Leadership Reflections: Matt Vernon

We conducted an interview with Matt Vernon, Professional Online MBA student, who participated in our McLauchlan Leadership Series this past year. The following post is that conversation, edited for clarity.

Q: What were some of your biggest takeaways from the series?

Matt Vernon: Personal leadership is paramount. You can’t sustainably lead a team, much less an organization, without first mastering preternatural self-awareness, and, subsequently, appropriate self-care.

Q: How will you apply what you learned to your studies as an MBA student?

MV: To be honest, I’m more likely to apply the lessons I learned in the McLauchlan series over the full course of my personal and professional life vs. just my remaining time as a student. In other words: the McLauchlan experience will be with me for a long, long time. I’ve already used a wide variety of my new leadership skills as a parent — I’ve noticed, particularly, how important it is to be vulnerable when seeking to build trust.

Q: How have you seen your leadership skills advance throughout this course?

MV: The McLauchlan series gave me a meaningful structure for optimally implementing organizational culture change initiatives, an area of substantial personal interest. I now have a roadmap for helping manage institutional changes of that magnitude, and the same techniques and tools work on a smaller scale, too.

Q: Any other insights or thoughts you’d like to share?

MV: My personal belief is that this fellowship was the single most valuable part of my MBA learning experience. The McLauchlans provide each of us with a very special gift: we connected with other leaders, reinforced classroom study in real-world settings, and grew as a human beings.