Jeanette Gorgas, Executive Global Master’s in Management (EGMiM) graduate, spoke to us about her experience on the programme, studying in different countries, and how it has helped progress her career. Jeanette graduated in 2014 and currently works as Board Member and Director at a range of public and private companies.
Why did you choose to study EGMiM over other options?
I was really focused on finding a programme that would support my career and my personal aspirations. I was really missing an understanding of foundational theory and research around best practices in management – and I felt as I looked at the programmes that the LSE EGMiM offered that.
Of course I also considered the reputation of the school and that was important to me as well as the network that I could build there, but the research-based teaching was really a differentiating factor for me.
How did studying EGMiM help prepare you for the next stages in your career? How have you used it in your current role?
I use it every day in everything that I do in operating roles – my roles on boards as a board director and in my role as a general advisor as well. The EGMiM just enabled me to be more of an original thinker and to learn and innovate in a better and I would say faster way.
What was it like to learn with professionals from all over the world and what networks have you gained?
Hopefully, everybody realises now that diversity of thought experience and background is essential in the globally interconnected world in which we live and work. The LSE EGMiM really ensures that learning incorporates this diversity. More than 10 years after we completed our course our class remains connected; former classmates regularly visit and talk to each other and seek each other out to get advice both on a personal and professional level.
How did you find the international modules and what did you gain from learning in other countries?
My view is the international modules on the LSE EGMiM are a real differentiator for the program. Not every executive master’s program does this and I just feel like in today’s day and age you can’t operate without this kind of understanding.
I’m always asking myself and others what the outside perspective would be and the international modules help give us that outside perspective. They remind us in an experiential way that we should be thinking about a diverse range of considerations including those that are completely unfamiliar to us.
What’s something you wish you had known before you started EGMiM?
I hadn’t been in a programme for a long time – that required a lot of writing of original research. I had to learn that as we were getting assignments – I would have done my homework on that because it would have felt a little less daunting for me.
What advice would you give to the next EGMiM cohort?
Spend as much time thinking about the networks and the connections you’re making and what you can do for those people and how you can help them. Doing a lot of listening and learning from individuals and their very different experiences – I think that investment pays off in spades.
You can watch the full interview here.
Learn more about the Executive Global Master’s in Management (EGMiM) programme.
