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Hamish Hogben (ILF2013)

Institution: INSEAD (France)
Course: Management Acceleration Program

Receiving a grant through the ILF enabled me to reach my long term goal of carrying out executive education at INSEAD business school in France. The grant application process was clear and straight-forward, with great support readily available from Geoff and the ILF Board members, if I had any questions.

Without the funding ILF has provided me, it would not have been possible to attend INSEAD.

I chose the Management Acceleration Program (MAP) at INSEAD to further develop my leadership and management skills. The course was a three week intensive program, covering a range of areas such as leadership foundations and skills, strategic insight, finance and management accounting, marketing and operations and supply chain management.

One of the attractions of this program was to experience a learning environment with a diverse group of people, at similar ages and stages in their working lives. I had the opportunity to interact with people from over 16 different nationalities, all bringing dynamic and interesting experiences and backgrounds to the group.

All class participants lived on campus during the three weeks, allowing complete focus on the study and away from our normal everyday routines. I found this rewarding and beneficial for getting the most out of the intensive study program, as we could share our view points of the days learning with each other. There were also many opportunities for networking.

The learning methods were exciting and interactive, consisting of lectures, case study discussions based on real life business dilemmas, team work exercises providing perspectives different from your own, outdoor workshops and business simulations.

As this was predominately a leadership program, I found the feedback from my colleagues through a 360-degree process to be some of the most valuable learning. I also received group consulting and personal coaching to assist in my learning. This allowed me to reflect and plan for my future leadership skills development to help me towards taking on a more senior leadership role in my company.

One of the highlights of this course was a three day international general management simulation we carried out at the end of the program. This was a team-based activity using software allowing us to experience the challenges and dilemmas of managing and leading an entrepreneurial firm. The objective was to grow our business from a small local company into a mature international organisation, competing with our fellow participants to win contracts and market share, while dealing with the interpersonal skills a diverse team brings. It allowed us to put into practice all the skills we had learnt over the three weeks.

After participating in the INSEAD course, I will have continued access to INSEAD’s multimedia information sites and their networking opportunities so that my learning can continue to develop and bring opportunities to me, and in turn to my local community and TI Automotive.

I look forward to continuing being part of the ILF network, sharing experiences along the way to further develop my leadership skills so I can develop, and hopefully give back to the South Australian community.

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” Jack Welch.