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MBAs Develop Leadership Skills Outside of the Classroom
By Catherine Groux
Posted May 18, 2012 12:28 PM
Some business school students are developing leadership skills outside the classroom.Whether they are enrolled in online master's programs or campus-based courses, most business school students understand the importance of developing leadership skills. In fact, a 2010 survey by CarringtonCrisp shows that leadership is the second most popular skill individuals enrolled in Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs hope to gain.
However, rather than develop this important skill in the classroom, some MBA students are venturing far from campus. For example, last year Daniel Balcauski, then a first-year MBA degree seeker at the Kellogg School of Management, traveled through Patagonia with his classmates, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports. During the trip to the isolated region in South America, students got to act as Leaders of the Day.
When it was Balcauski's turn to act as the leader, his classmates and guide had just reached the top of an Andes mountain pass. Suddenly, Balcauski realized a blizzard was approaching, and as the Leader of the Day, it became his job to figure out how to get his team off the mountain as soon as possible.
Fortunately, Balcauski was able to find an alternate route to get his group off the mountain. While most people would be thankful solely for their safety, the MBA degree seeker said he valued the feedback his classmates gave him on his leadership skills during the trying moment.
"I got immediate and direct feedback on my leadership style and performance that day, which was extremely valuable," Balcauski told BusinessWeek.
Still, the U.S. is not the only place where blossoming business professionals are using outdoor experiences to gain critical leadership skills. Recently, 15 females business school students from the Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands participated in an elective course that took them to Mount Kilimanjaro, The New York Times reports. During a nine-day trek, the team was forced to work together, breaching mental and physical barriers.
Dianne Bevelander, an associate dean of the school and chief organizer of the hike, told the Times that the course is designed to help female business professionals trust other women.
"It was the first time for many of them working together with other women, relying on other women, pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone," Bevelander said.
