Leadership

Johnson consistently attracts outstanding individuals.  What we and they understand, however, is that being an outstanding solo contributor, while valuable and necessary, is not enough to move an organization forward.  Organizational transformation requires leadership – identifying and leveraging the strengths of others, and influencing others positively in order to bring about desired change and achieve a greater vision.  These are the skills that you will develop and hone at Johnson.   

In your first week, and continuing through your first semester, you will participate in the Johnson Team Leadership Experience, a required course for all incoming students.  This course introduces you to the Johnson Leadership Model and to the Johnson approach to leadership development:  a continuous cycle of developing self-awareness, enhancing subject matter knowledge and critical thinking skills, gaining practice leading, receiving feedback on leadership practice, and reviewing and processing the feedback in order to deepen self-awareness.  

Working in a Core Team of four or five students, you will begin by assessing your own personal leadership strengths and making an individual action plan designed to leverage your signature strengths for the benefit of your team and the Johnson community.  You will also work with your team to identify and map your collective strengths and consider ways in which individual team members can combine strengths to achieve excellence in the work you will perform together during the Core.  Your Core teams will be mentored and advised by Johnson Leadership Fellows, second year students selected for this honor by nomination of the Core faculty, based on outstanding academic performance and identified leadership potential. 

A unique feature of the Johnson Team Leadership Experience is that every Johnson student is required to lead a Core team, to receive and process feedback on his or her team leadership, and to provide that feedback to others on his or her team.  Through this performance learning approach, Johnson students better understand and develop their leadership capabilities and prepare themselves to guide and positively influence the teams and organizations of which they are a part.

After completing the Johnson Team Leadership Experience, Johnson students have the opportunity to expand their expertise and skills in leadership by participating in:

  • The Second-Year Concentration in Leadership & Ethics - a collection of elective courses including “Becoming a Leader”, “Power and Politics”, “Critical Thinking for Business Leaders”, and “Ethics and Corporate Culture” that allow you to build upon foundational knowledge from the Core and delve more deeply into issues confronting business leaders and organizations. 
  • Johnson Leadership Skills Program (LSP) – 30+ half-day and whole day classes offered throughout the academic year on Fridays and Saturdays.  LSPs supplement the theory curriculum and offer students practical tools and skill training in the various Johnson Leadership Model competencies.  
  • Leading one or more of the 70+ Johnson student organizations, Cornell University activities, and external organizations. Our students seek, create, and develop a remarkable range of leadership learning experiences, and they obtain feedback on their leadership performance in those organizations in order to optimize the development that occurs from those experiences. 

If you are ready to learn more about yourself and your leadership style; increase your subject matter expertise and problem solving skills; practice leading teams under time pressure and with real consequences at stake; receive meaningful feedback on how you lead; and use that feedback to become a more effective leader, then you have found the right place for your MBA.  You are Johnson.