Executive Education
emails. “Because of the continuous rise of
technology … there’s a greater emphasis on communications,” White says. “The impactful communicator rises to the top.”
Changing people James Shaeffer, founding dean of
Emerging leaders and executives expect companies to invest in them, says Ken White at the College of William & Mary’s Mason School of Business.
the College of Continuing Education and Professional Development at Old Dominion University, says the role of executive training has taken a new direc- tion during his time in the field. The “feel-good” kind of training is
not what companies and organizations are looking for, Shaeffer says. “We have to show how we are changing people,” he says, noting that simply checking a box to show that someone took a program is no longer sufficient. Many of the students Shaeffer and
everybody,” Raggio says. Joanne Even, business development
director of executive education at the Robins School, adds that there is also a growing recognition that, besides techni- cal skills, modern leaders must have soft skills to communicate with employees. “It’s the social intelligence that
helps,” Even says, referring to the ability to negotiate complex social relationships and environments. “People are working much more collaboratively,” Raggio adds.
Keeping millennials onboard At the Mason School of Business at
the College of William & Mary, Associ- ate Dean Ken White says companies increasingly are using executive educa-
The “feel-good” kind of training is not what companies and organizations are looking for, says James Shaeffer at Old Dominion University. “We have to show how we are changing people.”
tion as a retention tool. “Keeping major talent has become
an issue for organizations,” White says. Emerging leaders and executives expect companies to invest in them, White says. Retaining millennials — who have dis- placed baby boomers as America’s largest generation — has become a special priority. “Most millennials are not going to a
job to stay for 20 years,” White says, add- ing companies need to show how much they want them to stay on. While that approach may seem old
school, White says improved listening skills set executives apart in a world that is becoming increasingly distracted by a barrage of cellphone calls, texts and
his ODU colleagues see are from the civilian side of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk. The courses most in demand at Fleet
Forces Command deal with cybersecu- rity, procurement, finance and leadership, and not everyone on the class rolls typi- cally has had the same level of training. “You’re going to have a group of
students coming to the classroom with varying degrees of expertise. You have to be flexible,” Shaeffer says. As in much of executive education,
the learning is collaborative, interactive and collegial, Shaeffer says, with every- one contributing to the conversation. “Those who have great knowledge
teach those who don’t,” Shaeffer says. New corporate culture
Michaela Bearden, Bearden
director at the Center for Corporate Education at the Virginia Common- wealth University School of Business, says market trends are driving many aspects of executive educa-
tion. The field also is being influenced by cultural shifts in society as multiple gen- erations and different ethnicities interact in the workplace. “More companies want to change
their own culture,” Bearden says, and one of the most important steps in that pro- cess can be executive education.
54 JUNE 2017 Photos by Mark Rhodes
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