11/18/2025
I teach at a business school. The class is MGMT-316 Management of Organizations and I get the privilege of meeting 150 new undergraduate students every semester. When I first took on this class, I asked myself “how can I make this topic relevant and useful to students without access applicable management experience?”
I focused on building personal skills: team building, collaboration, effective feedback, communication, emotional intelligence, and public speaking.
As you could imagine, students are absolutely horrified to hear this on the first day of class. They are not expecting to have almost 100% of their assignments based on in-class presentations.
What they don’t realize is that they are learning SELF-management. They are building future management skills by setting and tracking their OWN goals and performance metrics. They are challenging themselves in ways that make them uncomfortable as they strive to achieve their own physical, personal, and professional goals.
As the semester winds down, I’m getting to read the students’ reflection on this process and it validates my objectives. Students are feeling successful, motivated, and - most importantly- CONNECTED to one another. It was a slow and intentional process over the past 12 weeks. Mission accomplished.
I’m launching a 4 week Leadership Accelerator Cohort in the new year with very limited availability. If you are interested in getting more intentional about how you show up at work and at home to help kick off your 2026 goals, comment below or shoot me a DM for more info. Space is limited!
