Armed with an MBA, 30 years’ business experience, a doctorate in competitive customer experience and a role as the Executive Director of a successful startup, Wynde Mason is by all accounts an accomplished businesswoman; but she was looking for a fresh perspective.
After exploring the executive education options, Wynde decided to enroll on the Advanced Leadership Programme (ALP) at Cambridge Judge Business School.
Wynde comments: “Uncertainty and change across markets is now the norm. Every business has to deal with innovation and adapt to change. This increases pressure to acquire new capabilities. To survive in this environment we have to adapt to continue to be essential to customers.”
The ALP takes place over three weeks in Cambridge, offering a space for leaders and senior executives to refresh their thinking and reflect on the latest business theory.
Wynde adds: “I anticipated academic rigour and cutting-edge thinking, but what I experienced exceeded my expectations.”
The ALP provides an opportunity to explore the bigger picture, looking at how the business landscape is changing. It offers the latest thinking on how you can build both organisational and personal capabilities and sets participants up with the skills to lead in to the future.
“The programme was delivered with immense passion. Global complexity was synthesised and my future reframed through insights ranging from: nanosystems, high performance teams, artificial intelligence, innovations, social media and changing communications, big data, cyber security, ethics and ecosystems.”
The diversity of the ALP cohort is a valuable aspect of the experience: “Learning from my peers, sharing leadership challenges, gaining deep insights from complex corporate experience, and their incisive feedback has been invaluable for leading in the future.”
Personalised coaching not only developed a comprehensive suite of leadership capabilities, but also the opportunity for ongoing learning.
“I’ve already taken steps to transform my leadership style, making sense of change, building organisational capabilities and the hardest part, changing my leadership style. But, what’s different after the ALP is that I get to do this with global leadership capabilities, global networks, and as a University of Cambridge Judge Business School alumna.”
The opportunity to step back from the day-to-day challenges of professional life is a key aspect of the programme, with attendees developing a fresh perspective on their own unique challenges.
“Business of tomorrow must be agile, because being optimised for the current is not enough to survive.
“I love change, the opportunity that it presents to deliver exciting solutions for increasing productivity, process improvement, integrating new and more efficient technology in today’s innovative age.”
Wynde concludes “I recommend the ALP to high-velocity leaders for a fresh perspective, to adapt to and survive the inevitability of change.”