Juho Toivola

One of things that sets the Henley Executive MBA apart from other postgraduate programmes is the strong emphasis on personal development. It is great to systematically take time for personal reflection that is not focused on work objectives, but rather on balancing my personal needs with the external demands I’m facing.

The 10-day trip to South Africa was definitely one of the highlights of my Henley Executive MBA – Global journey so far. We worked actively with a local non-governmental organisation, consulted them on their reputation and helped them in direction setting for the next ten years – a truly immersive learning experience!

The Reputation & Responsibility module of the Henley Executive MBA is an interesting combination of theoretical input about reputation management, corporate social responsibility, and an immersive hands-on project with a non-profit organisation in South Africa. The module was kicked off with a three-day workshop in Helsinki and the immersive trip to South Africa soon follows.

One of the reasons I enjoy my Executive MBA so much is the possibility to network with professionals from different industries and functions. From a personal point of view, spending time with experienced and insightful business leaders is a great way to develop and become a ‘better’ person myself.

The Strategic Marketing module of the Henley EMBA – Global was one of those things that I have been waiting for the most in my studies. I’m in charge of marketing in my current company, so I was really hoping to get some more clarity into my marketing thinking and to get new inspiration for planning our marketing efforts for the coming years.

The end of stage 1 from the Executive MBA provided a great opportunity to reflect on the journey so far. I wanted to involve my learning team in this reflection, and you can find their thoughts, opinions and experiences in a short interview.

During our recent Global Immersion Study Visit as part of the Henley EMBA – Global, we spent a week in New York City, consulting our case companies and learning about how business works in Manhattan. This was a great opportunity to reflect on the similarities and differences between the US and Finland on the approach to business and work life.

Internationalisation and entering new markets is usually preceded by diligent analysis of available information and weighing of options. My own experience of working with small and medium-sized enterprises is that the final decision to expand internationally is often more a mental or emotional question.

One of the most interesting personal developments during my Executive MBA journey so far is how the focus of learning changes from accumulating knowledge to the social nature of knowledge and meaning. You could say that an individual can know something but this piece of knowledge only becomes meaningful in a particular social context.

In the end of February, we had the second Personal Development workshop. On a personal level, this was yet again a deep dive and an opportunity to reflect on how our formative years shape our thinking and behaviour radically. I will share some of these reflections in this blog post.

As a psychologist, I have not been trained in the art of calculating and interpreting financial figures, and this has been a real handicap during all my years in business. Finally, it was time to brush up my finance skills as part of my Executive MBA studies.

Studying for an Executive MBA is one of those things where timing seems to be a concern for most people. It's true that EMBA studies are a time-consuming effort and you need to have a good command of your daily routines to manage your studies. Still, bearing in mind that the return on your EMBA investment will only happen in the future, the more life you have ”post-EMBA”, the more you will be able to reap benefits from it.