Open Letter From Caroline Floch - MBA Programmes Manager

Open Letter From Caroline Floch

Dear Kirt,

Thank you for asking me to contribute to your amazing newsletter ;-) , describing my daily stakes and the reasons why I'm so satisfied with my job here at Kedge.

But frankly, how would you like me to explain in a ridiculously short article the incredible pleasure I have had, for 5 years managing this Executive MBA programme?

I could write a book about what this programme represents. And you know it!
Anyway, I'll try to make it short, since two huge reaccreditation files are waiting to be completed this week (EQUIS and AMBA)…

Where to start?

Ah, yes… at the end: the transformation… of our MBA participants…throughout the programme and moreover, when they become Alumni.

I can't really say that I'm proud of what we achieve daily with the programme. I'm just proud of them. The path they followed and who they became. This is our greatest reward!  We make available to them the conditions and multiple opportunities to find the person they want to be, and build their second professional life, and we just witness the miracle.

Too good to be true? Indeed.

We operate a complex and tough machinery in order to deliver this personal and tailor-made experience for each single participant.

For them, who became also our friends and feel as if they have found another family, and for all of the outstanding professionals we welcome every year in the programme, we work hard.

Our vocation: help people.

It has been mine for decades, but since 2012, I've truly been able to do it in depth and sustainably.  

I've been working in Executive Education for nearly 30 years, managing schools and training centres. I used to design short training and coaching programmes for all kinds of managers and executives, bringing them "un petit supplément d'âme" (a little extra soul) to help them face their changing environments.

In the early 2000's, I was General Director of Collège de l'X (Ecole Polytechnique Executive Education) for 5 years in Paris, and discovered how important the lack of real managerial skills within the French top management was. However, at that moment, my tools were limited.

Here at Kedge, people give us 2 years to bring them what they need. In fact, what they all say at the end of their Kedge journey is that they came for something, but they leave with so much more!

We work hard to give them what they need (sometimes instead of what they want), to support them struggling with their job, family and courses, to improve our delivery and level of excellence, and… at the end of the day, to satisfy all our stakeholders: participants, companies, faculty, accreditors, rankers, and ourselves…

And to be honest, most of the time, I don't feel like working, but living an intense and rewarding passion.

• While recruiting candidates, I enjoy meeting numerous varying and fascinating profiles.
• While training the MBA team (last week in China), I share and challenge my convictions and exigence.
• While dealing with professors, I learn and integrate incredible and exiting new topics and ways of thinking.
• While building our share of voice on the market, I rejoice in our distinctive advantages.
• While discussing things with our participants, I familiarise myself with all their business and managing environments and constantly improve my understanding of their needs.

When I go home in the evening… how can I say it? ... I do not feel threatened by any "bore out".

Thankfully, the MBA team is incredible, managing with dedication the complexity and lacework of our programme from Bordeaux, Paris, Marseille and Shanghai. Some of them express themselves in this newsletter. Don't miss their articles. They shall become your friends soon.