Executive MBA Class of 2013

About the Session: The Power of Presence

You might have great ideas, perspectives and methods. But you could lose your effectiveness if you don’t know how you come across, if you don’t embody your message with intention, and if your verbal message is not congruent with your non-verbal message. As a matter of fact, 70 to 90 per cent of our communication is non-verbal – embodied by the tone of our voice and our body language. Join trainer and author Antonie Knoppers as one of our most popular workshops returns to the MBA Reunion.

About the Speaker

Antonie T. Knoppers is a trainer, coach, facilitator, speaker and actor. He is the co-author of the book Leading with Presence published by Emerald Publishing, and author of the article How To Have Effective Zoom Meetings—And Make Them Less Boring published in Forbes magazine. He works with a broad range of international and national corporations on leadership and personal development.  He holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University (Summa Cum Laude), and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of San Diego/Old Globe Theatre.

About the Session: Grit vs. Quit: Balancing the Benefits of Perseverance versus Walking Away

In her best-selling book “Grit”, Angela Duckworth writes, “As much as talent counts, effort counts twice” and "It was this combination of passion and perseverance that made high achievers special. In a word, they had grit." However, is “grit” or persevering in the face of challenges/failure always the right or best path forward? There is a considerable amount of research in the field of behavioral science about poor decision-making caused by escalation of commitment (“sunk costs”) and other cognitive biases. This session will discuss the research and application of these two, seemingly contradictory, perspectives on decision making as they affect our work and lives.

About the Speaker

Bill Collins is an experienced lecturer and consultant in business including leading & managing across cultures, leadership & engagement, performance & motivation, and negotiations. His vocational passions are (1) integrating quantitative methods (people analytics) to the design and assessment HR and leadership initiatives and (2) addressing the challenges of leading and managing across cultures. He is also interested and works in the area of wellness and positive psychology. Bill holds a PhD. and a Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Texas A&M University in College Station. Currently Bill teaches courses at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM), Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), Antwerp Management School (AMS), and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).

About the Session: The Leadership Lab

To be ready for emerging challenges and opportunities, we need to constantly work on our leadership development and effectiveness. As part of the session, Sofya Isaakyan will share insights on how you can experiment with your behaviours every day to help you to excel in your leadership. You will learn a powerful tool which you can use to continue developing yourself as a leader.

About the Speaker

Sofya Isaakyan is an Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. She received her Ph.D. in Organizational Behaviour from Maastricht University in 2018. Her research focuses on understanding employees' upward expression of ideas and concerns about work-related issues (i.e., voice behaviour) and the corresponding reactions by managers. Her second area of research focuses on how managers can effectively build their leadership capacity and leader identity. Her research has been published in top-tier academic outlets including the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes. Sofya is the recipient of a prestigious Veni research grant by NWO in 2022. She is an editorial member for the Journal of Management Studies.  

Sofya teaches a wide range of topics on Leadership, Leadership Development, and Teams in Bachelor, Master, Full-time MBA, Executive MBA, and Executive Education programs at RSM.  

Before entering academia, Sofya worked as a consultant in the area of leadership development. Today she bridges the gap from science to practice by working with business leaders and other non-academic collaborators interested in co-developing evidence-based solutions to real-world problems and challenges. 

About the Session: Practicing inclusive dialogue under pressure

It’s easier to be mindful of inclusive dialogue when you aren’t under pressure. But how do you get the most out of the variety of perspectives and experiences in a team when there’s pressure to perform? In a fun, competitive exercise, teams will build a structure, reflect on their default approach, and explore how that relates to their ability to create and leverage an inclusive culture in their organization.

About the Speaker

Dorothy Grandia is Associate Director of Programming for the Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations, where she has contributed to the development and delivery of gender-balanced leadership programming since its inception in 2014. Since 2005, she has helped clients working primarily in STEM industry contexts to recognize and exploit the difference between objective and subjective decision-making in their communication strategy. With that awareness, her clients then learn to increase their influence by synthesizing complex information into clear, engaging, and convincing messages delivered in a persuasive manner.