Executive Development Programs

What makes a CSO successful: Academic director Gregory Unruh

Jennifer Anzaldi — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 20:11:01 +0000

What makes a CSO successful: Academic director Gregory Unruh Jennifer Anzaldi Wed, 06/15/2022 - 16:11

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Gregory Unruh

With the rise of ESG and net-zero targets, the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) role finally has a secure seat at the senior-management table. But because this state of affairs is so new, and the job description is still in flux, there is no widely acknowledged template for CSO success.

Gregory Unruh, academic director of Mason’s brand-new chief sustainability officer certification program in Executive Development, has been training sustainability leaders for decades. In addition to holding the position of Arison Professor of Values Leadership at Mason, he has written five books on sustainable business and is the Sustainability Guest Editor for MIT Sloan Management Review.

Recently, we asked him to share his thoughts on the special qualities that distinguish successful CSOs from other professionals.

How do professionals usually get started on the path to becoming CSO?

I think there’s a misconception that you have to have a broad base of knowledge before starting to lead in sustainable business. In actuality, most budding CSOs experience a gradual learning curve that normally starts with expertise in a relatively narrow area. It could be DE&I, circular economy, carbon neutrality—any particular point on the ESG spectrum that interests you. But it should be a passion point so that you will be motivated enough not just to learn about the topic, but keep up with its evolution. These domains are changing all the time; there’s a lot to stay on top of. But if you attain that deep-yet-narrow knowledge and maintain expertise over time, the credibility you gain will act as a kind of foothold in the sustainability world, and you can climb up from there.

How do CSOs become influential within organizations?

They have to overcome a major obstacle, which is that most professionals do not speak the language of sustainability. The terminology and logic are like a foreign tongue to them. A common mistake sustainability leaders make is to assume a teacher-like role, trying to educate colleagues about what CSOs do and what sustainability is all about. Frankly, most business leaders don’t have time for that—plus they may resent the preachy overtones of that teaching approach.

Successful CSOs translate sustainability concepts and concerns into the idiom of whomever they’re speaking to. They also will know what’s currently important to that person, from the standpoint of the business. For example, if they’re meeting with a CFO, they’ll talk in terms of how sustainability affects whatever bottom-line considerations may be paramount for the company at that point in time. Building those conceptual bridges, and comprehensive understanding of the challenges and objectives of the business, are two core CSO competencies that go hand-in-hand.

So are you saying successful CSOs work in an “inside-out” way, rather than “outside-in”?

Definitely not! That’s one of the main challenges of the CSO role—they have to do both at once. You could also look at it as one of the most exciting aspects of the role. The best CSOs I know are proactive about forming and developing relationships with external stakeholders whose work affects the business, whether that’s policymakers, NGOs, trade unions, etc. These external relationships provide CSOs with vital information about what’s going on outside the company, which they can bring back to their colleagues in the organization. And when CSOs do this, of course, it only strengthens their credibility and influence in-house.

It sounds like the best CSOs do things a bit differently than your standard executive. Is that because of innate talent, personality, etc.? Or can many different types of people learn to do this job well?

In my experience, there is a little bit of self-selection, in that certain personality types are drawn to sustainability leadership a bit more than others. But beyond that, the main skillset required to lead sustainability within for-profit companies—be they large or small—can certainly be learned. It’s more of a craft or a science than an art.

Executive Development at ��AV offers high-level educational and professional development programs for individuals and organizations: open courses to expand your knowledge and skills, or fully customized programs for your organization. We’re here to help you and your business grow and thrive through advanced, targeted solutions. Using the resources of Mason's ten primary colleges and schools, our programs strategically leverage the thought leadership and expertise of world-renowned faculty to create comprehensive learning experiences. We deliver training, education, and learning opportunities for individuals and organizations at our campus located just outside the nation's capital. 

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Executive Development’s Katharyn White Discusses Marketing Trends and the CMO Program

Jennifer Anzaldi — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 17:46:46 +0000

Executive Development’s Katharyn White Discusses Marketing Trends and the CMO Program Jennifer Anzaldi Tue, 06/07/2022 - 13:46

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Katharyn M. White

Katharyn White

Katharyn White is vice president of Federal Ecosystem at IBM, and co-academic director for the Chief Marketing Officer Program for ��AV’s Executive Development Program. As a recognized marketing expert, she is leading in the redefinition of marketing and the CMO role, repositioning the role as a driver of growth. Her global career has included various positions at T-Mobile, HP, DuPont, IBM and non-profit organizations. She is also on the advisory board of several start-ups.

Recently, we had the opportunity to catch-up with White to learn more about her work with Mason’s Executive Education program and her take on the industry. [This interview has been edited for length and clarity from its original form.]

Given your leadership in the field, what are the major challenges that senior marketing officers are facing today? I mean, the big challenge for everybody in leadership today is that the marketplace has changed faster than our ability to address it. And specifically that's important in the marketing function because our customer's demands, the marketplace shifts, have changed faster than marketing's ability to address it. The required skills have changed the required collaboration, what it takes to break through in the marketplace. All of this has changed to the point that at least in my opinion, there's no marketing experts anymore. We need to come together as a collective of expertise as a collection of skills to address where the market is going.

Why should someone take a Chief Marketing Officer Program?
I think it's so important that we are skilled to address where the market is going. And as I said before, I have a, a fundamental belief that there are no experts anymore. So we have to have the expertise to create these cross-functional teams that leads the organization to where we need to go. The requirement for transformation is in the marketplace, is in our customers, in our citizen base, and most importantly in our function. And so we have to take this moment for leadership to lead across the C-suite to drive the changes required to be successful in the marketplace.

What are some of the very pressing questions that you see marketers are facing today and what kind of skills can they take away from this program that they can implement from day one after the program?
I think the big change for marketers is in the area of promotion. I think it's now more about personalization and to get at personalization, we really have to bring all the different factors together. How do we apply data, AI, privacy, ethics, and at the same time act, we know the client they're the customer or the citizen that we're helping them that to be successful in whatever it is they're trying to achieve, particularly in a B2B perspective, but in a consumer citizen perspective as well, I want to be successful. I don't want to be burdened to interact with an organization. I want it to be seamless to me without having my privacy at risk. So that exchange of value is changing the requirements to be successful in marketing going forward. And it requires a whole different kind of skillset and so it's the curriculum in total, not any one module of it, that's created in a way to help current CMOs and future CMOs for orchestrating this change.

What do you see as the key learning outcome someone gets from the program?
While we're going to have an element that is both academic and based on where the marketplace is going, having depth and skills and having the breadth, we're also going to apply it in a way that things that we learn in the session, we're going to be able to take to our day job, both at the modular or specific class level, as well as in the program holistically. So we're going to be able to take it to our teams, to our peers and to our leadership, to be able to change the trajectory of our own effectiveness and the organizational effectiveness.

Could you speak to the benefit you see having both academic and industry leaders teaching in the program?
I think you get the best of both worlds, people that are on the industry side haven't really understood the best way to teach, learn, and bring things together in a way that has lasting impact. And at the same time on the academic side, we know how to teach, we know the research, but we haven't applied it to make a difference in the day to day constraints of a business world. So by partnering to together, we're taking really the best in of both worlds to ensure that we're giving the depth of insight, the breadth of capability, and then being able to apply it in a pragmatic way that each of the attendees takes something that they can improve their effectiveness in both the short and long term,

The faculty that you're bringing to the table in the program bring a global perspective. Can you tell us how that is a benefit?
One of the things that I would say is your time is precious. If you're investing in a program, be sure you're getting the best of what curriculum can offer to you. And the thing about this program, in addition to the academic experts, we're bringing in industry experts from literally all over the world, the depth and expertise in, and perspective of all these different organizations will come together for your benefit. Some people call it globalization, but it's that combination of perspectives that will give you insight that you can't possibly gain on your own, because of the experiential and the lenses that they bring to the discussion.

How does the CMO build an effective team?
A huge challenge for the CMO is how to build an effective team. The last thing we can afford to do as marketers is create silos within our own organization. One way in which we do that is, is to create squads or agile teams that bring together the different skills that one needs to, in essence, create the perfect marketer. One of the fun things we're going to do as part of the program is actually draft the ideal marketing team. And then through the course of what we learn, maybe make adaptations on that, maybe have a midyear kind of draft refinement and an end of year draft finalization, because that's what we do in the real world as well. We change, we shift the resources in the squads to be able to address the most effective kind of test and learn and in the skill sets that are most effective to address whatever insights we've gained, whatever actions are required for the next phase of our marketing execution.

So two last questions. Why should someone take a class from ��AV?
I think that George Mason provides the perfect blend of pragmatic and academic industry and impact so that each of us has the opportunity to get the very best value proposition. You know, we break through in a way, because we can bring together unexpected moments of industry and academic that will apply it in our program to create the very best marketing leaders possible. And I guarantee you that you'll be able to see the thread through the curriculum and the pragmatic application of the curriculum to your role. And I'm sure it will make a huge difference, not only for you personally, but in your leadership of the team and the organization as we've spoken about earlier. So it's just a great program. I'm sure there's other great programs, but this one is available to you and we'll bring the best of all these different dimensions together.

___
Executive Development at ��AV offers high-level educational and professional development programs for individuals and organizations: open courses to expand your knowledge and skills, or fully customized programs for your organization. We’re here to help you and your business grow and thrive through advanced, targeted solutions. Using the resources of Mason's ten primary colleges and schools, our programs strategically leverage the thought leadership and expertise of world-renowned faculty to create comprehensive learning experiences. We deliver training, education, and learning opportunities for individuals and organizations at our campus located just outside the nation's capital. 

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Navy Mutual Joins Forces with Mason Executive Development

Marianne Klinker — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 17:27:42 +0000

Navy Mutual Joins Forces with Mason Executive Development Marianne Klinker Fri, 12/03/2021 - 12:27

Fifteen senior leaders from Navy Mutual Aid Association spent three days with ��AV Executive Development to hone their data analytics skills in a customized “Data Analytics Strategic Leadership Program” with School of Business Professor Tarun Kushwaha.

The curriculum developed for Navy Mutual was customized to provide insights on the tools available and application of business analytics to establish strategic and daily decisions vital to strengthening organizational success and customer satisfaction. Built for cross-functional leadership, the experience develops leaders to drive a data-driven culture to streamline processes and improve customer service for those who serve or have served our nation. Kushwaha, a professor of marketing, delivered the executive development experience through lectures, discussions, and interactive exercises to optimize the learning outcomes.

“Navy Mutual is one of the most respected names in the insurance industry and has an enviable 98% customer retention rate," said Kushwaha. "They take pride in serving those who have served the country in uniform. They have a vibrant top management team that is using data and analytics to further improve on their customer experiences. Inquisitive leadership aided by advances in analytical techniques will help them reach the right audience, with the right product, at the right price, and the right time.” Kushwaha has taught extensively in executive education, serving a variety of industries including other multinational insurance companies.

“We are grateful to ��AV and Professor Kushwaha for providing us with a robust data analytics course for our leadership team." said retired Rear Admiral Brian Luther, USN, President, and CEO of Navy Mutual. "The curriculum customization was impressive and the insights we gained from the course will aid us in our enduring mission of service to our members and the military community.”

Navy Mutual is a nonprofit, member-owned mutual association established in 1879 to provide affordable life insurance to members of the military and their families. As the nation’s oldest federally recognized Veterans Service Organization, its mission and commitment to protect those who defend us remains unwavering. Financially strong, Navy Mutual is proud to be a first-choice provider of life insurance to service members and their loved ones. Through quality life insurance products, no-cost educational and veteran services programs, and unparalleled service, Navy Mutual has earned the loyalty and support of its membership and outstanding customer satisfaction and retention ratings.

Housed in the School of Business, Mason Executive Development delivers innovative and cutting-edge educational and development solutions that address organizational and professional challenges. Executive Development serves as a single point of contact for organizations and individuals seeking to leverage the comprehensive thought leadership and scholarly acumen of Virginia’s largest research university. Mason Executive Development draws on the thought leadership and expertise of world-renowned faculty from across ��AV’s ten major colleges and schools to deliver custom training, education, and learning opportunities.

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Executive Development Program Helps Women Succeed at the Bargaining Table

Marianne Klinker — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 20:14:36 +0000

Executive Development Program Helps Women Succeed at the Bargaining Table Marianne Klinker Fri, 11/12/2021 - 15:14

The group of twelve women in this three-day program on negotiations crosses generational boundaries—baby boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials. “Gender still gets in the way,” one woman in her forties says. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this anymore.” Another woman nods. She’s also mid-life, mid-career. “We’ve come a long way in terms of setting up a structure to support egalitarianism. The problem is that the rules, those structures, are often not really enforced.”

Suzanne de Janasz

Suzanne de Janasz, PhD, is an expert in conflict resolution and negotiation and a passionate and well-published advocate for women in the workplace. She is also the founder and leader of the three-day “Engaging and Succeeding in Negotiations” program, one of the newest of the School of Business executive development programs. Lifelong learning is a key element of Mason’s core mission, and the programs offered by Executive Development reflect a variety of professional needs. Offerings range from custom programs developed for companies or organizations, to those designed for individuals seeking career growth as leaders in data analytics, risk management, and human capital advancement.

The negotiations program is not advertised as only for women and the tagline, “Capitalizing on Everyday Negotiation Opportunities,” does not suggest only women will benefit, but this first cohort was all female. Appropriate, perhaps—women, de Janasz points out, still initiate negotiations 25 percent as often as men, unsure of their ability or afraid others will see them as aggressive. In the closing months of 2019—postmillennial and mid #MeToo movement—women clearly still need to learn to ask. Women who don’t negotiate salary early in their careers can, over time, leave $1 million or more in unrealized wages on the table.

One younger participant says she accepted the first salary offered, “I didn’t want them to think money was the only reason I wanted the job.” Another young woman adds “we assume people are being fair.” She continues, “girls are trained to be fair, so we expect people to be fair to us. When I was offered my first job, I assumed the salary they presented was what the position was worth, so I didn’t ask for more.” De Janasz says, “There are still companies that have no women’s room on executive floors, still deals made on golf courses where women CEOs aren’t invited to play.”

These conversations provide a clear picture of what women in the workplace continue to experience. Most reasons women don’t negotiate salary as often or easily as men center on how they continue to be socialized in American culture. Women who negotiate are seen as demanding or bossy, traits most girls are encouraged to avoid. Girls are still raised to avoid interpersonal conflicts. The implicit message is that a female’s personal worth is less important than group harmony. The discussion also uncovers the vast difference in the way men and women present—and listen to—information.

The narratives the women share imply men have less patience with longer, more anecdotally-based requests—an issue of communicative dissonance not appropriately accounted for. If male bosses stop hearing a woman in the middle of her negotiation, she leaves empty-handed. This puts the onus clearly on women, not men, to change their approach. Part of what de Janasz teaches is the importance of preparing a clear ask comprised of facts and data and devoid of emotion. When approaching a male boss about a raise, giving him numbers showing improvements initiated and results achieved is more effective than describing the same in a narrative.

An older woman notes that “Women just entering the workforce don’t immediately see the discrepancies, they don’t understand some of what their older female colleagues mean when they talk about bias and double standards.” There is a women’s group at her company—a regular meeting where women discuss workplace issues. “A lot of the younger women won’t come. They either don’t see a need yet, or they think their attendance will make men see them as needy.” As innocuous as this sounds, the effect is that by the time a woman feels she’s facing different—more intense—pressures than her male colleagues it’s too late. Burnout or, at least, the slow itch of dissatisfaction, has taken hold.

A woman’s confidence and ambition depend on her feeling fairly treated; knowing her gender does not stand in her way. In 2014, Bain and Company[1] published research showing that in the first two years of their career, 43 percent of women aim for top management, while only 34 percent of men do. After that, a radical shift occurs and women’s aspirations and confidence about reaching leadership positions nosedive. The percentage of men aiming for top positions stays steady while the one for women drops to 16 percent. The study is clear that women leaving to pursue marriage or motherhood does not cause this drop; the statistics are virtually the same for the married and unmarried, the mothers and child-free. Further, though women make up 40 percent of MBAs, only five percent of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies are female. [2] Clearly, not every CEO has an MBA, but this indicates the different career trajectories of women and men on the same path.

The women here work in diverse settings but share stories of daily micro-negotiations—the “death by a thousand cuts” of women’s workplace satisfaction. They mention being implicitly expected to do the unpaid, menial tasks—taking notes at meetings, organizing parties, keeping office kitchens clean. These chores are not counted in performance reviews or compensated and leave them overworked, underappreciated, and with less time for their actual jobs—making it harder to achieve the same successes and promotion rates as male counterparts.

Inability to negotiate these areas of her work life—let alone negotiating with colleagues for leadership roles—erode a woman’s happiness and desire to do better. When female staff feel undervalued and unable to speak up, companies suffer through attrition, lost productivity, and erosion of critical diversity. This diversity is more than a nod to social norms—it affects a company’s bottom line. Numerous studies demonstrate that the more organizations embrace elements of diversity—including gender—in their culture and on their board, the more prosperous the company and more satisfied and loyal its workforce.

Engaging and Succeeding in Negotiations has a different feel than the other executive education programs, which are longer and cover broader business topics. Using her research and global experience in negotiation, leadership, and gender, de Janasz has developed a three-day course that takes a deep dive into the culture of negotiations. It’s a hands-on exploration that enables participants to address their deficits in negotiation with new skills and improved confidence. This bolsters organizations with self-assured employees who recognize their value and are inspired to contribute. Companies who foster this attitude—through programs like this or others—see across-the-board, lingering, positive effects.

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Mason’s School of Business offers new diversity officer certification program

Colleen Rich — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 16:38:31 +0000

Mason’s School of Business offers new diversity officer certification program Colleen Rich Mon, 10/25/2021 - 12:38

In This Story

Christine Landoll

Brett Josephson

Leaders from government, industry and academia highlighted their career journey and discussed their roles, challenges and opportunities in leading the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Photo by Chris Ferenzi

��AV’s School of Business is offering a new five-month program for people interested in pursuing or enhancing work as chief diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) officers.

The Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer program, which began this month, is designed for executives who want to take a deep dive into DEI efforts within corporations, said Christine A. Landoll, director of business engagement and professor of practice at the School of Business.

“Throughout the five months, we will be walking the cohort of students through what it means to be a chief diversity and inclusion officer, “said Landoll, who is co-leading the program. “We will look at things like organizational strategies, how to get stakeholder involvement and how to measure your efforts and increase accountability.”

Another issue students will address is “how to ensure that you are focusing on expanding and growing the diversity and inclusion efforts at a corporation, so that the inclusive culture you are creating is enduring,” said Landoll, who has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s in taxation from Mason.

The course is being run through Mason Executive Development as part of its C-Suite Development Programs. Mason also offers programs for chief learning officer, chief risk officer, and chief data officer. The programs average between 10 and 15 students per cohort.

“Our C-Suite programs continue the university’s mission for lifelong learning,” said Brett Josephson, associate dean for executive development in the Business School. “We are able to provide access to faculty with expertise and learning content for people who are already on their career path but have an area in which they want to learn more. We are particularly excited about this new program, which is driven by and relevant to what’s going on in the corporate world right now.”

The class is conducted in a hybrid format, with a combination of online learning and discussions and in-person events.

Participants in the program say they look forward to learning from experts in the field, as well as from each other.

Seena Foster, Transportation Security Administration deputy assistant administrator for civil rights and liberties ombudsman and traveler engagement, said she joined the program to learn more about best practices for diversity, equity and inclusion.

“I’m interested in learning about the latest cutting-edge ideas and what the academic community is seeing and hearing,” said Foster.

Kimberly Highsmith, who works at ManTech as the executive director for HR compliance and employee relations and diversity, said she’s especially looking forward to talking with her cohort and exchanging ideas with other executives working towards the same goals for the companies in which they work.

“I’m so glad Mason’s offering the course,” said Highsmith. “It’s speaking to the here and now. It’s very relevant to what’s going on in the business world.”

Individuals who complete the program will be awarded a Credly Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Executive Certificate badge in addition to the training and education they receive.

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