PLDP - Purposeful Leadership Depends on Peers

Delia Dornescu

INSEAD has just introduced a Personal Leadership Development Programme (PLDP) to their curriculum. The decision was made after collecting feedback from employers and I must admit, a convincing argument in choosing this Business School.

The kick-off took place a couple of days ago, when Professor Derek Deasy made us ask ourselves important questions related to our true motivations and expectations regarding the year ahead. And so, with more questions than answers I went to school on Sunday morning (yes, on a Sunday), to meet my group and our PLDP coach for a group session.

We didn’t know each other, nor what to expect. The only thing we were certain about was that the success or failure of the team would greatly influence our INSEAD experience, as we would spend a lot of time working together in the following four months. When the coach asked us about the expectations from the session two emotions surfaced: skepticism and anxiety. She had a tough challenge ahead to say the least.

Nevertheless, as time passed, as we opened up, shared intimate details of our lives, related to each others experiences and removed our professional masks, the emotions changed. The skepticism turned into worthwhileness and the anxiety into hope. In just a couple of hours we went from being complete strangers to a group of people that knew each other better and were committed to make it work. It is not that the conflicts we had all heard about would not arise, but that we already had an idea of what might trigger them and how to surpass them.

I am now more than excited about the precious moments and learnings that I will experience together with my team.

Let the TRANSFORMATIVE year begin!