"In my learning team there are seven people, and in that group of seven, there are five countries represented and six different industries. When we tackle a problem, we get seven different viewpoints, and it really helps to widen the solution space."
Student Profile
Executive MBA Learning Teams
Leadership learning starts with your first-year learning team, in which you work with classmates from diverse industries and backgrounds to achieve common goals. The learning team model, pioneered at Wharton, gives you the chance to explore leadership styles.
A group of five to seven students collaborate on assignments throughout the first year, drawing from a broad range of careers, interests, and backgrounds. The team structure encourages trial and error, risk-taking, and creative friction among members as they learn to lead a group of high-level peers.
Leadership and Learning Team Experience
- Learning Team Mini-Workshop
During the opening week of the program, you meet your learning team members and begin to explore the team dynamics that will shape your first year. The workshop is led by the program's senior adviser on group effectiveness and career development, who continues to coach and mentor teams and individuals throughout the program. - Coaching and Mentoring
The program's adviser on group effectiveness and career development works with teams to help them become effective learning communities that capitalize on their diverse strengths. Collectively and one-on-one, your team works through issues that either enhance or interfere with team dynamics and productivity. The adviser also provides individual counseling to students on a wide range of program and career-related issues applicable to mature students — from keeping a healthy work-life balance to handling difficult job situations to maintaining personal identity in the context of the corporate world, including cross-cultural issues and social identity. - Foundations of Leadership and Teamwork
A cornerstone of the learning team experience, this core course focuses on horizontal and vertical leadership, team building and performance, team leadership, and ethics. The course examines concepts and builds skills through team projects, class discussions, problem-solving, case studies of leadership examples from history and business, and role-playing. More » - Field Application Project
Learning teams work as consultants to a company, using a real business issue selected from among those currently faced by team members. Each student contributes unique experiences and perspectives, providing substantial resources for problem solving. More »
