Institution:
Said Business School, University of Oxford (UK)
Course:
Advanced Management & Leadership Program
ILF grant recipient: Dr Mark Krstic, Managing Director of the Australian Wine Research Institute
Report summary:
Through the generous support of the Industry Leaders Fund, and the Australian Wine Research Institute, I was able to attend the three-week University of Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Program (OAMLP) at the Saïd Business School at Egrove Park between 2 and 22 October 2022.
While I received the Industry Leaders Fund grant in 2021, I wasn’t able to participate in the OAMLP until the following year, due to COVID and Oxford University only holding an online version of the program in 2021. I was so pleased that I held off participating in the program until 2022 to ensure I experienced the full University of Oxford immersion.
The three-week onsite residential program included an initial cohort of 42 participants from more than 20 countries with diverse background spanning the global finance, IT, insurance, higher education and petroleum industries, including a King from Nigeria, and participants from the military, automotive, Government and NGO sectors, mostly CEO/MD-level participants. We were joined by an additional six OAMLP participants in the last week of the program. These were participants who participated in the OAMLP online in 2021, but were required to attend in-person for the last week.
The OAMLP was truly a life-changing experience and something that has resulted in growth in myself as a leader, as well as insights into modern styles and approaches to leadership. This has translated into real tangible value for our business.
The OAMLP drew on some of the Oxford Saïd business school’s top academics including Ian Goldin, Pinar Ozcan, Sue Dopson, Jonathon Trevor, Michael Smets, Trudi Lang, Sarah Rozenthuler and Nicholas Janni. However, the glue and Zen master of the whole program was Andrew White. His talent to draw together different views and narratives, while respecting the diversity in the room, was truly masterful.
I feel so blessed to have participated with the OAMLP cohort that joined me in October 2022; they were amazing. I felt I learned as much from them during our in-class discussion and late night ‘networking’ events, as I did from the OAMLP curriculum. The ethnic and cultural diversity within my cohort made for rich discussion and debate on many ‘wicked’ issues. My OAMLP cohort have become close friends, and to this day we still stay in touch regularly with monthly videoconference meetings.
Key learnings that transformed my understanding of business and my role as a leader in my organisation include:
- 21st century mega trends and challenges affecting the global business environment
- Tools and techniques to focus on being more effective as a leader and to be ‘present’
- Transformational thinking on modern leadership approaches and practice – power of doubt, meditation, authentic leadership, etc
- Importance of strategic alignment at all levels within an organisation to achieve the organisation’s purpose
- Scenario analysis to help decide on organisational strategies
- Personalised coaching and mentoring during and after the program to address personal leadership growth
- The inspiration and motivation that come from spending time away from our day-to-day business with some extraordinary people and high achievers, forming networks and life-long friendships.
In addition to the OAMLP curriculum was the reward of venturing out into the historic town of Oxford, attending formal dinners at some of Oxford’s oldest colleges (Christchurch, Balliol and Exeter), having a beer at the famous Turf Tavern, and visiting institutions like the Ashmolean Museum, Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Camera and Museum of the History of Science. There is evidence of teaching at the University of Oxford as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s second-oldest university in continuous operation.
The immersive 21-day OAMLP course helped to provide key insights into myself, honed my skills as a leader, and allowed me to experience some of best that the University of Oxford has to offer.
The OAMLP program gave me a renewed sense of clarity regarding my leadership role within the Australian Wine Research Institute, provided me with new tools and techniques to deploy within the organisation, extended my leadership contacts with peers and luminaries from around the globe and helped me internally ‘reset’ for my future leadership journey.
I would like to sincerely thank the ILF Board and Executive, and the Board of the Australian Wine Research Institute, for their generous support to travel and participate in the OAMLP course. I feel very blessed and highly grateful for the opportunity I have been presented with here – it was truly life changing!
