Center for Leadership
Studies

Some say that only a few of us can lead…that successful leaders are born with special leadership qualities. Our data and experience show that this is a myth. The Center for Leadership Studies has more than two decades of research and applied experience that points to reality: successful leaders come in all shapes, sizes and personality types. CLS leaders do share commonalities of a commitment to the art of leadership and a willingness to create something new in the world. These are accessible to everyone.

The Degree
A degree in Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (MAOL) offers business professionals an effective way to lead in today’s complex, multi-layered and multifaceted organizations. Earning the degree requires a commitment to providing ever-increasing value to an organization. Each candidate enters with a job-centric business initiative that they will take on in real-time during the masters program. Their goal is to achieve meaningful, economic returns for their company that previously seemed unattainable.

The program is divided into two parts: class room time with faculty and leadership practice in their daily life. The degree is earned over 18 months during which there are 7 in-person sessions, in Connecticut, totaling 35 classroom days. A maximum of 15 people enter each program and all candidates earn their degrees at the end of the 18-month duration provided all requirements have been fulfilled.

The Candidates
This advanced degree program is for business managers and leaders who are enacting a new possibility or initiative within their organization. Managers from all domains of the organization (from human resources and manufacturing to sales and finance) are encouraged to enter the program. Many applicants have earned their MBA and are looking to be challenged in an atmosphere where they can develop at their own pace to hone unique leadership capabilities.

Graduates include leaders of Johnson & Johnson companies such as, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Life Scan, plus others—IBM, Altera Corporation, Canadian Blood Services, Royal College of Physicians and professionals from all industries. Because the program’s class time is dedicated to supporting ongoing leadership activities, candidates and their organizations see immediate and enduring results. For those considering the program, MAOL graduates are available to share their MAOL experience with potential applicants, and provide specific examples of its continued value.

The Curriculum
Leadership is, before all, a process of coming to discovery through discovery. Candidates use MAOL as a framework for creativity through which to explore and implement new learning strategies. The integration of class work and real-world application over the course of 18 months is central to the program’s success. Through reading materials, class time, and the structuring and execution of the independent initiative, MAOL supports candidates in the discovery of new leadership skills that are directly applicable to real-world environments.

The first MAOL session consists of five faculty-taught days – a stretch of program time unique in that the candidates themselves join faculty in defining the learning in all subsequent sessions. Across the following six sessions candidates work alongside faculty to share what has been learned and seen throughout their direct experience with designing and executing their independent leadership initiatives.

Class Work
In MAOL, discovery is both the journey and the destination. Faculty members with diverse backgrounds and specialties ranging from change evolution theory to psychology and organizational development lead MAOL candidates in discussing reading materials, analyzing situations dealing with candidates job related breakthrough initiatives, and deconstructing learning experiences garnered during implementation of the each candidates independent breakthrough initiative.

Class time is, above all, an opportunity to gather and learn from one another’s initiatives, report progress, and document change. Candidates will be offered no answers, but confronted with a form of learning that appears through deep inquiry; it is the learner’s challenge to uncover effective, inspiring ways to engage with the queries that shape the candidate-directed MAOL learning experience.

Leadership Practice
Each candidate will architect and execute his or her own independent initiative with the intent of creating not simply a result, but a breakthrough. This initiative is not a secret to be unveiled at the end of a long process: it must be declared and claimed by each candidate within his or her workplace before the start of the program. The candidate will require the support and the participation of his or her colleagues to draw forth the initiative from the realm of possibility to reality. This process confers learning on a prospective, real-time case study and leadership initiative.

MAOL faculty from three disciplines – business, consultancy and development – will work with candidates on their projects and provide coaching and guidance. After the first session, the bulk of residential class time is devoted to deepening each candidate's individual expression of leadership, deconstructing, analyzing and advancing the momentum of the independent project in consultation with other candidates.

The Results
Most graduate programs bring you into an academic setting and then, on completion, release you back into reality to put all that you’ve learned into practice.

Results from MAOL are seen immediately and amplify over the 18 months of the program. The one-time financial investment in a MAOL degree produces compelling and ongoing business results. Graduates help their organizations exceed targeted revenues, expand into emerging markets and open the door to unprecedented growth. The MAOL nurtures leaders who can create, adapt and synthesize in their role while ensuring the success of the organization and those around them.

MAOL prepares leaders to be effective in designing organizations that have a strong bias for success. Like organizations, a financial investment in MAOL is only one element that leads to success. Candidates also invest in personal development distinct to them and in the MAOL community that has pledged support to the candidate’s work.

As candidates advance their breakthrough initiative, attend residential sessions and interact with colleagues and MAOL faculty, the way that they see themselves as leaders will fundamentally change. Candidates will apply MAOL frameworks and methodologies to real-world challenges and bring uncommon skills to their organization.