The lucky business leaders will hope to give their MBA Job prospects a boost and learn from prominent industry leaders from Unilever and Cisco Systems, among other leading companies.
MBAs know the importance of networking, and the select few visiting I-LEAD in Australia this week will get the opportunity to develop life-long networking opportunities with international recruiters and students alike.
I-LEAD is a unique program that provides graduate students from across the globe a “sound platform to exchange knowledge, information and leadership experiences” with their peers.
I-LEAD, short for International Development Program, is running its inaugural sessions from Monday 6 – Sunday 12 of January 2014. Cass MBAs Pearce Watson, Sinan Rabee, Brandon Hallam, Nivindya Sharma and Gauri Gupta will be partnered with students from 13 other leading business schools from six different continents.
Other high MBA Ranking universities, including IE Business School and AGSM, are participating.
I-LEAD is the first international development program of its kind. The majority of the other similar programs are case or business plan competitions, in which MBAs from different business schools compete with each other.
The program also provides an opportunity for b-school staff to exchange information, resources and knowledge. Dr Sionade Robinson, Associate Dean for the MBA Programme at Cass, is accompanying the students.
I-LEAD hopes to run on a yearly basis and give both staff and MBAs the chance to familiarize themselves with practices in student leadership, engagement and development programs, as well as methods and techniques.
Brandon is one such Cass MBA hoping to take advantage. Before beginning an MBA last year, Brandon worked in local government for a number of years before joining the UK Ministry of Defence.
He said that on the I-LEAD program so far, students have had a mixture of lectures, workshops and panel discussions with various high-profile business leaders
“We’ve heard from Ross Fowler, vice president of Cisco Systems and Paul Burges, CEO of Link Up International so far,” he said. “They all offered their own thought-provoking perspectives on leadership, global business challenges and career issues.”
Around 88 per cent of Cass’s student body is international, and meeting even more diverse cohorts was a highlight for Brandon. “By far the best part has been meeting all the other students from other elite business schools,” he added.
Gauri, another Cass MBA, has enjoyed the valuable insights from speakers and the opportunity to learn from students at other b-schools. She worked in finance for over a decade in Canada before beginning an MBA in the UK last year.
“The best part has been meeting the other students on this program and getting to know about their backgrounds, and some of the challenges they see in their home countries that they would like to address as future leaders,” she said.
“Another highlight has been the valuable insights from the speakers on challenges they have faced and continue to face in their careers, and subsequent leadership traits they value.”
To find out more about Cass Business School or how you can join the I-LEAD program, click here.
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