Maverick Indonesia

Away to develop my bones

“The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it.” Elaine Agather

Early this month I was in Singapore to attend a leadership training at the INSEAD Campus.

It was a pleasant experience. The training facilitators, Dr. J. Stewart Black and Dr. Hal Gregersen were two of the most communicative, experienced and resourceful management coaches I have ever met. They have known each other for so long that they complement each other impeccably. Together, they wrote a management book titled Leading Strategic Change.

The program organizing was flawless. INSEAD employs only the most helpful staff. The campus is also supported with sufficient facilities: library, cafeteria, lots of desktop computers, and wi-fi enabled areas to name just a few. INSEAD also has its own adequately sized residence within the complex so that people traveling from overseas could stay there for a few days without having to worry about commuting.

There were lots of wonderful things about my three days training, but if I have to single out just one, it has got to be the shared experiences from all of the training participants. It has never ceased to amaze me how people from different industries experience almost similar obstacles and challenges in working life.

Talking about training participants, there were 29 people from 20 different countries in my class. I couldn’t believe that most of my new friends actually flew over across more than four time zones to undertake this course. I even made friends with people from Russia and Kazakhstan!

All in all I must say that INSEAD really lives by its motto to be “The Business School for the World”. The program fee is far from cheap, but it’s worth every single penny [of your company’s money ^_^]– and I’m so thankful that I was given the opportunity to do this. It only goes to show that the company is serious in terms of developing its people.

Here’s a group photo taken on the first day.

I swear on John Lennon’s ashes that I did not wander off and gone shopping on day two and three…