Professional Leadership Development

Exclusively for students in UA‘s Weekend Professional MBA program

When you join our exclusive Weekend Professional MBA program you will receive the same type of coaching that current CEOs receive. Professional coaches train you harder and push you further to expand your potential. It's your turn to rise to the challenge and launch your career to new heights.

Our program will:

  • Provide custom assessment and professional coaching.
  • Connect you with CEOs and others at the top of their field.
  • Expand your professional network.
  • Strengthen your interview, management and problem-solving skills through mentoring and self-assessments.

Assessment and Coaching

Incoming cohorts only

Pradco - Developing Strong Organizations Our unique program partners with PRADCO for professional coaching and their 360 Leadership Assessment Introduction and Facilitation. This assessment provides a thorough look at the behaviors current and future leaders need to be successful. The assessment is an ipsative (forced choice) format that prevents both the participant and their raters from impression management.

The assessment will measure factors that include:

  • Individual qualities: flexibility, responsiveness, ownership.
  • Decision making: decisive, strategic, objective.
  • Management: coaching, driving results, leading change.

How the assessment is presented:

  • Results are intuitive.
  • Anonymous individual data points are shown to illustrate the breakout of the group.
  • Raters offer feedback on strengths and weaknesses in an open-ended comments section.
  • Customized suggestions that are based on scores.

Leadership training by Chief Executives

Past guest speakers include:

Tony Alexander, former CEO, FirstEnergy Corp. and graduate from The University of Akron

Tony Alexander
former CEO, FirstEnergy Corp.

Mark Belgya, former CFO of J.M. Smucker Co. and graduate from The University of Akron

Mark Belgya
former CFO, J.M. Smucker Co.

Laura Thompson, former CFO of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. guest speaker at the CoB at The University of Akron

Laura Thompson
former CFO, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Gain knowledge and skills

Our Professional Development Leadership Program is modeled after executive coaching programs at leading corporations and enriched by our expert faculty, our forward-looking curriculum and our vast professional network across the region.

You can customize your program to meet your career goals, but all students will:

  • Define a personal vision and an ideal self.
  • Design a coaching and self-development plan.
  • Examine leadership, relationships and networks through workshops, discussions and executive speakers.
  • Define a career path and effectuate it through professional coaching, resume development and interview workshops.
Weekend Professional MBA - Professional coaches meeting