At the time, the company she was working for, Marketing Evolution, was looking to expand into Singapore. Nicole (pictured below) looked to an Executive MBA (EMBA) to challenge herself and build on her international experience.
She explains she was instantly drawn to the international nature of TRIUM’s Global EMBA. The program is delivered jointly by HEC Paris, the London School of Economics, and NYU Stern, and is consistently ranked among the best EMBAs in the world by the Financial Times.
Graduating from the TRIUM EMBA also gives you access to Module 7, an annual alumni-led event which brings together the entirety of the TRIUM network. The event is an opportunity to learn about the latest business trends from key members of faculty and build networks of like-minded peers.
An EMBA gives you the business knowledge and experience to take your career to the next level. So, how can you benefit from lifelong learning after it?
Here’s four ways you’ll benefit from lifelong learning after your MBA:
1. You’ll update your skills
Business is constantly changing and lifelong learning will help you stay up to date. Nicole says she’s applied what she’s learned on the TRIUM EMBA’s Module 7 to her current role.
One of Nicole’s stand-out keynote speakers at this year’s event in Barcelona was TRIUM alum Supreet Singh Manchanda, a technologist and venture capitalist. He explained how you can leverage technology to improve business processes on a budget.
Nicole asked for his presentation afterwards. She presented a section on software integration to her executive leadership team at world-leading market research firm, Ipsos, where she’s been working as chief innovation expert since April 2019.
After the presentation, she convinced them to adopt Supreet’s ideas to simplify their recruiting process.
2. You’ll gain experience of new cultures
Nicole says that where the TRIUM EMBA’s Module 7 takes place is just as important as what is discussed on it.
Situated in Barcelona’s five-star El Palace Hotel, this year’s Module 7 attendees were surrounded by the breath-taking architecture and luxury boutiques of the city’s Gothic Quarter.
The Module highlighted some of the cultural particularities of life in Barcelona and how attendees can learn from unfamiliar environments. Local startups also spoke about Spanish startup culture and entrepreneurship, and how it differs from the US startup scene.
“Barcelona was a beautiful backdrop,” says Nicole. “There was a juxtaposition between the beauty we experienced and the political situation; the tension between the Spanish government and Catalonian government about independence.”
3. You’ll perfect your management style
To manage successfully, your management style should shift, depending on who you’re managing, when, and where.
After Nicole completed the TRIUM EMBA in 2014, she moved into an executive leadership role at data analytics firm Nielsen in Shanghai. She was eight months into her new position and still adjusting to the culture shift when she attended a Module 7 in Italy.
The discussion that year focused on strategy. Nicole was able to use her experience to figure out how to manage diverse work teams based on their needs rather than a traditional method of management.
“It allowed me to get perspective on managing a diverse team across Greater China,” she says, “and think about what management style they’re used to compared to what I am used to.”
4. You’ll build a network of lifelong friends
At an executive level, where everyone is busy juggling their corporate career, families, and regular travel, it can be difficult keeping in touch with former classmates.
Nicole not only re-connects with her own peers through Module 7, but she is also introduced to alumni who weren’t a part of her own cohort. Lifelong learning, she says, brings an opportunity to meet new people, develop a strong kinship, and learn from one another.
“Having events like this make us feel much more tightknit,” she says. “It’s a continued relationship that we’ve had ever since graduation and that makes us feel like we’re always apart of TRIUM.”
