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John Scott (ILF2013)

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Institution: Melbourne Business School
Course: Advanced Management

I would like to sincerely thank the Industry Leaders Fund (ILF) and its board members for enabling me to further my senior management studies. Having already completed an MBA some years ago, I was looking for an experience that would help me with the here and now and also into the future. I also wanted a course with high quality and high standing within the field of leadership development.

Without the funding provided by the ILF attending the Mt Eliza Business School’s Advanced Management Program would not have been possible.

Our HR Director at SMR was aware that I was looking to attend a Higher Level Management course such as those on offer at Mt Eliza. He made me aware of the ILF and the opportunity the ILF could provide in assisting me to achieve my goal.

I went via the online application process. I found it very convenient and but also enlightening as the questions designed to tease out my suitability also made me think what I should focus on if I was successful and able to attend the Mt Eliza course. The next step in the process was the interview with ILF board who really encouraged me to pursue my goals and also made me realise that those in key leadership positions in South Australia can really make difference to the state. It was great to be interviewed by captains of industry who” had been there done that!” so to speak.

In selecting a course I considered a number of options both here and abroad and settled on the Mt Eliza Advanced Management Program due to its reputation, and its standing in the Asia Pacific Region as a Management School of choice.

The program was residential where the participants are required to live on campus for 12 days.  The presenters came from within the Melbourne Business School and external. Most had prior experience in senior roles with large international companies, and others were academics having resided at some of the world’s top business schools and universities and brought with them a great depth of experience and knowledge.

The course challenged us in many ways; not only the amount of information that was coming at you on an hourly basis, but a real focus is placed on you as an individual where you were pushed to really get to know who you are on a personal level and what you stood for. This culminated in developing your “own brand” and being able to articulate what your brand is so you can become a more effective leader.

This cannot be done without a good level of deep personal information about who you are and what makes you tick. Key personal data is obtained through a significant amount of pre-course work via high quality questionnaires and surveys filled out by you and by those you impact the most and interrelate with.

The process also crosses over into your personal and family life by being in touch and aware of where you can improve and providing you with tools and strategies to respond better to situations and improving your ability in leading your organisation as well as being more effective within the community.

I found the live-in campus style unique and beneficial. It really allowed all participants to share view points on the days program of work and how each of us took on board what was presented. We were able to combine these with our own experiences and how and what can be best applied back in our real world of work and home lives. I have no doubt I have made lifelong acquaintances through the course in both the presenters and participants.

On a personal level this self-actualisation on who I am and what I stand for puts me in a better position to be able lead groups and an organisation through significant change keeping me focused on what is really important. In my current position as a General Manager in an automotive manufacturing company I’m sure I will be calling on my experience and learnings from the Mt Eliza program.

Now being apart of the Industry Leaders Fund Grantees Network, some of who I have known in other forums,  I’m looking forward to the opportunity in engaging with other members and sharing my learnings and experiences from the course and also how I’m pushing ahead with my role and aspirations in developing leadership capability within South Australia.