“It was really lovely to have an opportunity to meet people across all sectors, with so many different areas of expertise and skill sets and interests. During the programme, we were a very supportive group, leveraging our differences to help and challenge each other. And we are all still constantly in touch. We have become a very tight-knit group, and I feel like it’s only the beginning of the different ways that we will support each other.”
Karen Kaiser is SVP, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer with the Associated Press. It is a role that sees her oversee the organisation’s legal, governance, compliance and risk. Coming up to 10 years in this position, the opportunity to develop herself arose and after some research, Karen felt most drawn to INSEAD; a function, she says, of the school’s comprehensive admixture of strategic development and personal growth.
“I was really looking for a learning experience that would bring both the foundations and the fundamentals, and then the opportunity to apply this learning to my own personal development and growth. And this is what INSEAD, and the Advanced Management Programme in particular, were offering.”
Taking the programme is a decision that has delivered transformational impact, says Karen. There were several critical moments in the learning journey in which she was challenged to pause and reflect profoundly on elements of her own leadership practice and style that have gone on to spark deep change. Among these, an early session on communication proved eye-opening.
“Being challenged to think about my own style of communication has been transformative in the sense that it has helped me communicate more effectively and speak more broadly and with greater impact to other, bigger groups of individuals and stakeholders—it’s helped me achieve greater impact in my communication.”
Seeing the whole strategic picture
The programme has also equipped her to think at “different strategic altitudes,” seeing the biggest picture and being able to focus in on the specifics have helped her become a far more dynamic leader, she says.
“This is a learning journey that has really taught me about thinking simultaneously at different levels of strategy, and also how to reach people and ensure my message lands. At the same time, it’s empowered me with a really insightful framework for approaching leadership and collaboration across cultures, which is hugely important in a multinational organisation. One of the additional key takeaways for me was the work we did on bias and how preconceptions can influence and shape our decision making, and importantly, how to spot those issues. The skills and insights I have gained are phenomenal.”
Another highlight was the coaching element of the programme. Talks by expert speakers were extraordinarily helpful, she says, in particular, sessions that yoked Olympic training to the corporate world: an analogy that helped illuminate the importance of simplifying the load of responsibility, staying visible, making the time to rejuvenate and rest.
“All of this was just so impactful and resonated very deeply with me. So much so that I have purposefully taken these insights back with me into the workplace and frequently review the notes that I made.”
A tight-knit network
Then there was the network. Going into the programme, Karen was one of just two Americans and one of very few representatives of her industry and profession. Learning alongside diverse peers, interchanging ideas and perspectives with people from very different professional and cultural backgrounds has expanded her network in ways she never could have envisioned, she says.
“It was really lovely to have an opportunity to meet people across all sectors, with so many different areas of expertise and skill sets and interests. During the programme, we were a very supportive group, leveraging our differences to help and challenge each other. And we are all still constantly in touch. We have become a very tight-knit group, and I feel like it’s only the beginning of the different ways that we will support each other.”
Coming out of the programme, Karen has found herself leveraging her learning to make what she calls “fine-tune changes” to her leadership; small yet critical ongoing adjustments to her personal efficacy and to the ways that she interacts with others that are driving impact within her team and organisation.
“This is such an impactful programme. It’s been a luxury and a gift to be able to really devote myself to the learning and to do so at this stage in my life and career. I would strongly recommend the Advanced Management Programme to anyone who wants to devote themselves to this kind of learning, and to grow into the next level of their professional life.”
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