Raising your eyes above the grind to real corporate glory

The Greek philosopher loved to use allegories to trumpet the virtues of objective reasoning.

One of these allegories, set inside a cave, should be essential reading for all business leaders who want to see the world of work with real clarity. In the cave, a prisoner is facing a wall full of shadows from a fire behind him, believing the shadows to be reality. It’s only when he’s released from the cave that he sees the full picture of a sunlit world.

Like the cave-dweller, many of us are trapped in our routines, with little empathy or understanding of the skills and vision needed to take an objective view of the business that employs us.

An Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA) from Leeds University Business School can provide the glorious breadth of vision required to take you, and your organisation, to greater things.

It helps students keep a firm grip on the balance sheet. It also enables them to understand how organisations behave, and these insights can be put into practice when they return to work.

They feel inspired; their colleagues are enthused. The organisation will go on to reap long-term rewards.

In the case of EMBA student Nat Southworth, from Harrogate, it opened up opportunities in the world of toys.

He recalled: “I went to an open evening about the EMBA to look at the course with a view to doing a full-time one-year course.

“I was planning to take a belated gap year, before finding a job closer to home in Harrogate. However, the more I listened to the executive course structure the more it appealed.”

He took the plunge and signed up for the course, and found himself surrounded by motivated individuals who encouraged him to make his own business dreams come true.

Mr Southworth added: “I now have 34 business leaders as peers, and this network will develop over time.

“We meet up every six weeks and we work in groups for many of the assignments.

“Instead of making it a gap year, and heading back into employment, I decided to set up my own business alongside doing the course.”

Mr Southworth is just the sort of far-sighted entrepreneur Britain needs. And he took the bold decision to set up his own enterprise after signing up for the EMBA at Leeds University Business School.

He added: “It’s fundamentally a small management consultancy, helping companies develop business in the UK. I’m working with a Polish toy company, and I’m in discussions with a number of American companies to help them grow business in the UK market.”

As an EMBA student, you will soon find that others respect your opinion and admire your ambition. “Everyone I talk to about the fact I’m doing an EMBA wants to know about it,’’ Mr Southworth said.

“My advice to anyone who is thinking about doing an EMBA, is absolutely go for it, but before you leap in, take the time to speak to people who are currently on the course.

“You can contact LUBS to find out when there is an open event, or ask them if there is someone you can talk to who is doing it right now. It’s a major commitment in time and money, so you need to know you definitely want to do it.”

Mr Southworth believes the EMBA provides employers with a great opportunity to invest in their leaders of the future.

He said: “The EMBA tests your all-round intellectual skills in strategy, finance, operations and human resources.

“If you encourage the candidates to embrace it, they get exposed to a lot of personal feedback that will help them develop into a much better manager, coach and, ultimately, business leader.

“With the executive MBA you also benefit from the experience shared by other students.

“Our group has people with some unbelievable talents, who haven’t necessarily recognised this in their day-to-day environment, but the group exercises encourage acknowledgement of what people have to offer. I’ve learned a lot from others.”

The most important quality an EMBA student can possess is an open mind.

Vince Dispenza, the director of the EMBA at Leeds University Business School, wants to attract students who have the humility and commonsense to listen to others.

There is plenty of scope for fresh perspectives. On the course, students are likely to rub shoulders with emerging leaders from the third sector and venture capital firms. They will finish the course as more rounded individuals, with a quiet confidence in their own ability to bring wide-ranging improvements from within their organisation.

But companies must choose their EMBA candidates wisely. Candidates must act as agents of change.

“Are they in a position to make an impact and pass what they have learned on to other people?’’ said Mr Dispenza.

The EMBA shows that the insights of academic life can lift our eyes beyond the daily grind. There’s a revolutionary experience waiting for everyone who does not want to get trapped inside Plato’s cave.

LEEDS university Business School is making waves on a global scale.

The Executive MBA at Leeds University Business School has been ranked first in the UK and 14th globally in the CEO Magazine 2017 Executive MBA rankings.

Vince Dispenza, the director of the EMBA, said: “This latest accolade reinforces the fact that the Leeds MBA provides a highly relevant, challenging and developmental experience within a globally respected institution.

“I’m delighted to see that we compared favourably to some major global and national brands.”