Business Leadership Center Ideas & Trends

As a part of the Business Leadership Center, the sophomore class is tasked with tackling an ambiguous problem with very little direction — just like in the real world. For the Class of 2024, this meant climate change and finding a creative solution to create awareness.

After a lot of hard work, dedication and imaginative thinking, the class turned their vision of “choosing your own path” into reality by creating a video simulation that shows the effects climate change will have on the future and challenges people to make choices regarding the future of climate change.

You can access the simulation through the Stornaway Platform: www.shu.edu/ideas-trends

In this project, the process is equally as important as the result. While we successfully created a video simulation, the learning process was even more valuable than the finished project. We gained insight into leading a large team, establishing a project charter, and dealing with an ambiguous problem. Our team is immensely proud of the finished product and the growth that occurred throughout the process.

— MELANIE YETMAN and AIDAN KELLY

16

Collective Effort

Assembling a high-performing team requires more than just a group of talented people. It requires finding those with both emotional and social intelligence along with the right skill set.

BY KATHIE STUART

20

Extraordinary Teamwork

The key to creating high-performing teams is bringing together a varied group of people with diverse perspectives.

BY SHERI L. FEINZIG

26

Five Principles of Building High-Performing Teams

Business leaders should seek people who are highly motivated to tackle challenges and work for a purpose.

BY ED COX

28

In the Lead with … Shail Jain

A conversation with a leader in technology and data leader in the life sciences, healthcare, financial services and communications industries. BY THE

EDITORS

6 Letter from the Editor

8 Leadership Lessons

To lead a high-performance team you need to work alongside team members in the trenches.

BY RISHI MEHTA

10

In the Crucible

Both individual effort and working as a team mean getting things done more efficiently, and with better outcomes.

BY Z. COLETTE EDWARDS

14 In Focus

Jillian Swogier ’11/’17 J.D. advises getting comfortable being uncomfortable. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is difficult, but necessary.

32 Case Study

There is more to just reading and talking about leadership — you have to do it. Students seek to gain experience with interdisciplinary teams.

BY ELIZABETH HALPIN and BRYAN C. PRICE

36 Book Review

In Value(s): Building a Better World for All, teams must ultimately choose values appropriate for the mission.

REVIEWED BY PAULA ALEXANDER and STEPHEN

WOOD

Ruchin Kansal, M.B.A. (Editor) leads the Business Leadership Center and teaches The 5th Industrial Revolution. He spent 20 years in health care, the first 10 as a management consultant with Capgemini & Deloitte, and then in-house, serving as head of innovation at Boehringer Ingelheim, and then as senior vice president and global head of strategy for digital services at Siemens Healthineers. He received his M.B.A. from NYU-Stern.

Paula Becker Alexander, Ph.D., J.D. is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Management at the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University. She developed the curriculum for Corporate Social Responsibility, a core course in the School’s M.B.A. program. Routledge published her business ethics textbook, Corporate Social Irresponsibility, in 2015. Her research focuses on firm financial performance, executive comp and socially responsible management.

Ed Cox is a life science and digital health executive. He serves as the general manager of Digital Health & Medicines at Pfizer. From 2020 to 2022, he was the executive vice president of strategic alliances and global head of digital medicine at Eversana. Prior, Cox served as an executive or board member of both public and private in healthcare, life science, technology and resource companies.

Shail Jain is an adviser, investor and a serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of Foresight Ventures, a firm that supports tech entrepreneurs through startup and growth stages. He has co-founded three technology firms over the last 25 years, creating a combined enterprise value of $500M+ for the shareholders. Shail has also held senior leadership roles at Accenture, Fujitsu and EMC Corporation.

Rishi Mehta, M.B.A. is the CEO and president of Waisl, a leading airport technology company. His expertise includes P&L management, product management, strategy, engineering, innovation and business planning across telecom, airports, smart cities, hospitality and education sectors. Rishi holds eight patents. He received his M.B.A. from UC Berkeley, M.S. in Computer Engineering from SCU, and B.E. from IIT Roorkee.

Bryan C. Price, Ph.D. is the founder of Top Mental Game, where he helps business leaders and athletes perform at their best when it matters the most. He served as an Army officer for 20 years, with combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a certified executive coach and keynote speaker who works with Fortune 100 companies, military units, and athletic teams. He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Z. Colette Edwards, M.D., M.B.A. is a gastroenterologist, former corporate medical director for Humana and a board member. She received her B.A. from Harvard, M.D. from UPenn and M.B.A. from Wharton. Colette is the managing editor of the Wharton Healthcare Quarterly, and a published author: Be Less Stressed, Gastroenterology Quick Glance, and Navigating Your Healthcare Journey (upcoming)

Sheri L. Feinzig. Ph.D. is global head of workforce planning and analytics for Marsh McLennan. She has successfully led teams through a range of business transformations, applying her expertise in HR research, people analytics, DE&I, ethical AI, employee experience and workforce planning. She is the author of The Power of People, and an adjunct professor for NYU’s Human Capital Analytics & Technology program.

Elizabeth V. Halpin, M.A. is the acting director of Seton Hall’s Buccino Leadership Institute and an associate dean in the School of Diplomacy and International Relations. She leads the Institute’s and Diplomacy’s administration and teaches freshmen and sophomores interdisciplinary LEAD courses and the Diplomacy cohort. She is passionate about women’s empowerment, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Kathie Stuart has over 25 years in the fashion industry as a president/COO, contributing a unique combination of strategy, merchandising and supply chain management. As director of brand development for The Wall Street Journal, she led the launches of WSJstore, and WSJtravel and the growth of the WSJwine. Her leadership continues in all scopes of her personal and professional life.

Jillian Swogier, J.D. is counsel of U.S. pricing and access for the commercial law group at Gilead Sciences, Inc. She advises in-house on an array of regulatory, business and operational legal matters. Prior to joining Gilead Sciences, Swogier served as senior corporate counsel at Sanofi. She received her B.A./B.S. in Economics at the Stillman School of Business and her J.D. at the School of Law, Seton Hall University.

Stephen Wood, M.S. consults and writes on policy topics after 43 years on Wall Street and in governmental finance. He specializes in infrastructure and project finance, public-private partnerships, federal and state grant and finance programs. He is also an expert in financial modeling for large, complex capital programs. A speaker at numerous industry conferences, he teaches about corporate social responsibility at Seton Hall.