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Leader Development

Goizueta is dedicated to building principled leaders who achieve not only success, but also significance. Our goal is not limited to creating business leaders. Rather, we’re focused on helping individuals become principled leaders who can transform the business world—and society—for the better.

Individual Discovery


Professor Rick Gilkey

“We spend a great deal of time focusing on how students will use what they have learned when they re-enter their jobs and companies the next week.”

Professor Rick Gilkey

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At Goizueta, the idea of creating principled leaders isn’t relegated to a single course or a passing notion. It’s infused into every aspect of your Executive MBA experience, and it’s designed to help you capitalize on your existing leadership skills. You’ll delve into the core values that drive principled, effective leaders. You’ll also explore other key leadership areas such as self-awareness, resilience, high-performing teams, influencing others, and giving and receiving feedback. From there, you’ll dig into more advanced topics designed to incorporate theory into your real-life situations. Activities include personal assessments, experiential leadership activities, one-on-one coaching, and effective team building.

In addition, every Executive MBA student also takes part in leader development, co-instructed by Professors Rick Gilkey and Peter Topping. These professors will guide you through comparative analyses of organizational culture and design, team structure and performance, and the factors supporting or detracting from successful individual leadership.

Leaders in the Classroom

To bring classroom theory to life, faculty often bring industry leaders and Goizueta alumni into the classroom to speak with students. Recent speakers have included:

  • Lin Rogers, CEO of Rogers Electric
  • Marvin Ellison, EVP US Stores, The Home Depot
  • Robin Bienfait, CIO, Research in Motion
  • Joel Babbit, CEO, Mother Nature Network
  • John Cataldi, CEO, Adreka
  • Jim Anhut, Chief Development Officer - North America, Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG)
  • Dick Lynch, CMO, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
  • Ralph Bower, COO, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
  • Cindy Murphy, Senior Director, Autograph Collection, Marriott International
  • Kelley Hundt, Project Manager, Manufacturing Systems, Georgia tech Enterprise Innovation Institute
  • Steve Greenfield, VP Business Development, AutoTrader.com
  • Hal Logan, CEO, BuyBook Technologies
  • Dave Barnes, CIO, UPS
  • Tom Lowry, Head of Industry, Technology, Google
  • Fran Dramis, former CIO, AT&T
  • David Zalik, CEO, Green Sky Credit