Leadership Development
The Smeal College of Business MBA program is uniquely designed to develop leaders.
Leadership Development
Intensive Communications Training
A 2004 Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive Survey of recruiters, 89 percent rated communication and interpersonal abilities as the most important skills MBA graduates could have. At Smeal, we have pioneered a comprehensive program in leadership communication skills that spans the entire first-year curriculum. You’ll study communication, human behavior, and teamwork. You’ll practice presentation, conflict resolution, team building, and negotiation. You’ll develop the skills that the corporate world demands.
Personalized Leadership Assessment
The Leadership & Organization Development Journal recently reported that 360-degree feedback paired with individual coaching can increase leadership effectiveness by up to 60 percent. In fact, two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies implement this type of leadership assessment into their management programs. Smeal’s leadership assessment provides you with feedback on your leadership behaviors.
Individual Coaching
Our curriculum is designed to give you further opportunity to learn about leadership in the classroom. In Smeal's unique "Strategic Diversity Management" course, you’ll learn how to maximize the specific advantages offered by the many differences in the workforce, well beyond the traditional ones of race and gender.
Our vision and strategy courses give you the skills you need to set strategy, define goals, and then lead the way to achieve them. And selecting classes in our Strategic Leadership curriculum will offer you even further depth in leadership development and effectiveness.
Judges at the 2004 Executive Panel give feedback to a team presentation.
Team Work Structure
Finally, your class will be divided into study teams of four to five students, and you’ll spend the entire semester working together. Your team will complete case and project work together for all classes, as well as compete in the Executive Panel Case Competition.
In a typical short-lived project team, it’s easy to avoid team conflict, or to make up for those not performing at maximum capacity. But the challenges of group performance in the Smeal MBA require that your team develop roles and team processes that facilitate effective work. Your team will have a second-year student team facilitator to offer feedback and help your team develop along the way – a role that you can aspire to in your own second year.
