Jone is the Director of the Center for Global Leadership.
The Center expects to be recognized internationally as the pre-eminent source of innovative research and programs that advance our understanding of successful leadership vision and skills, with an emphasis on leading cross-national global projects, organizations, and in markets that transcend local and national boundaries.
Current Center Programs for Students
At present, while all of our educational programs have coursework in leadership, the Center for Global Leadership does not provide direct leadership instruction. Rather the Center has begun with extra-curricular programs to support leadership development among our students. These programs include,
Executive Mentoring Program
The Executive Mentoring Program provides a powerful means to learn about
leadership in organizations and provides students an opportunity to build a
larger business network. The program pairs MBA students with executives from
various industries in a one-to-one relationship for a ten-month period. Current
mentors represent various companies including Allergan, Broadcom, Deloitte,
Smith Barney, Pacific Life, and Mazda.
Mentoring activities range from individual meetings, professional association
meetings, company site visits, shadowing, and social functions. Individual
meetings are scheduled between individual mentor and mentee pairings. But there
are Executive Mentoring Program events for required for students including
Mentee Orientation, Mentoring Training, Kick-Off, Mid-Point Mixer and Mentor
Appreciation. The mentor uses his/her personal experience and skills to counsel
MBA students about a range of topics including career planning, organizational
culture, industry involvements and skill building.
Social Responsibility Initiative
One of the tenets of our mission statement is that every graduate will have the potential to make a significant contribution, both to their profession and to society. The Social Responsibility Initiative develops projects from not-for-profit organizations in the Orange County Community that students complete as part of a course assignment. In this way, our students gain valuable experience and assist the community to address pressing social concerns.
The Social Responsibility Initiative teams are made available to more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations in Orange and southern Los Angeles Counties.
In the most recent two years of the program’s existence, Merage MBA
teams have completed 28 projects for nonprofit groups and the Merage School’s
staff hope to steadily increase participation in this vital service to our
community.
Current Center Conferences and Events for the Community
The Center for Global Leadershiphas built upon and expand programs that have already been underway for several years. Currently, the Center oversees
the following:
Distinguished Speaker Series
This series is intended to allow our students and members of the business community to interact with successful CEOs through a lecture/discussion and an informal reception. We have one speaker each quarter.
Executive Education (Non-Degree) Programs
Currently the Center has a partnership with the School’s Executive Education group to offer short leadership programs to local organizations and members of the community.
Current Center Research
The most successful leaders have a vision, an insight about the world around them and the actions that will make that vision a reality. At the Center we assist others in identifying opportunities and developing their own unique visions, and in developing the tools they need to inspire others to collaborate with them in realizing their visions. Our research programs develop new knowledge about developing and leading organizations for our changing world, and our community and educational programs assist in the application of the latest new knowledge needed to succeed in a world that never stands still.
In fulfillment of its mission, we will undertake and support research that can
will address the practical problems of leadership in an innovation-driven
global economy and contribute to socially responsible strategic advancement of
the Merage School. The Center will produce research that both adds to the fundamental base of knowledge in leadership and provides applicable, relevant source material for the professional community. Topics for study will emanate from issues confronting the leaders in the highly competitive global environment.
In 2009 the Center sponsored a research conference on the role of status in leadership that has resulted in a 2011 book Status in Management and Organizations from the prestigious Cambridge University Press.
In 2010 the Center began its program in Research Translation for Practice, in which faculty and doctoral students from around the world compete for modest grants to fund the translation of research into practical action. Please click on the below link to see the first of our research translations.
How is the Center for Global Leadership Distinctive?
The design and strategy for the Center for Global Leadership clearly distinguishes it from existing centers in the region and around the country. The Center program is the only center in the world:
- With a focus on understanding, developing and communicating vision as central to leadership
- That has research translation into useable practical guidelines as its core
mission
For more information about the center’s programs and activities click here.