Students at the Wright Graduate University for the Realization of Human Potential are practicing a model of business leadership aimed at ensuring success and satisfaction for those they lead, achieving remarkable results during the pandemic.
“Socially-emotionally-intelligent leaders lead teams to greater outcomes with less burnout,” said Dr. Bob Wright, co-founder of Wright Graduate University. “Most business education has undervalued the so-called ‘soft’ skills that make the greatest difference for leaders and their teams.”
Dean of Graduate Studies Dr. Bernard Luskin added, “The implications of remote work, artificial intelligence, and new technology are changing the direction of work. WGU develops students’ uniquely human capacities for dealing with complex business challenges and relationships with sensitivity.”
As am example, Wright Graduate University cited Jennifer Masi, who is COO and director of creative services at real estate marketing agency Torque Ltd. in Chicago. The company’s revenue dropped 40 percent in the early months of the pandemic. “With employees living alone, navigating the fear of the pandemic, and doing things they hadn’t done before in the business everyone was challenged to stay connected and productive.”
Masi enrolled in Wright’s Doctor of Education program at the end of October 2020, and the company ended the year having rebounded to 94 percent of its 2019 goal. Masi said her clients return asking for more work than before.
Wright Graduate University doctoral student Peter Stover is a K-8 visual arts teacher in the Chicago area, who in 2019 had been named by his district as the outstanding social-emotional learning teacher of the year. But when the pandemic ended in-person instruction, Stover said, “The relationships I had with students became even more central than the art education. If I wasn’t tuned in to what was really going on with them, they wouldn’t log in to class.”
As a result of his Wright education, Stover’s district level role expanded, and he is now training teachers and developing curriculum district wide.
To learn more about Wright Graduate University and the Wright Foundation.
