Why do people decide to do an Executive MBA? Why at RSM? What’s eye-opening? What’s the biggest challenge they hadn’t expected? What’s the real value?
In these podcasts, we talk to EMBA students, alumni, and faculty members. They share their experience, insights, and advice on the Executive MBA programme and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM).
‘My life changed, of course, because you’re studying again. But I think it changed more because I became a mom and had to figure that out. You can be prepared as much as you want, but you can never really figure that out before’ – Julie Foucqueteau, EMBA class of 2023
In this podcast Julie Foucqueteau (Executive MBA ’23) shares how her EMBA journey has been going. How it has been to study again and how she managed to start her EMBA journey here at RSM, while taking care of her six week old baby together with her husband. Listen to the full episode to learn more about Julie’s journey, the importance of having a sound support system and her advice. One of her pieces of advice? ‘There is never a perfect time. You just have to go for it.’
‘I learned how to make decision. And not just decisions for me, but decisions in which we had to agree as a team. And that was very important. It’s not your decision making skills that are necessarily important. It’s your skills in making the right decisions and right in terms of what is right for the people you are working with and the collective thing you are trying to deliver,’ Reinier Hille Ris Lambers said when asked how the EMBA impacted his decision making skills.
With over fifteen years of experience in the research and environment sector, Reinier decided to do an Executive MBA to hone his business skills and knowledge. Once he joined the EMBA he realized how his own expertise was of value and how he could add value to the teams he was part of during the EMBA.
The topics that are covered in this podcast:
- Looking back on his EMBA journey
- The impact and added value of an EMBA
- How leadership and decision-making skills are a team-effort
- And a word of advice
Listen to this podcast episode to hear Reinier’s story.
'Being in a team with people not only from different nationalities, but also different backgrounds in terms of career helped me see how they were approaching things in a totally different way. This could be challenging at the beginning, but as we progressed we could extract the most out of it.' Ana Belen Cortez, EMBA class of '18.
Ana Belen graduated in 2018 and during the EMBA she learned the importance of being part of a diverse group, in every sense of the word
The topics that are covered in this podcast:
- How she looks back on her EMBA journey
- The impact the EMBA had on her career
- The added value of an EMBA
- The impact of the EMBA on a more personal level
- A word of advice
'RSM and the EMBA specifically helped me figure out what was really my purpose in life.' Marloes van Gasteren, graduate of EMBA class of '18.
Marloes graduated in 2018 and during the EMBA she realised that she wanted a change in her career and to move into the social domain. In this podcast she shares what her EMBA journey was like and how it helped her take the next steps in her career.
The topics that are covered in this podcast:
- Looking back on the EMBA
- How her career changed
- The added value of an EMBA
- The impact on her leadership and decision-making skills
- A word of advice
Listen to this podcast episode, to hear her story.
‘Because of the EMBA I’m so much more capable of distilling questions. I learned how to dissect questions and problems. Learned to prioritize sensibly and act accordingly. And I think that’s because of a major part of the EMBA and some of the electives that I got. They made me a better decision maker.
The topics covered in this podcast are:
- Looking back on his EMBA journey
- How the EMBA changes his course
- The added value of an MBA
- The impact on both decision-making skills and leadership skills
- A word of advice
Prof. Christo Nel is one of the architects of our renewed Personal Leadership Programme for next year's Executive MBA.
What did fighting Apartheid in South Africa in a business platform teach him about leadership development? And how will our PLD Programme change next year?
Topics covered in this podcast:
- How business was used to build trust and empathy between opposing parties in the 1980s.
- What can this episode teach us about leadership?
- What leadership qualities should an MBA foster and develop?
- How will the renewed EMBA Personal Leadership Development Programme do this?
- In depth with the 'Leadership Compass', one of the guiding principles of the PLD Programme