Standford LEAD: Journey so far!

 Why go back to school? Why LEAD?

I started Stanford's LEAD program in September of last year. Why, you ask, did I decide to go spend time and energy on going back to school? What could sitting in a (virtual) classroom teach me that I couldn't learn by reading books or with time and experience?

I am at a startup leading a fast growing organization. The next step for me would be to step into a General Manager/ VPE role managing the business at a much broader scale. To do that I need to advance my core knowledge, test my ideas with my peer group and learn from their experiences and feedback. 

Stanford LEAD is an online executive education program meant for mid-senior level professionals looking to learn creative strategies and practices to innovate in their organizations. It allows me to be part of an academic circle and gain knowledge and improve my thought process, form relationships that I can tap later for help in specific areas.  

What did I learn in the first quarter?

My first event was a week long Orientation before the program started. I learnt and experienced first-hand how much the EdTech space has advanced. The Orientation was organized on an online campus app called Virbela that allows you to walk around Stanford campus and interact with the other people at the event. Virbela doesn’t just have the campus mapped out for your to interact with but even Stanford classrooms are mapped. Attending a class on Virbela allows you to pick a seat in the classroom, raise your hand and shake hands with other student’s avatars. In covid times virtual collaboration tools have become crucial for us to stay connected. The EdTech industry is going to be an interesting space to follow. 

I realized that being a part time student is hard. Balancing work and school took some getting used to. The course material is available in books but the course offers a chance for real world application in team settings. This allows for feedback and coaching and connects you with people dealing with similar problems and challenges. 

In the first quarter I had two courses. Financial Innovation has helped me understand how to evaluate  financial risks and opportunity costs before deciding on the right investment for the company. Communicating with impact and structured arguments and reasoning is key to success.  Critical Analytical Thinking helped me self reflect on my communication style. 

You will get as much as you put in. This being an online executive program, the work load can be 10 hours a week or 20 hours a week. It all depends on how much you want to engage with the content and the people in the program with you.