The Monroe Street Journal

Issue date: 9/17/07 Section: inside Ross

Enhancing Ross's reputation for attracting and developing future leaders is a key concern for students. Despite our strong rankings in various surveys, few make mention of our 'leadership' qualities; in some circles, the Ross School of Business is disparaged as a 'factory of middle managers.' Through coordination and innovation, Susan Ashford, a professor of Management Organizations, and the Associate Dean of Leadership Development and the Executive MBA program at Ross, is working to enhance the school's reputation for attracting and developing leaders.

Ashford has three areas of focus as Associate Dean of Leadership:

1. Coordinating existing academic and extracurricular activity to develop leadership.
   
2. Developing new classes and programming to inspire, challenge, and create opportunities for Ross MBAs to demonstrate leadership.
   
3. Increasing the notoriety of the existing leadership activities at Ross.

Though BBAs may not know much about it, MBAs are all too familiar with both the Ross Leadership Initiative (RLI, previously RLP) and the Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP). These two programs provide leadership bookends for first year MBAs, who seek to develop their 'softer skills' through cheering, small group gatherings, 'deep' storytelling, and social drinking - not always at the same time. Headlines and sarcasm aside, these events do provide first year MBAs a formal introduction to 'leadership' and an opportunity to face significant challenges, both personal and professional.

Along with these headlines, there are a couple of courses - Leadership in Changing Times, and Leadership, Vision and Change - several research papers, a student advisory board on leadership, and a couple of leadership case competitions. Two professors, Global Leadership Program director Noel Tichy, and recently hired Assistant Professor Scott DeRue focus their research on the valuable, yet indeterminate topic.

On paper at least, Professor Ashford inherits an impressive leadership package, open to all MBA students who are driven to co-create their roles as future 'leaders.' Why then, aren't these programs, and the value of being a leader, better recognized in the Ross community? Are our aspirations more modest than those of students at Stanford or Chicago? Are we less creative than students at Harvard or INSEAD?

Continued...

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