Three of our Part-Time MBA students discuss how LEAD impacted their leadership goals, expanded their self-awareness, and jump-started their network.
Mittul Amin, Evening MBA student
Sid Prakash, Evening MBA student, Manager, Data & Analytics at HSBC
Emily Warden, Evening MBA student, Executive Assistant, Independent Publishers Group
Mittul: One of my main aspirations is to build and improve on my leadership abilities. During LEAD, I learned a well-disciplined and influential leadership approach. It provided a broader perspective on essential leadership characteristics, such as being courageous in decision-making, being flexible, managing in difficult circumstances, and having an ability to influence without authority. LEAD taught a method of building trust while balancing credibility, reliability, and intimacy with respect to self-orientation. These characteristics pave the way for relationship building and creating a productive environment among peers in the workplace. LEAD taught me how to become an effective leader without imposing authority. A constant “problem solving” mindset along with compelling communications at various levels helped me create an impact on various critical product development stages and customer success strategies in my workplace, which otherwise would have been difficult to execute without having authority.
Sid: LEAD gave me helpful insight into my leadership style and the values and behaviors that accompany it. I learned to appreciate the diversity and uniqueness each of us possess, and the importance of working together to create an inclusive environment. The module "Compelling Communications" was a valuable lesson in conveying the role of clear, effective, and positive communication. Finally, for me LEAD underlined the importance of carrying forward an open and honest mindset in everyday life.
Emily: LEAD provided a framework for thinking about leadership that I had never encountered before. I expected it to be very prescriptive and concrete: work on these skills, embody these qualities, the evidence shows this is what makes you a good leader. That expectation couldn’t have been more wrong. LEAD was about establishing the kind of individual leader we each want to be and developing goals from our base idea to support and build a framework that will allow us to grow into that personal ideal. I learned to evaluate my strengths, manage perceptions, establish leadership goals, experiment with methods and actions, and take steps to meet the goals I established
"I expected LEAD to be very prescriptive and concrete...that expectation couldn't have been more wrong. LEAD was about establishing the kind of individual leader we each want to be and developing goals from our base idea to support and build a framework that will allow us to grow into that personal ideal."
How did LEAD expand your self-awareness, and support your self-development at Booth, and in your life?
Mittul: Improving as a leader and as a person is an on-going process. There were certainly great tools from LEAD that I am so glad to be equipped with now. The major improvement I had using the learnings from class is how laying a path of growth for others gives me immense satisfaction and happiness as a leader. LEAD helped me assess how to build a holistic approach to well-being by providing a structured analysis of self awareness, including several executable examples, which I was able to experiment with outside of class. I also learned about diversified inclusivity, collaboration, and developing an approachable demeanor that further supports my leadership goals to be more focused on people growth, creating a positive environment, and helping to navigate day-to-day complex situations in the workplace. I feel these leadership characteristics are very important for a leader.
Sid: LEAD instilled confidence in my abilities to bring people together towards a common goal. The module on "Inclusive Leadership" made me more aware of my unconscious biases and helped me identify constructive actions to counteract these biases. Understanding the importance of personal reliability and credibility in building trusted relationships was also a key takeaway. I found LEAD's holistic approach to well-being beneficial as it helped me to prioritize areas of my life.
"Improving as a leader and as a person is an on-going process. There were certainly great tools from LEAD that I am so glad to be equipped with now...LEAD helped me assess how to build a holistic approach to well-being."
Emily: Because LEAD was so personal and individual, we were able to start from a place of establishing existing strengths and characteristics to determine how to best employ traits we already possess as leaders. For example, one of my strengths I value most is my curiosity and desire to learn about anything and everything. To me, this strength translates into leadership qualities like adapting when given new information, valuing expert opinions, surrounding myself with intelligent and knowledgeable teammates, and making thoughtful decisions, all of which I committed to in my LEAD experiments and ongoing development.
From the moment we started establishing goals for our time at Booth, I prioritized keeping an open mind and committing to trying new things and chasing a wide variety of experiences. Each week we were asked to develop and carry out an experiment based on something we had discussed in class. It was important to take the experiment process very seriously, both to align with my goals and to ensure I got as much out of the course as possible. Aside from the experiments themselves, writing out my responses, insights, and reflections was some of the most valuable introspective investments of time I’ve ever made, and that writing process is something I plan to continue. Additionally, the responses from the LEAD team were so thoughtful throughout this journey of reflecting on the type of person I am and want to be. I will look back on all of this in the years to come!
How did LEAD help you jump-start your Booth network and support building community during your first quarter at Booth?
Mittul: LEAD provided me with great networking opportunities during class sessions, lots of time in breakout groups, accountability partner exercises, as well as interactions with faculty, guest speakers, and individual Boothies. Conversations with in-class peers were so effective because we learned to have constructive discussions. I learned to visualize a world of many diversified professionals, as all of the great people I came across in LEAD had such a strong background and yet were humble and easy to connect with. LEAD enabled brainstorming discussions, honest feedback, learning from one another’s unique experiences, and made it easier for us to establish trustworthy relationships. It established a foundation of meaningful interactions with everyone and as class progressed, our comfort level and openness with each other became stronger. LEAD was a great jump-start for my MBA journey at Booth and for building a strong and diversified network, which I am sure will grow even further as I continue to progress through the program.
Sid: LEAD was the perfect entry point for my MBA experience as it brought all members of my cohort together in a single forum and established a sense of inclusion and community. The LEAD team did an excellent job at bridging the virtual gap by engaging us in a combination of larger group discussions and smaller, intimate conversations. I found the "LEAD HQ" and "Accountability Partner" sessions to be particularly helpful as they connected me to a group of peers whose support I could rely on through my Booth journey.
"LEAD was the perfect entry point for my MBA experience as it brought all memers of my cohort together in a single forum and established a sense of inclusion and community."
Emily: Even in the virtual environment, the LEAD team made sure we could get to know as many of our new classmates as possible with breakout room discussions and encouragement to be open to connection. We were assigned to a small group (HQ) we met with every week at the end of the session. I don’t know if the LEAD team formed those groups intentionally or randomly, but I am so grateful to have gotten to know my HQ. Each week we talked about the focus of the session, our past week’s experiment, and our goals for the upcoming week, as well as other new elements of our lives we were experiencing together, from shared first classes to the flood of emails coming in about Booth’s incredible range of events and programs. Additionally, I met with an accountability partner from LEAD so we could support each other in our goals for the quarter (and hopefully beyond). Meeting with my partner helped me focus my attention on the most important goals to me. It was a joy to meet at the end of the quarter to hear about his successes and share my own. I can’t wait to meet all of these people in person and continue to build relationships with my inspiring classmates!
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