EMBA is often sold and understood as a pathway to top management positions. Salla Gantsi, Owner of Gantsi Consulting Oy & Executive Coach, graduated from Henley Business School Finland unemployed in 2020. In retrospect, Salla stated that the Henley journey shook her professional identity, forced her to rediscover herself, and encouraged her to become an entrepreneur. She established her own company in 2020.
An essential part of the Henley Business School Executive MBA programme is the Personal Development Journey, which increases leaders' self-awareness and supports their growth as leaders.
Salla quotes Professor Chris Dalton:
People think management learning is about finding answers. It is about finding the right questions: What should we do next? What’s going on? Who am I?
Henley's Personal Development journey helped answer the question, who am I? When I was writing my EMBA dissertation, something clicked in my mind, I felt despair. How could I ever say I focused for a year on socio-demographic diversity only to realise that diversity is detrimental – especially gender diversity, says Salla.
I told my good Henley EMBA study fellow that I can never speak about this aloud, and it saddens me.
Additionally, Salla mentioned the Leading with Humanity Leadership retreat, which was transformative and led to the decision to work for better leadership and to establish a company focusing on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).
After EMBA studies, Salla finalised her Executive Coaching studies at Henley Business School Finland. Work has always been important to Salla, and one key insight has been that she is highly sensitive, and it is extremely important to learn to set boundaries to take care of her well-being. I have built my career before Henley in leadership positions in diverse industries. I have enjoyed good leadership and a very inclusive environment. These experiences of humanised leadership have inspired me to find a company in 2020 around DEI and to create a better working life and leadership.
DEI in organisations means a journey to oneself, the ability to increase understanding of one's discriminatory attitudes and behaviour. Understanding inclusivity makes us better leaders, better parents, and friends.
DEI work is cultural work; it leads towards attraction and retention and enables the capitalisation of the benefits of diversity.
Diversity levels in companies are essential to the majority, and inclusivity is more important to the minority, says Salla. Are we doing DEI to look better and meet regulatory requirements, like ESG? Or do we do DEI because we want to build a better work environment, make the company more attractive to future talents with diverse backgrounds, improve employee retention, and make the company more competitive?