BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
‘The definition of “learning” has suddenly broadened into wider concepts including “lifelong learning”, “meaning”, “purpose”, or “paying it forward”’
the School's history and attributes to then build on those strengths to refresh and reinvent the learner experience: Build on legacy successes (reputation, impact, innovation) to refresh purpose Build new content and capability that will enhance the core purpose Create flexible business models (pricing, learning structures, certifications) Build wider ecosystems through partnerships, experts and competitors Enrolling and engaging in the change This article has looked at how leaders of Business Schools, and their faculty, can remain relevant and profitable in a post-pandemic world, when at the macro level postgraduate education is at a crossroads. Teaching methodologies and content are clearly in need of a refresh to meet emerging learner requirements, but equally important are the cultural elements required to enrol and engage faculty and staff in the change.
This is easier said than done: change requires clarity within each Business School about who that Business School is, what it does, how it is delivered and why change is needed. Contradictory, yet complementary, skills are needed for this: hard skills such as courage will get things done while softer skills, like empathy, are critical to bring others on the journey. If it is reframed as an opportunity to meet the real, emerging needs of students and clients, a change mindset can unblock the threat response so often encountered in business at times of transition, especially when externally imposed. With a refreshed vision and purpose, an updated learning curriculum, and the culture to support change, Business Schools can bring their institutions successfully into the 21st century. The key starting point is for leaders to create the conditions for curiosity, engagement and action towards an envisioned future that energises and enables the institution and its faculty to embrace and drive the change it needs.
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Andy Craggs is a Leadership Consultant and Programme Director of Executive Education
at London Business School. He has more than 30 years of experience in leadership development and business consulting and is the author of The Change Mindset: The Psychology of Leading and Thriving in an Uncertain World (Kogan Page, 2022).
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