Jochen Menges, a widely published and sought after leadership professor and consultant to start-ups and incubators, knows first-hand the increased importance of leadership in the era of disruption. 

While it is now critical to stay ahead of emerging trends and adapt quickly to disruption, there is a risk of teams and organizations becoming distracted by the constant change.

“In times like these,” Jochen says, “it becomes especially important for leaders to draw upon their capability of defining purpose and providing guidance and direction for their teams to thrive in the ever changing digital age.”

In addition to start-up incubators in Silicon Valley and Boston, Professor Jochen Menges has worked with a diverse set of organizations including A.T. Kearney, Ambrosetti, British Telecom, Google, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Nordea, Rolls-Royce, and The World Bank.

His research has been published in top academic journals and featured by the BBC, CNN, The Economist, The Financial Times, Le Monde, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and Die Zeit. His TEDx talks and online videos have been viewed by more than a hundred thousand people.

Now, he brings his experience designing world-class leadership journeys to Zurich.

“Most professionals considering an Executive MBA do so to learn how to lead. And, many programs are successful in delivering leadership frameworks to participants,” says Professor Menges. “But knowing how to lead does not mean that you can do it. Too often, in the heat of leadership, these individuals fall back to old patterns of behaviour rather than acting on what they know would be best.”

This is why he has designed a transformative leadership journey that supports and spans the length of Zurich’s new Executive MBA. The course not only delivers evidence-based frameworks drawn from the forefront of cutting-edge research, it is also carefully delivered to ensure participants have sufficient opportunity to understand, apply and practice these concepts so they can act decisively when their leadership moment arrives.

Beginning in the very first module, participants establish their leadership purpose. They examine critical aspects of their lives to determine what drives their desire to lead. Drawing from the group’s collective experiences, participants consider behaviours needed for effective leadership and analyse those that are counterproductive. They also engage in a series of exercises to explore how their EQ will shape their leadership potential and help them create environments for their teams to perform at their best.

The result is a robust, personalized action plan that provides each individual with a snapshot of their current leadership style, their desired end state and a four-week and six month plan to close the gap. Each participant is also equipped with ‘Getting to Go’ strategies and resources to help them take that difficult but critical first step towards realizing their redefined leadership potential. As they move through the rest of the program, they will test their approaches back at work and bring the learnings from their experiences back into the classroom a few months later.

Midway through the program, participants check in on their progress and pivot their focus from introspective leadership to organizational leadership. Building upon their work on self-awareness and emotional intelligence, participants now analyse and develop strategies to influence and motivate teams, lead across differences to unlock the power of diversity and shape the organizational culture needed to embrace digital innovation.

After undergoing a transformative experience through the Executive MBA program, participants complete their journey in the final module by defining their leadership legacy. In a constantly changing world, what lasting impact will they leave at the end of their careers?

“Disruptors like artificial intelligence are going to drive efficiencies and reduce the need for management,” says Jochen Menges. “Yet, those efficiencies create space for individuals, teams and organizations to be creative and the ability of a leader to guide and scale that creativity becomes invaluable for organizations to reinvent themselves time after time to win.”