2020 - 2021 Academic Year - Annual Report
SANGER LEADERSHIP CENTER
SANGER LEADERSHIP CENTER:
BY THE NUMBERS IN 2020-2021
• 126 - Number of program sessions delivered • 239 - Number of hours of learning content delivered • 10,283 - Number of student interactions • $100k - Given to MBA student scholarships for those with high leadership potential • 10 of 10 - Sanger programs pivoted to the online environment • 13 of 19 - Number of U-M schools/colleges that participated in Sanger programming • 2 - Percentage increase in student satisfaction across programs, even in online versions • 96 - Percentage of students reported growing in leadership skills because of Sanger • 9.7 million - Total number of social media impressions of Sanger social media posts during the academic year
• 32 - Percentage increase in news blog posts about Sanger activities • 23 - Percentage increase in social media followers from FY19 to FY20 • 35 - Number of posts shared through a new social media series launched during the year, including #TipTuesdays (August-May) and #FollowingTheirFootsteps (February - May)
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2020-2021 • • • •
Launched the Sanger Leadership Journey, a five-step framework for gaining new leadership skills Established six-week DEI program, Leading Inclusive Teams, with 130 students opting in Launched five-week Summer Leadership Pods program for 120 incoming FTMBA students Adapted Leadership Crisis Challenge to online format with record number of participants and highest evaluation scores ever received • Expansion of faculty engagement in each program and research lab • More integration into signature curricular offerings (MAP, LBLE, BA 100, OMBA Core) • Designing and innovating within Sanger programs to meet needs and be on the cutting edge of bold ideas in leadership
Greetings from Ann Arbor: We are honored to present you with our Sanger Leadership Center’s Annual Report for 2020-21. This past year offered numerous challenges for our society, our university, and those we serve. At the Sanger Leadership Center, we have focused our efforts on innovating ways to support our stakeholders where they are at during these challenging times. This has included pivoting our events online, expanding our online resources, engaging alumni and external stakeholders on topics such as remote work and inclusive best practices, and launching new programs to support emerging students needs around connection, remote work, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’ve been grateful for the opportunities to serve our stakeholders and to innovate on what we do as a leadership center. A few of the new programs we’d like to draw your attention are highlighted in this report. First, we’ve launched an overarching platform to link together our programs—the Sanger Leadership Journey. The Sanger Leadership Journey is a self-coaching framework students use to help accelerate their leadership development across Sanger events, and all their leadership opportunities (clubs, classes, internships, etc.). This framework has been an incredible tool to integrate leadership experiences and deepen our impact. We’ve found it to be particularly powerful when paired with peer- or professional-coaching, and are seeking to fundraise to expand the program (and our other new ones) this coming year. Second, we’re very proud of Leading Inclusive Teams, a new community designed to teach students to lead with the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Over 120+ full-time MBA (FTMBA) students signed up to participate, and the program achieved all of its learning goals. Additionally, we worked very hard to produce an all-online Crisis Challenge, which brought in stakeholders from across the globe to help our students learn and ended up being the best evaluated Crisis Challenge we’ve hosted. The experience was so powerful that we plan to perhaps continue an online version of the Challenge in addition to our in-person offering. We’ve also expanded the breadth of our impact this year, including scaling our programs this year to allow all FTMBA students entrance to all programs (and looking to similarly scale across all graduate programs this coming year) and increasing our social media presence online to support the leadership development of an even broader group of stakeholders (our online media generated over 9 million impressions this past year!). We’ve also worked to improve the rigor of our programs, bringing in more evidence-based research and supporting the next generation of leadership research. We now have a board of 27 faculty—across disciplines—who are working with us to further integrate leadership research and action into the curriculum. With your support, we will continue to spread the ideas and research generated here at Michigan into the world through journal articles, media interviews, podcasts, and more. We hope you enjoy pursuing this report and we look forward to further collaborating with you this year. Sincerely,
Jeffrey Domagala
Managing Director, Sanger Leadership Center
Lindred Greer
Faculty Director, Sanger Leadership Center Associate Professor of Management and Organizations
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t’s amazing what you can accomplish when you’re guided by values and vision. Such is the case with the Sanger Leadership Center at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Drawing strength from our values and vision, the team at the Sanger Leadership Center used the challenges of the past year (including the transition to remote work and the hiring freeze) as opportunities to innovate, including meeting staffing needs through new partnerships with external partners, utilizing the Ross Service Corps for programming support, and integrating faculty and external executive coaches into the fabric of our center. All members of our staff were able to take on new and challenging areas of responsibility, as we continued to respond to the needs of our students in virtual formats and hybrid options when possible. Our team redefined our center’s internal values, and we began to design a team culture map. The Center’s five values are as follows: 1. CULTIVATE INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY: We create spaces where people feel welcome, safe, and valued in all of their identities. We foster mutual trust with our partners and within our programs. We are committed to sincere curiosity, fairness, and understanding different perspectives. 2. DELIVER HIGH-QUALITY RESULTS: We hold ourselves to a high standard and deliver evidence-based content that has a lasting impact. We affirm success, embrace failure as a part of the process, and hold ourselves accountable either way. 3. NURTURE A GROWTH MINDSET: We are committed to continual improvement and adaptation. We pledge to not only do what we already know works well, but to innovate, have an open mind, and change our approach when the available evidence suggests it is necessary. 4. OWN OUR WORK: We each have a critical role to play. We take pride in our work as individuals contributing to a larger whole, and as a team that provides valuable programs and powerful ideas to the U-M community and beyond. Empowering each other to make decisions that are in line with our center’s strategic goals is what helps us be at our best. 5. FOSTER JOY: We have fun and enjoy each other’s company. We strive to create a work environment where people look forward to coming to work each day. It’s not about “looking on the bright side” or “finding a silver lining” when something doesn’t go the way we were expecting it to. Instead, it is the intentional practice of gratitude for and enjoyment of what we do and who we do it with. Please read on to learn about the values-driven impact we were able to achieve in all of our leadership programming during the 2020-2021 Academic Year.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Before we delve into details about programming, we’d like to say a word about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Last summer, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and continued examples of racial injustice in our country, the Sanger Leadership Center crafted and broadly shared a message of solidarity with our Black students and the broader community. Our message reaffirmed our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion — and it guided readers to resources with the goal to drive social equity in the world of business. With that, we also announced the launch of the center’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Strategic Plan.
inclusive, equitable, and diverse communities. This vision aligns with the University of Michigan’s belief that, collectively, diversity, equity, and inclusion are core to individual flourishing, educational excellence, and advancement of knowledge. We quickly acted to fill a need at the school and developed a new pilot program — Leading Inclusive Teams — that brings together the best of Sanger programs, combines a peer learning community with live, virtual workshops and asynchronous material. With the best evidence-based findings, faculty integration, staff support, and executive coaching knowledge, we launched our pilot program for more than 120 full-time MBA students.
Sanger envisions a society where all members are empowered to lead, thrive, and are equipped with the tools to co-create more
You will find more details about our success in launching this new program further in this report.
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ORIENTATION PROGRAMMING
e cannot report on the impact of our orientation programming without first mentioning the successful development and launch of the Sanger Leadership Journey over this past year.
This innovative leadership-development framework provides students with a concrete five-step process for cultivating their leadership skills. It was implemented across orientation programming and all Sanger programs during the 2020-2021 Academic Year. The integration across all programs allows students to begin their leadership journey with intentionality. Students had the opportunity to gain new skills by developing an experiment, testing it throughout the program. One first-year MBA student said this about the Sanger Leadership Journey: “I love the idea of experimentation! It’s been a great way to approach self-improvement.” Full-Time MBA Orientation: In August 2020, 370 MBA students participated in online asynchronous material that exposed them to the Michigan Model of Leadership, the innovative new Sanger Leadership Journey, and the Values Card sort, in addition to reflective prompts to encourage thinking about leadership development goals they wanted to achieve in business school. Programming took place through two modules: • SANGER LEADERSHIP JOURNEY (Module One) Defining Your Personal Leadership Journey at Ross: To help students transform as leaders, we assisted them in intentionally guiding themselves on a growth journey, allowing them to experiment with new behaviors on a daily basis. This module, which includes pre-work and our live interactive discussion, introduced students to the five-step process of the
Sanger Leadership Journey. The goal of the journey is to build an awareness of where they come from and where they want to go with their Ross journey, as well as identifying personal values that guide this process. Students are then introduced to different leadership tools in our Michigan Model of Leadership, which can help inform which leadership tools they want to work on while at Ross. Finally, they intentionally design a set of personalized leadership experiments that they’ll use in part two of our Sanger Leadership Journey sessions. Module 1 learning outcomes and goals were for students to meet their peers, introduce them to the Sanger Leadership Journey, and to have them learn the science behind behavior-based experiments and design an experiment in preparation of a round of practice. • SANGER LEADERSHIP JOURNEY (Module Two) Behavioral Experiments in Leading High-Performing Teams: This module focused on helping students lead a highperforming team, whether from a place of formal authority or of informal influence. In this session, we offered students a chance to build on their work in the first Sanger session around the Sanger Leadership Journey. We gave students an introduction to a set of science-backed behavioral leadership skills in the prework. We then provided them with the opportunity to run their first set of personal leadership experiments and try out some new leadership skills in an engaging, real-time, team-decision-making exercise. Learning outcomes and goals of Module 2 were for students to understand the opportunities and challenges of leading teams, to identify key skills needed to lead teams, and to practice new behavioral tools to facilitate team dynamics, including managing team participation, influence, conflict, and decision-making processes.
In surveys, 87% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they learned strategies for developing their leadership capabilities through the Sanger Leadership Journey Framework, and 90% indicated that they know how to apply the skills they gained to develop as a leader. One student said this about the experience:
In surveys, 100% of students indicated that they gained relevant leadership skills by participating in this program and agreed that they will apply the skills they gained to develop as a leader. All participants also reported that the orientation increased their interest in leadership development programming, with one student saying:
“The breakout sessions initiated by Sanger were extremely helpful in relieving the anxiety I had about being in a top business school environment.”
“I think that the Sanger Leadership Center is already helpful for us. I love the pre-work and seminar and am willing to participate in Sanger’s program again!”
Global MBA Leadership Orientation: In August 2020, 25 Ross GMBA students participated in online asynchronous material that exposed them to the Michigan Model of Leadership, the Sanger Leadership Journey, and the Values Card sort, in addition to reflective prompts to encourage thinking about leadership development goals they wanted to achieve in business school. Learning outcomes and goals for the orientation were to help students to: enhance selfawareness through personal reflection; create interpersonal bonds within the GMBA class; set an intention for the MBA experience; see the power of reflection, storytelling, and leadership development; and commit to carrying the momentum forward.
Weekend MBA Orientation: In May 2020, 120 WMBA students participated in online asynchronous material that exposed them to the Michigan Model of Leadership, the Sanger Leadership Journey, and the Values Card sort, in addition to reflective prompts to encourage thinking about leadership development goals they wanted to achieve in business school. The program incorporated the same two modules that were offered to FTMBA students, which are described above.
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OPT-IN STUDENT PROGRAMS
hen it comes to developing impactful leaders in business, preparation makes all the difference. At Sanger Leadership Center, we believe that preparing students to work with DEI teams and navigate difficult workplace situations helps them understand demographic differences, strategize through extreme turbulence, think on their feet, and demonstrate poise under pressure. Here are some examples from the 2020-2021 Academic Year: Leading Inclusive Teams (LIT): As mentioned earlier in this report, we launched this innovative, new six-week program this past academic year. We are thrilled to report that 123 students participated in LIT, a remarkable accomplishment for a brand-new pilot program. In surveys, 90% of students said they had a strong desire to participate in this program; 76% said the program advanced their understanding of the subject matter; 95% indicated that diverse views were respected in this program; and 90% said it fostered an environment in which they felt that their perspective was respected. Chikodi Etike, MBA ’22, said this about the Leading Inclusive Teams: “As a Nigerian going to study in the United States for the first time I was worried about how to ‘fit in’ and get people to listen to me. I had been looking forward to testing my communication and strategic thinking skills with my MAP team. When I saw the email from Sanger about LIT, I immediately loved the vision and shared my interest to participate with my team. We eventually all signed up and it was an amazing experience. We were able to explore vulnerability in a way that we never thought possible. We also learned a lot about biases and inclusivity that made our team a lot more open to ideas and more efficient in our team deliverables.” Leadership Crisis Challenge (LCC): A record-setting 221 students participated in the challenge in January 2021, with students tasked with role-playing a home security and smart home device company’s senior executive team as they navigated through a high-stakes, high-pressure, simulated crisis scenario over a 24-hour period. The business case was co-created with BBA Net Impact and centered around FullSafe, a home security and smart home device company’s partnership with Midwest University and the Wright School of Business to debut the first-ever smart dormitory and business school. Crisis arose when a data breach occurred, putting millions of FullSafe customers, Midwest students, and the partnership at risk. The Challenge tested students’ ability to strategize, manage uncertainty, work with diverse individuals, and develop executive presence. Both the graduate (Jan. 28-29) and undergraduate
(Mar. 25-26) challenges were conducted online due to COVID precautions. In addition to an unprecedented number of student participants this past year, 27 alumni volunteered their time in March to share their expertise with participants. This is the most alumni we’ve ever had involved in a challenge. The incredible participation didn’t stop there, as 15 U-M faculty members served as board members in January, and 10 in March; 11 Ross faculty and staff served as communication coaches in January, and 10 in March; one member of the Associated Press, one member of Dallas Morning News, one LSA faculty member, one member of MLive, and one member of Michigan Radio served as media members in January. We are proud to report the following feedback for the graduate and undergraduate challenges, respectively: Graduate LCC Challenge: In surveys, 98% of participants agreed this was an excellent program; 96% of them agreed the program advanced their understanding of the subject matter; 92% had a strong desire to participate in the program; 91% agreed that the program created an inclusive environment; 95% agreed that the program fostered an environment in which their perspective was respected; and 95% of participants agreed that diverse perspectives were respected in the program. Here’s what Ashruth (“Ash”) Easwar, MBA ’21, said about the Challenge: “The Crisis Challenge is the pinnacle of Ross’ action-based learning curriculum. As much as I knew about the event from previous years, there was nothing I could do to prepare for the flurry of challenges that were put in front of me. There is something to be said about how the Sanger Center found a way to make one of the most stressful situations into the most exciting and valuable experience I have had in my life. I feel so fortunate to go through a challenge like this with coaches, guides, and colleagues who are invested in my learning, as I now feel ready to tackle a similar instance in my career post grad!” Undergraduate LCC Challenge: In surveys, 95% of participants agreed that considering what they learned in the program, they have the skills to be a leader; 95% agreed that this was an excellent program; 90% agreed that the program advanced their understanding of the subject matter; 95% agreed that they had a strong desire to participate in the program; 86% agreed that the program created an inclusive environment; 95% agreed that the program fostered an environment in which their perspective was respected; and 91% of participants agreed that diverse perspectives were respected in this program. Here’s what Lauren Goldsmith, BBA ’23, said about the challenge:
“The Leadership Crisis Challenge transformed the way I think under pressure. By working directly with diverse individuals to navigate ambiguity, I can confidently say I feel more prepared to address crises in my future career.” Story Lab: This signature annual program provides students with the skills necessary to communicate with impact. This past year, we were able to offer all components of the program virtually, including the storytelling workshops and public storytelling events. In terms of learning outcomes and goals, the program continues to focus on influential storytelling, authentic leadership, executive presence, and to practice giving and receiving feedback. During the 2020-2021 Academic Year, more than 200 students participated in Story Lab workshops, including a cohort of Weekend MBA ’21 students who received their own spring workshop. We are happy to report that we increased the number of storytelling workshop offerings from four in 2019-20 to seven in 2020-21. What’s more, with 127 applicants across 12 different U-M schools and colleges, and 17 different degree programs, the program served the most diverse cohort in its history this past winter. In addition, 781 students, staff, faculty, and community members attended our public virtual storytelling showcase events. There were three engagements during the year: Kickoff, Fall Showcase, and the first-ever, two-night Winter Showcase. In surveys, 97% of participants believe Story Lab is an excellent program. Andrew Johnson, MBA ’22, said this: “Story Lab was the perfect place to learn the framework of how to craft a great story and practice delivering it in a psychologically safe setting.”
awareness; align with their deepest sources of motivation and meaning; develop their ability to build high-trust professional relationships and work cultures; and to merge as a stronger leader poised to create a lasting legacy. Offering Legacy Lab virtually allowed us to increase access to the program, serving 52 more students this academic year than the previous year. Student participants represented 12 different programs and 10 different schools/ colleges. In evaluation data from two of the three workshop offerings, 100% of students agreed that the Legacy Lab was an excellent program that advanced their understanding of the subject matter. They also indicated that the instructor(s) explained material clearly, that they had a strong desire to participate in this program and that the program helped them to gain the skills needed to be a leader. Related to DEI, 100% of survey respondents said that they thought the program created an inclusive environment; it fostered an environment in which their perspective was respected; and that diverse views were respected in this program. For the Winter B offering, students reported the largest increase in their skill ability across the pre- and post-assessments. We are happy to report increases of as much as a full percentage point in the following important learning objectives and outcomes: 1) Having a sense of purpose that drives how the person approaches the world; 2) Being confident in their reflection skill; and 3) Being confident in their ability to form high-quality professional relationships.
“Legacy Lab is a really insightful and eye-opening way to help you determine who you are, what you stand for, and how to apply that to your life and the decisions you make. I walked away from Legacy Lab feeling a sense of peace as one of the main exercises Another student, Sonai Thawani, MBA ’21, shared this: “Story Lab helped me take pressure off of myself in accomplishing a lifelong is a critical experience for any leader to understand their most goal I have had for myself. I feel more grounded and sure about influential experiences and refine their stage presence. This is what is important to me and the next moves I need to make to helpful for presenting yourself on stage, to an employer, or even to pursue things I want for myself in a truly authentic and meaningful new friends. Just do it!” way! Thank you to the Sanger team for yet again, creating such profound change in my life!” Legacy Lab: A record-breaking 169 students participated in Legacy — Claire Pardington, WMBA ’22 Lab this past year. It incorporated a two-part workshop series designed to help students unlock personal capabilities and increase their influence “Legacy Lab made me realize that it is proven to be beneficial to and resilience. As in the past, the Legacy Lab was filled with reflective take a step back and reflect. I already see improvements in not just activities, powerful stories, and meaningful engagement with peers. my daily habits, but also the positive change around me. This is a Participants were invited to clarify their values, craft their life purpose must-have experience for anyone aspiring to be a true leader.” statement, and experiment with new ways of interacting and leading. Offered virtually three times — once in the fall and twice in the winter— — Vidit Jain, GMBA ’22 the program helped participants to: enhance their reflection skills and self-
SANGER IMPACT STORY: AMIRAH AZIZ, MBA ’21
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Reminding Students Why They Belong
mirah Aziz, MBA ’21, never doubted her abilities until she became a student at one of the best business schools in the world.
It was at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, one of the most competitive business schools in the country, that the Muslim-American woman with a South American background from Guyana started to experience imposter syndrome. She wasn’t sure she belonged at the world-class educational institution full of bright business minds, as her previous experience was in public policy and the public sector. For Amirah, these feelings came to the surface very early on in her Michigan Ross career. She was taking part in Sanger’s Business+Impact Challenge during her first week at Ross. The program put large groups of first-year MBA students into teams with more than 20 of their peers and asked them to identify a solution to a business problem. After some discussion, the group came up with a solution that Amirah wasn’t entirely confident was the right path forward. She debated voicing her opposition, knowing the assignment wouldn’t be graded, and no one would judge her if she went along with the majority opinion. “I decided, ‘Why am I here? Why am I spending all this money to come to business school if I’m just going to sit back?’ she recalled. “So I stood up, which was really hard for me. I felt like an imposter, and didn’t feel like I knew what I was talking about.” But she did stand up. She did voice her opposition. To her surprise, nearly half of the group members came up to her afterward and said they agreed with her but had been scared to voice opposition to the more vocal members of the group who led the previously agreed-upon solution. Amirah said those supporters still talk about that moment two years later. “It was probably one of my proudest moments and really set the stage for my next two years,” Amirah said. “I would always go back to that example when I felt scared, or felt like my opinion didn’t matter. For me, it wasn’t just standing up for myself — I realized that I was standing up for other people at that moment.” Amirah says she always felt compelled to lead — it’s in her name, after all. In Arabic, her first name means “leader.” “Understanding my leadership style was a top goal entering Ross,” she said. “I knew I wanted to become a leader in some capacity,
and I wanted to understand what I was good at and what were my strengths and weaknesses. That was a big reason for me to attend business school.” Because of its mission of developing leaders “through bold ideas, transformative experiences, and inclusive communities,” Sanger appealed to Amirah even before she was accepted into Ross. She sought out ways to practice her leadership, becoming a participant or leader in numerous Sanger programs: Student and Alumni board; Story Lab Director; Ross Leaders Academy Fellow; 1:1 Coaching; Crisis Challenge advisor; and Legacy Lab advocate. Amirah also served as co-president of Design+Business, one of Ross’ largest student groups. She also directed the Business+Tech Initiative with the Dean’s office to boost Ross’ standing in tech-focused careers. “One of the pillars of Ross is action-based learning,” she said. “For me, I didn’t want to just attend the programs. I wanted to help administer, foster, plan, and create them. I wanted to take it a step further.” Her advice to new Ross students? Come humble and practice hard. “Don’t come to school thinking you know everything; come to school thinking you know nothing,” she said. “Spend your time trying to learn as much as you can, especially in your first year. Your first year should be all about growth, understanding, knowledge, and learning, and then take that second year to practice those things. … Especially at Ross, we are working with some of the top companies of the entire world. Take advantage of that, and practice your leadership style in your second year. Go out there and take on leadership roles in clubs. Start a movement. Start a club. Start a business. Fail as many times as you can.” Amirah said she owes a significant part of her success at Ross to the Sangers and other donors. Thinking back to those doubts she felt at the beginning of her Ross career, Amirah shared this: “It’s the biggest thank you. It was a weird feeling. I was 28 years old and never felt that way before. It was Sanger that totally changed that feeling. If I didn’t have Sanger and the resources and people there, I don’t think I would have graduated and done the types of things I was able to do in those two years.” After taking some time to unwind over the summer, Amirah is looking forward to beginning her career as a go-to market consultant at EY Digital in Washington D.C.
SANGER IMPACT STORY: GUI RUGGIERO, MBA/MSI ’20
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MBA Grad Confronts His Past to Help Others Find Hope s the saying goes, leaders are made, not born. For some leaders, that “made” involves confronting the most painful event of their life.
Such was the case for Brazil native Gui Ruggiero, MBA/MSI ’20, who was active in a number of programs within the Sanger Leadership Center during his time at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, including the Student and Alumni Board, Story Lab, Sanger Journey, and Crisis Challenge. Gui wrapped up his Ross education during the 20202021 Academic Year, graduating in December. It was his 10 minutes up on the Story Lab stage in Ross’ Robertson Auditorium in February 2020 that came to most clearly define his development as a leader at Michigan Ross. Gui started his speech by pronouncing a date forever etched in all Americans’ minds: September 11. Gui’s personal 9/11, however, took place five years before planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in rural Pennsylvania. Gui’s September 11 involved the tragic and unexpected death of a family member in 1996. It was a time he didn’t discuss publicly until that winter night on the Michigan Ross campus. He relayed to his peers how the tragedy left him feeling angry and looking for ways to cope. Gui turned to tennis as an outlet, feeling a sense of relief from hitting the small ball around the courts as hard as he wanted, whenever he wanted. “It became my coping mechanism,” he said. “It actually has been until today.” That “today” came from the Story Lab stage, where, in front of a crowd of peers, Gui decided to break his long silence about his personal moment of heartbreak and tragedy. He talked about how he learned to take his anger and turn it into optimism, choosing to see the beauty in life.
of feelings he kept private for decades. “That story was buried inside of me for so many years. Before Story Lab, I couldn’t even mention it. Talking about it helped me process and think about how that made me be the person I am today. Building a narrative around it helped me deliver a message to my classmates — a message of optimism.” I will be a better leader because of that, because I know myself better and I’m more comfortable discussing myself, and that helps me lead. … The best leaders I’ve had are people with flaws, uncertainties, and anxieties.” Gui closed his Story Lab presentation by telling his peers, “Going through all that at such a young age really taught me the power of optimism and that we do have a choice. It’s not about what happens to us — it’s about how we react to what happens to us. It’s beautiful out there,” he said, referencing the snowy winter day that some may choose to bemoan. “Stay warm, and stay positive.” Gui not only participated in Sanger programs — he helped shape the Sanger experience for other students. He served as a coach behind the scenes at Crisis Challenge, supporting others as they navigated the all-virtual experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a member of the student and alumni board, he provided Sanger staff with critical insight and ideas about current programs. For example, Gui was instrumental in giving feedback about the Sanger Leadership Journey model during the summer of 2020, even volunteering to speak in a video about it. Gui expressed a huge thank you to those who make Sanger programming possible and said this about the center’s role at U-M:
Today, he realizes that making the decision to open up about his past has helped him relate to people better and be a better leader.
“Unless donors have been to Michigan recently and talked to the students, it’s very hard to understand how people perceive Sanger and the impact Sanger programs have — not only at Ross but at Michigan at large. It’s amazing; Sanger occupies such an important role at Ross and the Michigan communities.”
“I’m a true believer that if you know more about yourself and are comfortable with what motivates you to be the person you are, the better leader you will be,” Gui said about the exploration
Following his December graduation, Gui was hired as a senior product manager at Amazon in Seattle, WA. He is moving there this summer.
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ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING
significant part of leading in today’s workplace involves creating a productive, psychologically safe environment where all team members feel they have the freedom to voice their opinions and opportunities to lead. Sanger offered a number of programs during the past year to help promote healthy workplaces.
Thriving in Teams by Giving & Receiving Feedback: To promote a healthy, productive work environment, Sanger ran this workshop for faculty and staff this past summer. The workshop focused on bolstering thriving within teams by establishing a healthy feedback culture, while also addressing effective ways of navigating remote work challenges. Sharing the Lead - Tauber Session: Jeff Domagala, Sanger Leadership Center’s Interim Managing Director, partnered with the Tauber Institute for Global Operations for this session in September 2020. The session was designed to assist students in creating and intentionally building a high-performing team, while diving into the science and research behind creating a psychologically safe environment where team members feel empowered to lead. We are pleased that students found so many benefits to the session, with 95% saying the session helped to increase their knowledge for building a psychologically safe and empowered team environment. The same percentage feel prepared to use the Michigan Model of Leadership in the context of team dynamics. One student said the following of the Sharing the Lead session: “The ability to discuss psychological safety with a real team that we are currently a part of will both improve our current team dynamics and allow us to practice these skills for future teams.” Michigan Model - OS 305: In this September session, students engaged in Michigan Model of Leadership pre-work, helping them better understand their skillset with the model. After debriefing the model, students engaged in a dialogue around five strategies: building on strengths; managing liabilities; empowering diverse capabilities; expanding repertoire; and choosing the approach based on the needs of the moment.
One student said of the model:
“I thought that the presentation was very engaging and Jeff did a really great job at facilitating discussion. The topic was really interesting and I liked seeing how each of us acknowledged our collective strengths and weaknesses.” Story Lab - Storytelling for Social Impact: Sanger partnered with a newer student organization, Propel, a Ross-affiliated positive business club where members work on project teams with local Ann Arbor companies, non-profits, and campus institutions to integrate social impact into their operations. Collaborating with the Propel team, Sanger staff designed a special Story Lab focusing on storytelling for social impact to club members. This workshop helped students identify impactful life events that shaped their identities, reflect on how their experiences relate to the social impact they want to create, learn how to transform contamination stories into redemptive stories, and realize the power in sharing these stories to achieve social impact. MBA Club Leadership Workshop: Rising MBA1s who were nominated to lead clubs next academic year participated in a workshop to learn how to create a strong team culture and values. These students, who have been remote learning all year, will have the challenge and opportunity to reconvene their club members in person during our 2021 fall semester and need tools to reinvigorate their organizations. 1:1 Coaching: A continued service for students, 1:1 coaching is a personalized development experience designed to advance students’ leadership skills through one or more one-to-one sessions with a trained coach, evolving around a challenge/ topic the students bring. The goal of coaching is to increase personal satisfaction and fulfillment by helping students learn to be leaders in both work and life. Students may gain greater clarity of their goals, enhance their self-awareness and self-management, increase their ability to bring
new perspectives to situations, and increase alignment between their values and their actions. Sanger provided coaching to students who attended the Ross Leaders Academy, as well as to LDRx facilitators.
“The coaching has taught me strategies about how to better self-advocate and react to uncomfortable situations which I anticipate putting into practice still this semester and beyond.”
Students in the Ross Leaders Academy who utilized 1:1 coaching sessions reported gaining the following benefits: enhanced selfawareness; increased self-confidence; new self-management strategies; the ability to bring new perspectives to challenges; greater clarity of their values; and a clearer vision of their professional goals and career path.
Other student testimonials stated:
Katherine Overhage, MBA ’21, said the following about 1:1 coaching:
“My coach is incredible and I felt deeply supported and understood after each of my two sessions with her.” “My coach has a true gift for helping you see the good in a situation or yourself, for becoming more comfortable with uncertainty, and for being more confident and hopeful.”
Sanger programs helped students to lead and succeed during an exceedingly challenging year.
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LEARNING COMMUNITIES
tudents often list their experience in Sanger’s Learning Communities as among their most powerful experiences at Ross. Having the opportunity to work with their peers on selfdevelopment, collaborate as part of diverse teams, and build supportive networks that will endure throughout their careers leaves a lasting impression on participants. Ross Leaders Academy: Fifty students were a part of this Sanger program, which was moved entirely online due to COVID. We utilized several different online tools including Jamboard, FlipGrid, and Padlet, while keeping the sessions interactive and engaging by utilizing Zoom features such as breakout rooms, chat, polls, and lots of music! We reduced the number of sessions from 12 to 8 to minimize Zoom fatigue for students. The goals of the program are to: advance self-development to stretch beyond current self and develop new capabilities; to work with diverse individuals/teams and collaborate alongside individuals different than themselves; build strong networks to advance their career network; and enhance self-awareness understanding purpose, values, while also forming habits of reflection that will power lifelong pursuits of students. During the 2020-2021 Academic Year, we added a new session focused on Identity and Inclusive Leadership. This session was evaluated positively, with 90% of fellows agreeing that the session helped them better understand their identity and how their identity impacts the way they engage with others. Surveys and testimonials indicate high success and impact. In postprogram surveys, 95% of participants agreed RLA gave them skills needed to be a leader; 95% agreed this was an excellent program; 98% agreed this program advanced their understanding of the subject matter; 95% agreed the program created an inclusive environment; 98% agreed the program fostered an environment in which they felt their perspective was respected; and 95% agreed diverse views were respected. Here are just a couple of the overwhelmingly positive comments we received from students: “RLA fulfilled my brain, my heart, and my soul. I came into this program foggy and excited. I did not know what I would do with my degree, and I was scared to lead within ambiguous situations. RLA gave me community outside of the business school, space to reflect, and confidence to lead in hard situations, including my journey forward in life after Michigan. I was able to see my journey to understand how I got to be me, carve out time to reflect on what I valued to help see my future and find my inner Sherlock Holmes to be always curious. I now have a framework to reflect and assess where I am and where I am headed.
I am now more confident in asking questions to understand other people, and I regularly utilize empathy and perspective as I lead myself and others into the future. RLA has changed how I see myself and the world around me. The team and coaches work tirelessly to engage, support, and devote everything they have to display an inclusive environment to help you reach your goals. This has been a life-changing experience for me, and for that, I am forever thankful to the Sanger Leadership Center and the Ross Leaders Academy team.” — Jacob Hatke, MBA ’23 “RLA was an incredible, holistic journey that offered the time, space and resources to do some deep self-reflection about my life experiences, strengths, values, and ultimately how all of that contributes to the leader I am today and the leader I’m looking to become in the future. After the program, I felt more confident, inquisitive, and resilient and felt like I was able to be a more thoughtful, intentional leader in the OMBA, at work, and in my personal life. I was so grateful to be accepted as an RLA fellow and highly recommend that anyone in Ross take the time to get involved with Sanger Leadership Center’s programming — you’ll learn, feel challenged and be so much better for it!” — Marissa Bialecki, MBA ’23 LDRx: Leader Experience (LDRx) is a student-led and Sangersupported learning community that provides participants with a peer group, tools, and other support systems for developing crucial leadership skills. Participants meet once per week with a small group of peers and utilize a student-driven curriculum developed in conjunction with Sanger. The program aims to provide a supportive
learning community where students can reflect on their experience and experiment with different leadership skills. The program format has proven to be successful and replicable, with Sanger creating over the past year additional, similarly styled offerings for the online MBA cohort and incoming full-time MBA class of 2023.
“I absolutely loved this safe space to communicate and learn from each other. I always looked forward to our sessions where we were able to build each other up as people and explore interesting topics we may not have had the opportunity to explore outside of LDRx.”
During the 2020-2021 Academic Year, we had 152 student participants across the full-time and weekend MBA programs, which included 120 participants, 29 facilitators, and three co-chairs. This cohort, the largest number of students the program has served, represents a 54% increase in enrollment over last year. In surveys, 84% of participants believe that the program advanced their knowledge of leadership development, with 98% agreeing that they are able to show up as their authentic selves. The following comments are just a couple of the enthusiastic reviews for the program:
Student and Alumni Board: Formerly known as the Sanger Ambassadors, the program was re-invented this academic year to become more of an advisory board that consisted of both students and alums. We met monthly for two hours over Zoom, across the country and even the world at times, to run key initiatives and ideas by board members for their feedback. The board helped us develop new DEI metrics on our program surveys, a new DEI social media series called Following in The[ir] Footsteps, ideas for the online Leadership Crisis Challenge, and more. We had 14 students serve on the board, with an impressive 100% of those surveyed reporting they felt they had an impact on the Sanger Leadership Center, with 80% feeling they made an impact on other students by participating. One board member said:
“LDRx is an amazing program that allows you to perform a lot of self reflection and really help you understand your strengths, weaknesses and biases. This program helps you leverage that self reflection into an actionable plan that makes you a more effective leader!” — Matthew Baker, WMBA ’22
— Anna Lam, MBA + MURP, ’23
“I was happy to stay connected with the Ross/Sanger community and to contribute where I could. I’ve really enjoyed the programming over the last two years and consider the Sanger staff as friends.”
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RESEARCH & BOLD IDEAS
anger Faculty Champions continue to make outstanding contributions in leadership-focused research and effective teaching. For example, Sanger Faculty Champions taught a number of exciting leadership courses in our degree programs this year, including Leadership Skills in Mission-Driven Organizations (Brian Flanagan), The Psychology of Startup Teams (Lindy Greer), and Crisis Leadership (Mike Barger), Sanger integrated faculty in key programs (LCC, LIT) in order to be able to share bold ideas, hold more frequent meetings with faculty, and share their bold ideas on social media. To broaden our reach, Sanger also facilitated partnership meetings held with faculty and the university’s Business Engagement Center and Ross’ Executive Education unit to brainstorm how to integrate bold ideas with corporate stakeholders, for both research and teaching. Other highlights of the 2020-2021 Academic Year are that we started planning to launch a research incubator in 2021-2022, awarded our first junior faculty research grant to Charleen Case, and updated faculty contracts in summer 2021 to increase faculty engagement in the center. SELECTED PAPERS: Sanger faculty champions authored 76 papers, book chapters, or books during the past academic year, including the following:
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Zhang, C., Nahrgang, J., Ashford, S. J., & DeRue, D. S. (2020). The risky side of leadership: Conceptualizing risk perceptions in informal leadership and investigating the effects of their over-time changes in teams. Organization Science, forthcoming. Case, C. R., Bae, K. K., Larsen, K. T., & Maner, J. K. (2020). The precautious nature of prestige: When leaders are hypervigilant to subtle signs of social disapproval. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Keeves, G. D., & Westphal, J. D. (2021). From Help to Harm: Increases in Status, Perceived Underreciprocation, and the Consequences for Access to Strategic Help and Social Undermining Among Female, Racial Minority, and White Male Top Managers. Organization Science. Schipani, C. A., & Dworkin, T. M. (2020). The need for mentors in promoting gender diverse leadership in the #MeToo era. Geo. Wash. L. Rev., 87, 1272. Krishna, A., & Orhun, A. Y. (2020). EXPRESS: Gender (Still) Matters in Business School. Journal of Marketing Research, 0022243720972368. Kuenzi, M., Mayer, D. M., & Greenbaum, R. L. (2020). Creating an ethical organizational environment: The relationship between ethical leadership, ethical organizational climate, and unethical behavior. Personnel Psychology, 73(1), 43-71. Sytch, M. & Greer, L. L. (2020). Is your organization ready for permanent WFH? Harvard Business Review.
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MEASURING IMPACT, PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
he Sanger Center is committed to fostering leadership skills across our student population and, thanks to a new dashboard and standardized evaluation process we are now implementing with university IT departments, we’ll soon have even more concrete data to help us measure and report on our success in doing so. The state-of-the-art new dashboard will use Tableau to report several metrics, such as student leadership skill improvement, diversity metrics, and program quality. Over the course of the 20202021 Academic Year, Sanger standardized its program evaluation surveys to ensure they will collect similar information that can be analyzed and compared to other Sanger programs and university-wide metrics. In the future, we hope the dashboard can be used to map the effect of our programs on student outcomes (jobs, salary, etc.). FUTURE GOALS: The Sanger Leadership Center is committed to its mission of accelerating leader development through bold ideas, transformative experiences, and inclusive communities. Our ambitious vision for 2030 is to be the top leadership school in the world through the development of bold ideas to be the worldwide thought leader, making the greatest student impact, and possessing the best stakeholder connections with the best integrated network of alumni, companies, students and thought leaders on the cutting edge of leadership development. We plan to maintain and innovate on existing signature initiatives while bringing about new experiences and initiatives that will have greater reach and impact. The bold ideas that come from our faculty champions through our center will continue to shape the way in which we teach and experience leadership development. In the next year, we’ll have a focus on the strategic integration of ideas from industry and a variety of our stakeholders to determine how to best position our center to have the greatest impact. ONLINE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: This past year, we charged a Weekend MBA MAP team with a project and scope to test
the hypothesis that an online leader development platform (e.g., mobile app, website) can be a competitive advantage for the center. The student team determined which elements should be included, such as a way for users to track experiments and communicate with others. The project deliverables included focus groups, research, benchmarking, and a roadmap for a launch strategy. Please stay tuned over the coming year as the Sanger team takes the next steps to bring this idea into reality. Through its innovative programming and immersive learning experiences, the Sanger Leadership Center has helped revolutionize the development of future leaders over the past five years at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Perhaps the only thing more exciting than the progress Sanger has made in its first five years is the continued improvement and development planned for the next five years and beyond. This past year has taught all of us many things about ourselves as a learning institution, society, and world. The uncertainties of 2020 have shown the importance of strong leadership in challenging times. These unprecedented times have certainly been trying, but they have provided the opportunity to evaluate what constitutes good leadership, and how it can help bring people together in times of crisis. The impacts and activities highlighted in this report’s pages are a testament to the visionary leadership displayed by you, our generous donors. THANK YOU.
The Sanger Leadership Center team extends its deepest gratitude to each of you for making these successes possible. THANK YOU!