2022 EMBA Immersion at Kelley School of Business by Injae Chung (Class of 2023)
- SKKGSB
- Hit10663
- 2022-06-22
Executive MBA Immersion I
Indiana University Kelley School of Business
SKK GSB's Executive MBA includes the Immersion Programs at IU Kelley School of Business every year. This year, the first program took place in April in Bloomington, Indiana, and the main theme was "Leading in an Era of Continuous Change."
Injae Chung (Executive MBA, 2023) shared his experience as follows.
EMBA students started the first day at IU Kelley School of Business in excitement and anticipation. This was the first immersion program for the 13th cohort, and our first leadership training.
As if the professors prepared for any jetlag after traveling from Seoul, the session involved a lot of physical movements such as blindfolded block building. The session proceeded under two different conditions: one with a leader, an observer, and others blindfolded with one free hand; and the other with one observer and all others free.
The session might sound easy, but in the end, I found it impressive in that this simple activity reflected what we go through at work. The first condition was a metaphor for a lack of vision sharing and effective communication. Having one restricted hand meant that the team couldn’t utilize all its resources. The second condition, meanwhile represented what happens when the team improves all those deficiencies, i.e., when the leader shares the vision and direction clearly and lets all the members use their full capabilities.
Leadership begins when the leader encourages the team to move toward a shared vision.