Alumni Profiles - Leadership at the Peak - Europe

A RadioShack executive enhances his professional development in one of the most stimulating of settings.

 

"Leadership at the Peak is a great opportunity to spend some time reflecting on yourself and getting feedback - from the people you work with and also from people in the class who are observing your behaviors and style for the first time. If you don't get a wakeup call from this, you're completely not paying attention."

- Michael T. Kowal
Senior Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer, RadioShack Corp.

Taking place against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps, Leadership at the Peak in Europe is noted not only for spectacular scenery but also for the international diversity of those who come to this exclusive program. Michael Kowal, a senior vice president with RadioShack Corp. in Dallas, Texas, shared his week of development in the company of executives from the United Kingdom, India, Saudi Arabia, Belgium and the Ukraine.

"It was interesting to observe the very different management styles and cultural perspectives represented in our class," said Kowal of his peers. "The environment of the program is intimate, so you get to know people well."

This program focuses exclusively on the demands of senior-most leaders, guaranteeing a comfortable, secure environment in which they can evaluate their leadership style and effectiveness and focus on high-level challenges. For Kowal, it was a key external element of a larger in-house executive development program designed to support the chief supply chain officer as he assumed new responsibilities. The CCL® format - learning as part of a group in a non-public setting - was a distinct change from previous developmental experiences. "For me, that in itself gave the program a lot of value," Kowal said.

Leadership at the Peak blends self-discovery, self-development and fitness activities. The program is distinctive for making the connection between effective leadership and health. Participants receive a thorough fitness evaluation, with an emphasis on how to handle stress and workplace health issues. The program also includes optional fitness hikes and Pilates or yoga workouts.

"I exercise four or five times a week and look at fitness as something that you really have to take care of," said Kowal. "The fact that CCL includes this health component in the program makes the point that you need to find a degree of balance among the various elements of your life . that it isn't just about your job."

Each participant receives intensive personalized feedback from colleagues in the program and 360-degree feedback from direct reports back home, delivered by a certified CCL coach. It was Kowal's first encounter with a high-level assessment-for-development process during his professional life, which included positions in the paper industry, machine manufacturing and management consulting before he joined RadioShack several years ago. "The feedback gave me some very key things I needed to work on, mainly about improving my interaction style to better engage the people I work with," he said.

Kowal noted the additional benefit of being observed by and receiving feedback from people in his class at the program - complete strangers until they met at CCL. "If you don't get a wakeup call from this," he said, "you're completely not paying attention."

Download the PDF. (PDF, 240 KB)