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In April 2006, Marshall Goldsmith and Alliant International University launched the new Marshall Goldsmith School of Management, blending their Organizational Psychology and Business schools into one school focusing on the human side of business.
While the search for a Dean was being conducted during the first year, I was privileged to work with Marshall as he asked Thought Leaders to join an advisory group for the new school.
At the same time, Marshall and I became acquainted with many of the Masters and PhD. students to learn more about their interests, what they were studying, and what they would like to see in the future.
We went on walks with students, visited them on their local campus individually and in groups, and held a small orientation (ten students at a time who were recommended by their Program Directors) to introduce them to our vision for the Thought Leader Project, and provide structure regarding how to interact with Thought Leaders.
Marshall hosted several parties at his home where he invited Thought Leaders and students, faculty and staff to become better acquainted with each other.
Marshall and I eventually traveled to each campus where Marshall made a presentation about his coaching methods, and I introduced the Thought Leader Project and enrolled other interested students.
We matched small groups of students with Thought Leaders according to which topics the students were studying, and which students we thought would fit into the culture of the particular Thought Leader’s organization.
Our initial goal was to introduce Thought Leaders and students for the purpose of having an interview that could be shared with the rest of the school. This quickly became a very large project, and resources needed to be allocated to support the widespread interest of students as news spread of this new initiative.
Several outcomes began to emerge as the generosity of Thought Leaders and interest of students inspired new directions.
In addition to attending parties at Marshall’s home, giving interviews to students, and attending some school events Thought Leaders offered several other gifts to the school, such as: an executive format course on solely for MGSM students, a subscription to significant business publications, individual meetings with selected students, mentoring selected students, business conference passes, research projects to support a book, business simulations, and presentations at the school.
The program was still in its infancy after its first year. Many lessons were learned, and some new directions are being contemplated as Jim Goodrich, the Founding Dean of the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management, begins to incorporate the Thought Leader initiative into his vision for the future of the school.
I learned a tremendous amount being around these accomplished leaders, and appreciate not only their life’s work and their contribution to the world, but also their generous spirit and willingness to help the next generation:
John Alexander
David Allen
John Assaraf
David B. Peterson
Judy Bardwick
Joel Barker
Ken Blanchard
Jim Bolt
Nathaniel Branden
Subir Chowdhury
Vijay Govindarajan
Cathy Greenberg
Phil Harkins
Sally Helgesen
Paul Hersey
Frances Hesselbein
Jon Katzenbach
Beverly Kaye
Jim Kouzes
Richard J. Leider
Kate Ludeman
Elliott Masie
Jim Moore
Howard Morgan
John R. O'Neil
Dan Parisi
C.K. Prahalad
Hubert K. Rampersad
Gary Ranker
Srikumar Rao
Rajesh Setty
Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz
Ken Shelton
R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr.
Mark Thompson
Brian Tracy
Dave Ulrich
Cal Wick
Coach Marilyn
Marilyn McLeod
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