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MBA Leadership in Action Workshop

Dr. Chris MacDonald at the MBA Dare to Lead Summit
Chris MacDonald, Director of the Leadership Centre, lecturing to MBA students

The Leadership in Action Workshop is likely the most valuable workshop I have had the opportunity to participate in during my time in the Ryerson MBA. Being able to learn directly from industry leaders, while discussing particularly challenging moments in their professional lives, is a fascinating experience. This workshop should be mandatory — the lessons learned really and truly reinforce the managerial and leadership theories taught in the classroom."

Megan Young, 2015 MBA Candidate

Ted Rogers Leadership Centre has collaborated with faculty from the MBA program to incorporate our Leadership in Action Workshop as an experiential learning opportunity for MBA students enrolled in the Leading for Performance and Well Being course. 

What is the Leadership in Action Workshop?

The Leadership in Action Workshop is an event that gives an opportunity to MBA students to work through real-life leadership scenarios. 

The goal of the Leadership in Action Workshop is for students to gain insight into some of the key concepts of leadership through the experiences of leaders who share scenarios they have encountered that shed light on these key leadership characteristics:

  • Self-awareness.
  • Honesty and transparency
  • Empathy and respect
  • Concern for Well being
  • Inspiration and motivation
  • Risk taking
  • Outcome and Implementation Focus
What is the Leadership in Action Workshop?

What to Expect from the Leadership in Action Workshop?

The workshop is split into two ~1-hour sessions. In each session, students are divided into small groups of 6–8 students, with one Executive Leader per group. The leader will start the session off by telling a real-life story through describing the context, situation, problem/opportunity, decision making process, and stakeholders they experienced.
 
Each group will have an opportunity to seek further information from the leader. They will then be asked to meet without the leader and determine how they would pursue a resolution and the solution/choices they would make when faced with this scenario.
 
After the student groups have made their approach known, the leader will then tell the group how they dealt with the scenario and the approach and conclusions they reached.
 
This will be followed by a discussion examining the differences and similarities in the approaches of the leaders and students. As there is rarely a single perfect solution to any given leadership challenge it is more than likely that the reasons for these differences will become an important part of the ensuing discussion and learning.

Executive Leaders

For each workshop, we have an average of 15 to 18 Executives Leaders from a variety of sectors who will describe a tough leadership scenario they have experienced which tested one or more of these leadership characteristics mentioned above. 

Students will have the opportunity to be a part of two group. Therefore they will get met and learn from 2 different Executive Leaders.

Here are some companies that our Executive Leaders have worked are:

  • Ontario Public Service (Crown Agency)
  • the Bank of Montreal (BMO)
  • Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
  • the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
  • KPMG
  • Royal Ontario Museum
  • Sun Life
Logo of companies some of our executive leaders come from

 Check out executive leaders from past events 

Anne Fawcett

Partner with the Executive Search Firm at Caldwell Partners International (Semi-retired)

Cynthia Kett

Founding Principal at Stewart & Kett Financial Advisors

Gerald Mak

Ontario Public Service - Capital Projects & Manager at CIBC

Hershell Ezrin

Senior Fellow at Global Public Affairs

Kunal Deep

Data Engineer at TD - Insurance

Gail Cook-Johnson

Executive in Residence at TRSM & an active member at the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre

Ian Orfanides

Senior Director, IT Audit, Digital Products, Retail Banking and Wealth Management Applications at RBC

Lorne Salzman

Independent Lawyer & Consultant

George Horhota

CEO of Spacent Canada (formerly Tractr)

Marilyn Monk

Health Care Executive

Shiri Gawrielman

Senior Consultant in Technology Risk Operations and Program Management at Deloitte Global

Kristina Milbourn

Technology Lawyer & Head of Litigation for Rogers Communications

Brandon Arkinson

Member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Ray Ahmed

Founder of PoliAlerts

Thomas Lederer

Arbitrator & Mediator at ADR Chambers

Kenneth Jones

Former Dean of Ted Rogers School of Management

Rebecca Pang

Vice President, Commercial Financial Services, Diversified Asian Markets at RBC

Vishal Lakra

Senior Manager, Enterprise Strategy & Transformation at Walmart

Gerald Mak

Strategy Manager at Metrolinx

Faisal Yousuf

Director, Inside Sales at Aviso Wealth

Allen Ponak

Labour Arbitrator; Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary; Past President, National Academy of Arbitrators

Kenneth Jones

Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus at the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre

Renata Bezerra

Sr. Director, Wellness & Protection Acquisition at CIBC

Victoria Marroccoli

Senior Manager, Strategic Support, Specialized Financial Services at Scotiabank

Ranjani Ranganathan

Product Manager at Info-Tech Research Group

Asma Shahsamand

Head of Ventures Canada at Accenture Ventures

Abiola Ajayi

Contractor Security Screening/Procurement Analyst at Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services

Nicole Iacoucci

Development Analyst at RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust

John Cucchiella

Head of Corporate Development & Investor Relations at a Real Estate Private Equity Firm

Saba Samanian

Acting Director, Student Program at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Leena Patel

Principal at the Marketing Elephant

Pasquale Minicucci

Experienced Corporate Director, Retired Financial Services Executive & Executive Coach

Lesley Mellor

Retired Media Executive, has worked for Rogers Media

Tirzah Johnston

VP, North America Claims Strategy Lead for Chubb.Ltd.