Our Approach

RLI serves the leadership development needs of students at Michigan Ross

through high-impact, action-based programs. Our approach to leadership

development -- Mindful Engagement -- draws on research by Ross faculty

members Scott DeRue and Susan Ashford and five design principles.

Mindful Engagement

RLI programs incorporate a three-stage process of Mindful Engagement.

1 Readying for growth:

Increasing awareness of personal strengths

Setting specific learning objectives

Approaching developmental opportunities with a learning mindset (rather than a performance

mindset)

2 Taking action to learn:

Becoming familiar with the Michigan Model of Leadership and its competing tensions

Leaving comfort zones behind

Entering ambiguous, dynamic, complex situations

Experimenting with new ways of leading

Seeking and receiving feedback

3 Reflecting to retain:

Describing experiences

Explaining reactions to experiences

Considering alternative scenarios

Identifying key insights about new behaviors

Committing to a few behavioral changes and setting specific milestones

Design Principles

RLI programs are designed with five principles in mind. Our programs are ...

Grounded in research

RLI teaches a unique point of view about leadership. It is rooted in the Michigan Model of

Leadership andfive core assumptions.

 

Solution-focused

We begin with our goal in mind — preparing students to lead in complex, 21st century contexts — and make

To learn more, read "Developing

Adaptive Leaders for Turbulent

Times: The Michigan Model of

Leadership" in The European

Business Review.

that the starting point for programs. Specifically, we prepare Ross students to (1) take responsibility for

themselves, (2) take responsibility for others, (3) have everyday impact, (4) thrive under pressure, (5) design

for innovation, and (6) face crossroads.

 

Action-based

We get students outside of their comfort zones by placing them into ambiguous, dynamic, and complex

situations where they must collaborate, experiment, and take risks in order to excel — all in the service of

learning to lead. Our flagship programs — including the Ross Impact Challenge and the Leadership Crisis

Challenge — epitomize the stretch experiences we provide to students.

 

Co-created

We partner with students to create our menu of diverse and dynamic programs. The very planning and

execution of these programs test and develop students’ leadership skills.

 

Measurable

Every student completes our 360° Ross Leadership Assessment multiple times throughout their Ross

experience. Students receive custom feedback and benchmarks on their development.

Ross Leadership Institute:

They must have empathy, drive, courage, and the integrity to do the right thing even when it isn't popular. We

need leaders who can balance the competing tensions inherent in organizational life; leaders with a bias toward

action, who can mobilize the highest potential in others.

The Michigan Model of Leadership (MMoL) is rooted in cutting-edge, practice-oriented research by faculty in

the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. It introduces the core purpose, values, and actions that are needed

to lead in today's complex and dynamic world.

Values

Surrounding the positive core is a set of values that are essential to effective leadership:

Empathy, to see the world through others' eyes

Drive, to set and achieve challenging goals

Integrity, to do the right thing when no one is watching

Courage, to take risks and make mistakes in service of innovation and creativity

Actions

With a core purpose and values at its heart, the MMoL describes actions that enable leaders to succeed in

today's complex and dynamic world. Leaders in the 21st century must balance competing forces. They must

provide stability to enable execution, but lead change for innovation. They must balance their team's

collaborative spirit with its competitive drive.

Building on groundbreaking research by Ross faculty members Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron, the MMoL

represents these competing tensions through its four quadrants.

Robust Results (blue) -- Leaders:

Exercise good judgment

Foster healthy competition

Perform under pressure

Collaborative Communities (yellow) -- Often in tension with the robust results quadrant, leaders engage in

actions that:

Empower people

Foster teamwork

Build positive relationships

Strategic Structures (red) -- Leaders:

Design reliable systems

Establish accountability

Optimize efficiency

Creative Change (green) -- Often in tension with the strategic structures quadrant, leaders engage in actions

that:

Inspire innovation

Enable change

Co-create opportunities

The MMoL helps leaders recognize that these competing tensions are not problems to be resolved. Rather, they

are inevitable paradoxes to be managed. It gives them the tools to lead positive change in people,

organizations, and society.

MBA immersions:

Details

First-Year MBA Experience:

Impact Challenge

August 26-29, 2013

A 4-day, action-based challenge that launches first year MBA students on their leadership development journey

and activates the Ross mission of making a positive difference in the world. Read about the 2012 Impact

Challenge or watch our YouTube review.

Crisis Challenge

January 16-17, 2014

A 2-day crisis simulation that continues the first-year leadership journey and tests each student's ability to

strategize through extreme turbulence, think on their feet, and demonstrate poise under pressure. To learn

about the 2013 Crisis Challenge, watch RLI's overview video on YouTube.

Second-Year MBA Experience:

Story Lab

September 8, 2013

A half-day workshop that launches MBA students into the second year of their leadership development journey.

Students reflect, put success and failure under the microscope, and prepare their story for the stage.

Legacy Lab

Date TBA

A half-day workshop that concludes the RLI experience. Students look to the future, crystallize their vision for

impact, and co-create a method for continuous experimentation and transformation.

The first real experience I had at Michigan was at Ross Leadership Initiative (RLI).  What an incredible “ice breaker.”  In six days, we were to come up with a full blown for-profit business model that had a social impact in the city of Detroit and benefited the transportation sector (different parts of the class had different sectors).  It was an incredible experience involving many late nights, tours of Detroit’s public transportation and commuting infrastructure, and a lot of team bonding.  In the end, we presented our plan to local venture capitalists who evaluated the idea determined whether they wanted to fund it or not (think Shark Tank).  The scariest part was that our entire class was also the audience of our presentation.  Talk about pressure.  We did not end up winning the competition, but we’ve been told our idea still has merit and is being vetted through possible partners in Detroit as we speak.  Here’s hoping!  Below is my team, Team Trip the Mitten.  We still have dinners together to help support each other as the year goes on.