Chicken soup for the MBA's soul

Chicken soup for MBA's soul

Queen's offers meditation, fitnessShannon Sutherland, Financial PostPublished:

Tuesday, March 14, 2006Craig Roberts, a Queen's-Cornell EMBA student and a director at Reed Construction Data, says the Fit to Lead program reminded him heneeded to sweat, laugh, eat and sleep.Trying to provide an MBA student with work/life balance might seem daunting, but Queen's University found a hook to attract MBAstudents with its Fit to Lead program, which teaches students toattend to their mental, spiritual, emotional and physical well-being.About two-thirds of students participate in the programs, covering everything from personal reflection, goal setting, fitness, and healthy eating to balancing personal and professional pursuits. At on-campus sessions they engage in activities ranging from rockclimbing to Pilates. From 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. daily during sessions, it is basically me-time.

"I'm not going to tell you doing your MBA isn't stressful, because it is, but this program at least addresses that and helps you find away to develop healthy habits that will help you now and long after you're finished your MBA," says Craig Roberts, a director of professional services with Reed Construction Data and an enrollee in the Queens-Cornell executive MBA program."For starters, they reminded me I need to sweat at least three times a week, I need to sleep and I need to remember to laugh. Somewhere along the way, I had forgotten those things."Queen's might be on to something: It seems work/life balance is a status symbol. Three in 10 Canadians claim it is the leading indicator of career success, according to a 2003 Ipsos-Reid poll.

Instead of MBA grads bragging about an 18-hour negotiating session,they may soon be boasting about their two-hour session with the psychotherapist, or three-hour lunch with their wife or a marathon pillow fight with their children. In the United States, the Wharton School at the University ofPennsylvania offers the Total Leadership program, while the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business teaches a course called Spirit of the New Workplace. While it's not surprising a program such as this is never going to get total buy-in, Queen's has been encouraged by student support thus far. About 65% of the students participate in the daily activity programs, and about 35% participate in the personalized fitness programs. Students receive a fitness assessment and participate in individual fitness consultations with a personal trainer to design a customized fitness plan. Queens has four MBA programs featuring Fit to Lead: the Queen's-Cornell executive MBA, the accelerated MBA for business graduates,the executive MBA and the executive MBA program in Ottawa. In May,the program will be in all Queen's programs [as the program launches in MBAst]."Many executive MBA students are looking at 20 to 25 extra hours of work a week," says Bill Blake, associate dean of MBA programs at Queen's. "For the average person, the stress level goes up while working on an MBA, but to the extent that it's possible, we want students to strive for work/life balance."Mr. Roberts says the program was a catalyst for him and he is thrilled with his weight loss and renewed energy.

© National Post 2006