Director’s thoughts – Calendar Week 28

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Director’s thoughts – Calendar Week 28

Why invest in studying in times of uncertainty?

The Economist’s rankings for 2020 are out. Henley Business School has achieved really good results, especially for the Executive MBA Global, the school’s flagship programme, the career services as well as in student satisfaction. These results came in in a time when the world’s economy is contracting amid a global health crisis. What does that mean for us as a community, how do we continue the school’s business, and where do we go from here out onwards?

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A mouth guard is the new normal for most of us these days.

With our finger on the pulse of economic forecasts, the immediate future is filled with worried outlooks on financial security come autumn. Access to financing is tight, if not even impossible at this moment. This has serious effects on our economy, investments and job security. A lot of organisations are wondering about the psychological impact and leadership impact of COVID-19 as well and while economic effects may be felt, this is often amplified by the effects of emotions. In leadership terms, greater emotionality and resilience are the sought-after qualities companies are currently looking to invest in when looking at recruitment trends. Clearly, people that can handle a crisis and steer an organization through such a maze will be the ones ending up with greater job security. Organisations like staff that are versatile, adaptable and resilient, all qualities that Henley is teaching on their current programmes.

It is because of this (and a little bit of Adam Smith’s theories) that investments in times of crisis are the best antidote and the first step on the road to recovery. For us as individuals, this means evidently that investments into our development will provide greater security in difficult times. Henley Business School is particularly in these times committed to reach out into the community. With new and flexible ways of financing executive education, the school wants to support its programme members and students to stay on course with ongoing studies and not having to worry about losing a job. Instead, finishing a strong business degree that makes an individual more employable should be at the forefront of what we do in this period. Being able to bounce back, finding a job because of a finished education and enabling to inspire their organisations is what counts in the long run.

For this reason, Henley Business School will be revisiting its financing processes to enable talents to achieve their goals and provide leaders with the security and confidence they need to consider making investments in themselves in uncertain times.

If you are planning to study on Henley’s Executive MBA Global programme with start in October 2020, Henley is making available two bursaries in support of tuition fees. In short, this means that for fast deciders until 31 July the early bird reduction still applies, in addition to our ‘Women in Leadership’ and ‘Innovation and Sustainability’ bursaries, which help individuals to make the tuition fee a bit more manageable.

On a happier note, Henley Business School in Germany kicked off its Hamburg operations in the last week of June. With two hybrid events, joining an audience on-site at the Business Club Hamburg as well as online, Henley Business School in Germany enjoyed many positive reactions and set the scene for future events in the Hanseatic Metropole. Thanks to the efforts of the German alumni lead, Doerthe Ramin, Henley is now a member of the club and effectively increased its reach within German business circles. Our sincere thanks go to Doerthe Ramin for her dedication and support.

Programmes on offer in Hamburg:

Henley also would like to thank its speakers: Ole Petter Anfinsen (MBA, MSc, DBA cand.) for ‘Becoming the CEO of yourself’ and Prof. Jonathan Passmore for ‘The Leader Coach’.

Henley Business School is looking forward to the future in Germany. Small changes in the set-up of the school and some investment in supporting technology have enabled the school to successfully run its programme and meet the goals of the business plan with only minor adaptations. As we all look forward to a well-deserved summer break, our entire team would like to wish you all much resilience and thank our community for their ongoing support. Henley will therefore be giving back this year: extra evenings for alumni and friends to rekindle connections and networks, a graduation ceremony in the Munich campus and many more events (in hybrid set-up) will await. We look forward to reconnecting again next month. In the meantime, please stay safe everyone and – as always – we look forward to hearing from you with any constructive feedback to take to heart.

With our best regards,

The Henley team

Christoph Raudonat

Managing Director, Business School Germany

 

Chris Raudonat is responsible for the business operations of Henley Business School in Germany. He centres his energy on the strategic direction and development of the organisation, programme sales and recruitment, communication as well as leadership learning / coaching. In the past he worked with a number of international non-profit and civil society organisations to manage their projects and increase their potential by assisting them in the development and implementation of their business strategies.

He is furthermore an executive coach, focusing on cognitive behaviour and positive psychology approaches and helps clients to become the best they can be by exploring innovative approaches to management learning both in practice and academics.

Chris is currently researching the specifics of interim leadership in the gig-economy and gig-leadership while engaging in a MSc/DBA programme at Henley Business School. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and holds degrees in Sociology, Social/Organisational Psychology, Law and Economics as well as an MBA from Henley Business School.