Global citizenship seminar

The 2008 financial crisis led to deep and prolonged criticism of business schools for “mismanaging” their students’ leadership training. The CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education took this criticism seriously and decided to ask the alliance’s member business schools, including Esade, to try to “innovate” in the way they teach responsible leadership and ethics.

Following other initiatives, in 2018, Esade’s Strategy Department contacted us to co-lead the seminar.

The seminar’s format has evolved over its six editions to become a three- to four-day experience in which 80 students from 45 countries develop their understanding of the world and reflect on the role of business and their role as future leaders in contributing to the prosperity of society and the planet.

From the outset, Esade has allowed us to experiment with theoretical and methodological frameworks that are unconventional in business schools. These are theories that challenge the current paradigm (e.g. Donought Economics, Teal Organizations, or The Sustainability Mindset Principles), methodologies that focus on deep inquiry (e.g., Theory U, meditation spaces, or exercises to develop different levels of listening), and facilitation techniques to enhance collective intelligence (e.g., World Café, Open Space) are some of the approaches that make up this unique experience.

What a few years ago might have been considered provocative in this type of academic institution is now increasingly appreciated by students, who welcome spaces for reflection and critical thinking and, especially, for reconnecting with their essence and agency as future business leaders.