Building the Next Generation of Leaders: Coaching MIT Students
When I got connected to Nicki Roth, Lead Coach for the MIT Leadership Center, and heard about MIT Sloan coaching opportunities, I couldn’t believe that MBA students are now getting one-on-one executive coaching. A prestigious academic school like MIT is providing executive coaching in their curriculum? It seems unconventional. And, what a brilliant idea! What if I had the same opportunity back in my MBA days? How exciting!
17 years after I graduated from the MIT Sloan MBA program, I participated in the Teams Lab class – one of the leadership courses at my alma mater as an executive coach. This leadership course focused on how to be better at leading and participating in teams. As I sat in the same classroom I was in many years ago, many things came to my mind. Were we that young and full of ambition? Also, why was I so nervous about class participation and small talk then?
I was honored to discuss their challenges very openly with the students. Some of their challenges include “When I am more experienced than other classmates, how can I trust them and delegate work?” “How can I give more space to others and use less of my dominant tendency in the team discussions?” and “How can I say “no” to new initiatives and be really present for the ones that I’m already in?”
During coaching sessions, they were encouraged to connect the dots from their lectures, team projects, and internships or pre MBA experiences. I could sense that the combination of lectures and coaching appealed to many students. The lectures provided teamwork-related researches and a variety of in-class exercises. Through coaching, students are able to contemplate concepts in a deeper way, reflect on their experience, and practice new behaviors. The teaching team confirmed that the leadership classes that include executive coaching are very popular at MIT Sloan. Another leadership class, ID Lab – which has a similar lecture + coaching structure – has grown from a small class (20 enrolled in the first year) to 4 classes with 160 students within 4 years.
With a more diverse workforce and globalized relationships, it is even more important today for leaders to manage their emotions in their work, which is an important theme of the MIT Leadership Model. I feel that the Teams Lab and ID Lab classes are great opportunities for young leaders to start their journeys of learning and growth in their early careers. Also, the fact that MIT is including coaching in the leadership classes shows how important it is to incorporate coaching in leadership journeys.
I’m excited to share that I will be coaching students for ID Lab this spring. I’m looking forward to partnering with future leaders.