McGill MBA students unlock their leadership capacity through the arts

Can leadership potential in business students be tapped through painting and Tai Chi? Absolutely, according to world-renowned McGill Management professor Nancy Adler.

"Recent writings on leadership suggest that exceptional leaders are those able to draw inspiration from spiritual as well as mundane sources and to articulate and communicate symbolically and artistically," said Professor Adler, who has developed a highly innovative course called The Art of Leadership. In the course, McGill MBA students spend three weekends exploring all forms of the arts and reflecting on their personal experiences to tap into their leadership potential.

"Extraordinary leadership is born in who leaders are, not merely in the summation of their learned strategies and tactics," Professor Adler added. "The 21st century confronts us with markedly challenging times that call for extraordinary leadership at a global, national, organizational and community level."

The Art of Leadership course, one of the most popular among MBA students at McGill, is designed to go far beyond traditional management and leadership approaches by exploring participants' most profound appreciation of "the possible." It focuses on an individual's leadership potential, rather than on how they use a particular set of managerial tools or techniques.

"This course changed my vision on leadership," said Adrien Diouf, a second-year MBA student in Finance. "I realized that it was about building my own leadership style and being confident about it. For me, leadership is not anymore about THE right way of doing things but it is a state of mind which allows me to go beyond my own boundaries in order to engage in meaningful relationships."

"The Art of Leadership course is the most valuable experience in my two years of MBA study. It is not a course that teaches you leadership techniques, it instills in you a way of thinking about leadership which is insightful on both a professional and personal level," said recent McGill MBA Japan graduate Timothy Iwata, Vice President, Finance and Chief Finance Officer for Japan Equities, JP Morgan Chase in Tokyo.

The course draws on a wide range of artistic traditions and processes — including the literary, visual and performing arts — to enhance participants' capacity for significant leadership. In particular, the course uses the experience of the artist to deepen and enrich participants' understanding and interpretation of themselves and the world around them. The course is structured around encounters with renowned artists as well as experiments with a range of artistic processes.

"Qualitative aspects of business such as leadership are more important than ever before," says Alfred Jaeger, Associate Dean, Academic Programs at the Faculty of Management. "Professor Adler has developed a unique approach to leadership through the arts, building on her widely disseminated research, active teaching role here and abroad, and her own experience as an artist. She is a highly respected thinker in global leadership and brings a whole new perspective to leadership development."

Professor Nancy J. Adler, who joined the McGill Faculty of Management in 1980, is internationally recognized for developing the field of cross-cultural management, and advancing our understanding of cultural synergy and global leadership — including the leadership of the world's most senior women. Using innovative arts-based conceptualizations, she has published over 100 scholarly articles. A gifted communicator, Adler has won numerous national and University teaching awards. Professor Adler is the only scholar in Canada to be recognized as a Fellow of the Academy of Management, the Academy of International Business, and the Royal Society of Canada.

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