Executive MBA program. It has been a valuable conduit of exposure, coaching, and access that helps keep me focused on my career. I’ve gained invaluable recommendations through live interactive sessions, personal executive coaching, and frameworks,” said Daniel Hartwig, Executive MBA ’23 and director of data science and analytics at Reflex Media, Inc.
Because of its success in its first year, the Leadership Academy will begin its second cohort in August 2023.