The Pro IQ Interview Series: Executive Education & Continuous Learning with Tim Burton, QUT

In the next instalment of our ProIQ interview series, Resourceful Pro’s General Manager Matthew Woodall recently spoke with the Program Manager EMBA and MBA at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Tim Burton.

RP: What is the role of continuous learning in the workplace during these changing times?

TB: The current economic and work environment is characterised by high levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, known as VUCA.  With this uncertainty and change, managers and leaders are required to deliver alternative approaches to traditional management and leadership by developing a culture of learning in our workplaces.

Investing in yourself and your employees can help build resilience, allowing you and your teams to cope in this challenging environment.  Continuous learning is an effective way of improving employee performance, innovation, retention and employee satisfaction.

RP: Why should leaders & executives continue to push themselves to learn more?

TB:  Great leaders understand it is their team that determines the success or failure of any venture.  These leaders have a clear vision, are strong communicators and easily build trust, empathy, and influence across their teams. They are continuously refining and developing their leadership skills and techniques by learning more through leadership courses, the latest research, books, and mentors, which can lead to success and satisfaction for themselves and their teams.

RP: Do leaders have a positive attitude towards learning?

TB: Successful leaders want to learn and in turn develop the people around them. Doctors train and continuously train for years. This is not the case for manages and leaders; more often the top performer is pushed into a leadership role without sufficient training and support, increasing their chances of failure.

People want to learn and improve but sometimes don’t have access to the right course. They may not know what is available, have limited access to knowledge, internal funding, or there may be a lack of management support for them to undertake further training.

RP: From your experience in this area, what changes have you seen in how leaders learn and lead? 

TB: Workplaces have moved away from autocratic leadership. Great leaders have empathy and emotional intelligence. They listen and are prepared to make the hard choices when required.

One of my mentors explained to me recently that at times, leaders make quick and decisive decisions without a consultative approach. They later discuss this decision with the team and explain their reasoning. This blend of automatic System 1 and reasoned System 2 decision making and reflection demonstrates a balance between applying emotional intelligence and when the need requires it, decisive action.

RP: What do Executive MBA programs offer in this area?

TB: The QUT MBA program argues that a disrupted “Industry 4.0” world does not need better spreadsheet analysts, it needs highly proficient empathetic leaders capable of crafting a sustainable, productive, and more decent society.

The ability to respond to changes in “digital” and “data” related platforms is not enough to ensure organisational sustainability, financially or otherwise. Instead, an increasing body of work identifies the need for leaders to possess essential “soft skills” beyond the classic quantitative skills typically associated with traditional MBA programs. Our aim is to coach and develop aspiring leaders through innovative and complementary curriculum design, cohort events and individualised mechanisms.

RP: How have MBA programs adapted to the contemporary workplace?

TB: The QUT MBA suite of programs covers a wide range of contemporary and relevant topic areas required by organisational leaders, including an international study tour to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where students study the latest developments in innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital disruption.

Contextually embedded learning requires the student to link their study directly to their professional circumstances and organisational context, career and role ambitions and ‘real world’ leadership skills. The student’s use of coaching as tool for reflection also embeds the notion that leadership development is an ongoing process.

One of the primary outcomes of student learning is to equip our cohorts with the capabilities and confidence to perform and lead effectively in VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environments, irrespective of their for-profit, non-profit, or public- sector status. The cohort model results in strong and enduring personal and professional relationships that are a defining feature of their QUT learning journey and allows students to gain perspectives from a range of leaders.

RP: Do you think we will move away from conventional learning pathways (school then university) to a more fluid approach where people learn during different times in their careers?

TB: I think people will start to take a blended approach to continuous learning which will be a mix of short courses and more traditional pathways offered by universities. The rise of digital learning will continue to grow as more people become accustomed to working remotely and online and look for flexibility and balance in their private and professional careers.

RP: What role can an Executive Coach play in a leaders’ learning journey?

TB: Executive coaching is a great way of unlocking an individual’s leadership potential by building emotional intelligence, empathy, self-understanding and awareness. Executive coaching can offer leaders the opportunity to discuss those complex issues and decisions, gaining constructive feedback.

Executive coaching is also central to the QUT MBA curriculum.  Students are allocated a leadership coach to discuss their progress and ongoing efforts to develop their key leadership capabilities. Their leadership journey begins to deepen when they are partnered with a mentor  where together they can discuss perspectives on leadership, challenge notions of what leadership is (or should be), reflect on their experiences and to develop their leadership practice.