Even though autumn is meant to be a time for ripping benefits (together with vegetables and fruit), for some it also means a fresh start. A new project, a new course, acquiring new skills – they all come together in our Fast Track Management Program, with the 10th cohort having started on 13 September.
The Fast Track Management Program is a shorter and condensed version of the EMBA, with no assignments or projects. The value lies in interaction with course colleagues and lecturers, who are the same from the MBA program MsM delivers. The curriculum is also cherry picked from the larger course, to include every area that might be relevant for new managers.
And, because it is the smaller sibling of the MBA program, Fast Track kicks off with Discovery Camp, where we start the journey together, get to know each other and begin the first classes.
Discovery Camp kick off
The program brings together busy professionals, so the classes take place over extended weekends, to limit disruption on day-to-day jobs. So, on Friday morning, we met in front of MsM HQ and left for our Discovery Camp location, Lacul Verde Resort. This offered us a beautiful natural setting that inspires fresh starts.
Then, after we checked in, we came together for a brief session of introductions, to help us know each other and understand our challenges and objectives throughout the class. Fast Track Management Program is built on the value drawn in class through the interaction with the lecturer and the other participants, so it’s important to develop and work on this relationship with other class peers. Even though you may usually find it hard to connect to new people, Discovery Camp has its way to go around it, as Georgiana Rotaru from Skytree confesses:
“I am not a brave person. I have a lot of fears, one of them is having to be put in unfamiliar situations with strange people. But that is why I came here, to break some of these fears and to become more confident in myself. The discovery camp was not what I expected it to be and the people I have met were not as I had expected them to be. They were better. We connected, we shared stories, showed our vulnerabilities, learnt from each other and discovered ourselves, had aha moments and all in less than 3 days. Adi and Cosmin’s teaching skills and experiences helped us do that.”
Our facilitator and lecturer from day one was Adrian Stanciu, Associate Dean for Knowledge & Leadership of MsM and Adjunct Professor of Change Management in our EMBA class. Adrian is a leading Organizational Development consultant in Romania, specializing in organizational culture management and change. His work touched more than 50 organizations, large or small, in Romania and other countries, and many hundreds of managers and leaders.
After lunch, Adrian introduced us to a few exercises that test our teamwork skills, while also adding fun to the class. We followed this with an exercise on evaluating team dynamics. The day was wrapped up late in the night, after some heartfelt discussion over a glass of wine. Suzana Adamache, Accounting Partner FiNEXPERT said
“the first experience from Fast Track Management Program was very nice, perhaps a bit unexpectedly so. It was, at the same time, instructive and fun.
I can honestly say that everything was perfect: the organization, the location, the topics, the lecturers and my colleagues. I’ve met open-minded people, who work in all sort of industries, willing to share their business experiences with the team and to discover new perspectives. We’ve learnt, we’ve had fun, we’ve had new connections.
I’m looking forward to our next week-ends together, where I expect to learn and develop in the same relaxed atmosphere”.
Days 2 and 3: Leading with a story
For the remaining of the weekend, we were joined by Cosmin Alexandru, co-founder of one of the first market research companies in Romania, GfK. This evolved from an entrepreneurial entity to a multinational branch, transforming it into the largest company in this field in Romania, since the year 2000. Now, Cosmin is advising, as a board member, leading Romanian NGOs, providing them with feedback and guidance on strategy and sustainable development.
Cosmin helped us deep dive into storytelling to understand how we build stories around the events we are part of. Although some events don’t have an intrinsic meaning, we put together a story about what they mean, which then creates reality, choices and outcome. We also discussed what is and what isn’t a story, which was all linked to leadership.
Saturday also ended with what businesspeople call networking time, but what we like to call friendly chats. Of course, we talk about our companies too, but the chats relate to more than that. On Sunday morning, we continued the storytelling class, with an exercise that linked what we discovered recently to our day to day job and then left home. Cristian Ignat, CEO of Aggranda said he’s had a very positive experience from Discovery Camp:
“The decision to sign up for Fast Track was one of the best I’ve taken recently. Not only do the lecturers bring their own experience to classes, I have also enjoyed greatly learning through team exercises with my colleagues who have challenges similar to my own. I recommend the course and am looking forward to our next classes!”
The program continues over the next 4 months with 6 other weekends of courses and group discussions on Financial Intelligence, Financial Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Leading People & Organizations, Leading with a Story, Critical Thinking, Managing Growth Through Innovation, all doubled with Individual Coaching.
The 10th cohort of Fast Track Management Program was fully booked. If you want to see whether the program is right for you and reserve a provisional seat for our Spring intake, get in touch now.
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