PHILADELPHIA, April 4, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Based on research that points to well-formed teams making better decisions, this June the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is launching Creating and Leading High-Performing Teams, an executive education program that teaches managers proven team-development methods that drive superior organizational results.
The program integrates research by Wharton's distinguished faculty with class discussion and an experiential, hands-on approach to team building.
"Leadership is really a team sport," says Michael Useem, PhD, Wharton professor and academic director, who also directs Wharton's Center for Leadership and Change Management. "Our research shows that well-formed teams make better decisions - better than a CEO, division head, or program manager making decisions entirely on his or her own."
Managers who adopt the team-building strategies and principles in this program will acquire the skills to plan and execute better, says Useem. He points to eBay Inc. during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as an example of a high-performing team. Meg Whitman, now the retired president and CEO, was unreachable for hours just after the attack. In the interim, she identified three priorities for her company: ensure the safe whereabouts of all employees; ensure the security of the company's servers; and solicit donations from customers for families of the victims. Once back in contact, Whitman found that her top work team had already made the three key decisions she would have wanted. Useem notes, "They were not waiting for their CEO to instruct them on what to do."
Such team dynamics highlight why successful team building focuses on "who you bring on team, how you work with them, and how you create clarity around everything that you want to achieve through them," Useem says. "The program reveals the qualities that drive high-performance teams and above all how you create those qualities. As a result, participants leave with a set of concepts on how to build and lead teams," says Useem.
"We've identified a methodology that we believe positions teams for high performance," explains Jeff Klein, director of the Wharton Graduate Leadership Program and Wharton Leadership Ventures. "Creating and Leading High-Performing Teams engages participants through experiential learning, the best way to transmit knowledge about teams because it translates concepts into behaviors and actions. Participants learn how to build a team and also how to encourage leadership within the team in order to create a vision and align team members around it," Klein adds.
The program draws lessons from business, and also from teams undergoing intense missions - such as those in the military and firefighting - because those terrains help provide clarity about leadership and team dynamics. "We see from them the kind of team building and leadership that really make the difference," Useem says.
An experiential format helps attendees learn to create high-performance teams by actually creating and leading one. Participants will learn key elements of team building from an Olympic-level rower, for example, by becoming part of a rowing team. An award-winning theater ensemble will offer team-building lessons on how creative conflict - managed in the right way - can boost performance.
"A traditional class transmits a lot of knowledge and then tests students to see what was learned," Klein says. "In experiential learning, the test comes first, and then participants step back and pull the learning out of their performance. Paraphrasing one attendee's comments, "From there it is about how learning to form a team, how to actively encourage leadership within the team, and because it is experiential, learning to do so in a way that is authentic to your own value system and leadership style."
Executive Education at the Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania - founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school - is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The School has more than 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 10,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 82,000 graduates.
Informed by in-depth, groundbreaking academic research and extensive industry experience, Wharton Executive Education programs can span anywhere from a few days to six weeks or longer. Each executive education program offers a supportive and challenging context where participants gain the skills necessary for their next level of executive development. Participants who come to Wharton from a diverse range of industries engage with faculty who are the most cited, most published faculty of all top-tier business schools. With a profound influence upon global business, Wharton faculty are the sought-after, trusted advisors of corporations and governments worldwide.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2130