Every day executives are faced with difficult choices, situations that can define the path of a business or a career.
This term a select group of College of Business students got the chance to think through real-life scenarios with the executives who faced those tough decisions as part of an experimental leadership seminar.
“What I’m showing them is that their first response may not be correct,” said Executive in Residence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Bob Mayes. “It’s like an onion, you have to peel the layers back.”
Led by Mayes, the class allowed students to interact closely with business leaders and examine their decision-making process.
The weekly class brought executives from diverse industries and backgrounds to discuss actual cases from their own careers and challenged students to think what they would have done in the same situation.
Before each class students received a situation provided by that week’s speaker. They were given details on the information available before the decision was made, but not what the speaker did or what happened after.
Students responded with what they would have done under the circumstances, and then analyzed the situation with the executive in class before finally discussing the actual outcome.
“All I’m trying to do is bring experience into the classroom in a setting that is safe,” Mayes said. “They’re graded on preparation and participation.”
Speakers included Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks, Phillip Swan, CEO of EZ Grill/P&M Products, Inc. and former Microsoft VP of Sales, and Claudia Sieb, who spoke at the final session Friday Nov. 30.
Sieb is the owner and co-founder of Sieb International, a global marketing and consulting firm that specializes in developing revenue strategies for companies targeting affluent U.S. markets and consumer segments.
During her talk Sieb showed the actual pitch she gave a luxury resort, providing a real-life example of key business concepts and discussed the choices with students in the class. As a business owner herself, she also laid out some of her key lessons as an entrepreneur.
The class will continue in winter term with a new slate of five executives, starting Jan. 18.
