Greetings from Shanghai!

I realize I have been slow to write posts, so I am recommitting to send them more often.

I finished my last class for the Kellogg Winter quarter in Evanston, completed all of my grading, and now am on my way to Hong Kong to teach the joint executive MBA program for Kellogg and HKUST. This class is KH20 March 23-25 on “Leading a Global Company.”

Since I had already committed to teaching in Hong Kong, I agreed to do several talks in Shanghai while I was “in the neighborhood.” The added bonus was that Julie agreed to come with me for her first trip to China.

First, I attended and participated in a leadership program run by Helen He, my friend and former Baxter colleague.

Leaderstyles

Helen started her own leadership development organization called Leaderstyles, and she and her team train leaders throughout Asia by using both self reflection and collaboration.

Heidrick & Struggles “The Journey to the Top”

Second, Heidrick & Struggles organized a wonderful program for executive healthcare women in Shanghai called “The Journey to the Top”.

I had the opportunity to give a keynote presentation on values-based leadership, and I was very impressed by the excellent open discussion regarding the steps necessary for women to become more successful in Asian companies. Maybe not so surprisingly, the challenges are very similar to those in the U.S……finding ways to develop “true” self confidence and achieving “life balance”.

Third, it was great to spend last evening with Kellogg Shanghai alums and discuss global trends in mergers and acquisitions as well as private equity. The Chinese economy continues to be strong and the interest in doing global M&A, private equity and venture capital is even stronger than in the U.S. and Europe.