Inquirere et Immutare

The Future Leadership Summit by Daniel Kohn at Bree and Schilde (Belgium)

From November 3^rd until November 5^th 2010, I, an ESMT MBA 2010 candidate, was given the opportunity and privilege to represent the school at the first ever held Future Leadership Summit hosted by the towns of Bree and Schilde in Belgium. The mission was straight forward and noble; bring together 50 student leaders from Europe’s elite universities and business schools and expose them to critical questions about our future economic development. Three interactive days shed light on diverse leadership aspects ranging from ethical values, regional importance, and entrepreneurship to the impact of social media on the corporate world and the role and value of employees.

There are three aspects of the summit that for me personally added a unique value. Firstly, the summit organized a panel session with high ranked officers from the fields of religion, business, politics, and military providing insightful perspectives on commonalities in their personal values and norms. Secondly, the student leaders were paired to 30 CEOs. Both groups participated in similar sessions in parallel and were afterwards brought together to investigate differences between generations of future and current leaders. And finally, the reinforcing message about the power of networking and the distinctive chance to apply this practice on the spot.

The International Student Senate is herewith inaugurated and I am looking forward contributing to the debate that has just started. Having said that, my mind is still on a French question whether our new economy de-humanizes and please remind me to order a new set of business cards.

Daniel Kohn
ESMT