MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership

Kofi Annan can remember the day. It was 1971 and he was in the middle of his first term in the MIT Sloan Fellows Program. He was walking along the Charles River, ruminating about his place in the class, wondering how he fit into the audacious group of global leaders who were his classmates.

When the answer came to him, Annan says, it came to him most emphatically: “Follow your own inner compass...know who you are, what you stand for, where you want to go, and why you want to get there.” He recalls that at once, his anxieties began to fade.

Annan believes that as a result of that walk by the river, he took away from MIT “the intellectual confidence to help me locate my bearings in new situations, to view any challenge as an opportunity for renewal and growth, and to be comfortable in seeking the help of colleagues, but not fearing to do things my way.”

MIT and the United Nations, Annan says, have more in common than might be at first obvious. The experimental method, for example. “An international organization,” he says, “is an experiment...an experiment in human cooperation on a planetary scale.” He notes that “international organizations must be closely tuned to their environments, quickly correct their mistakes, build cumulatively on their achievements, and continually generate new modalities as previous ways of doing things become outdated.”

Although that introspective walk along the Charles River is now more than 30 years past, Annan’s experience at MIT still informs his decisions. “As a Sloan Fellow, I learned management skills that I could draw on in refashioning the United Nations for the new century.”

Meeting global leaders

“During our international trip to South Africa and Brazil, I was struck by an incredible sense of momentum. The nations we visited were very different yet equally committed to sustainable fast-track development. The government and company leaders we met gave us tremendous insight into the possibilities for responsible entrepreneurship.”

Collaborating with innovators

“I’m preparing to start a multinational company focused on data analytics. The best thinkers in business, entrepreneurship, and IT are all right here. The one-on-one interactions with faculty and global leaders are unlike any other educational experience. And your fellow students are the best of the best. I remember looking across the classroom and thinking: just the dozen of us in this room could change the world.”

Sharing with family

“My family considered it ‘our’ Sloan Fellows year. My wife, who is also an entrepreneur, was able to work remotely from Cambridge. My children became fluent in English, played soccer, and took classes through MIT’s fantastic SPLASH program. They loved the idea of studying at MIT, just like Dad.”

Accessing the brain trust.

“You work so closely with your professors, their network becomes your network, and their networks are pretty amazing. Most valuable, though, is your 100-fellow brain trust, representing diverse cultures, industries, markets, and global experience. It’s one of your greatest resources going forward. Make no mistake—it’s a network that opens doors.”

Living extraordinary days.

“What makes the MIT Sloan Fellows experience so powerful—and what makes it possible—is total immersion. You could not build these bonds, gain this depth of knowledge, and live these extraordinary experiences on the job. There’s just no way of gaining this level of value outside this intensive format.”

Growing a global vision.

“How global you are can’t be measured in frequent flyer miles. A truly global leader has a deep understanding of the world—all parts of the world—the industries that thrive in each region, the work and family culture, the geopolitical relationships. It seems an impossibly outsized lesson to learn, but it happens naturally in the MIT Sloan Fellows Program.”

Emerging confident

“The value of the program was extraordinary. It opened my mind, stretched my thinking, and fueled my creativity in ways I did not think were possible. I emerged with the confidence and ability to make a difference in my company and in the community.”

Bonding with colleagues

“I was the very last person in the class to arrive on campus. I came upon a group of fellows deep in discussion. When they realized who I was, they immediately welcomed me and dropped everything to help me get settled and ease my transition. That Sloan Fellows bond is powerful – and lasts far beyond the program.”

Expanding value

“Every day, I feel the impact of my Sloan Fellows experience. I am more innovative, more strategic, more global in my thinking. The value of the program is integral to everything I do and everything I am. Two years have gone by, and I keep waiting for that sensation to abate, but it doesn’t.”

Bringing more to the table

“A management program at MIT Sloan was a strategic choice for me. An MBA from MIT underlined my technical credentials while giving me skills that are complementary—rather than redundant—to the strengths of the other executives sitting around a boardroom table. I find I bring a richer base of knowledge and a broader perspective to problem-solving efforts.”

Change through collaboration

“I have been working with local civic and medical leaders in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Qatar on developing sustainable healthcare models. Key to success is building strong multicultural relationships, a skill I developed in one of the most collaborative cultures on earth—MIT. I learned that if you don’t have robust relationships in place, change isn’t sustainable. After spending a year at MIT, the ability to build teams—and consensus—is second nature to me.”

Growing a family

“Family is so important to us that my husband and I once took a year off and lived at sea with our two children on a 32-ft sloop. So when I was considering a year at MIT, the kids figured heavily into the decision. They were middle school age then and found Cambridge, MIT, and the children of my program peers fascinating and inspiring. My daughter very much responded to the rich intellectual and multicultural environment and is now at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. Her plan is to get involved with Doctors without Borders. My son, after a summer robotics program at MIT, is making his career in electronic game design. That year very much shaped who we all are today.”

Leveraging the year at MIT

“Every day I find myself tapping into skills I learned during that intense year at MIT. How to communicate and build strong partnerships, for example. How to guide the evolution of organizations. How to drive change. These capabilities are now in my DNA and have been crucial to realizing my vision—and in helping me help others to realize theirs.”

Evaluating technology trends

“I was self-sponsored, so going to business school was a major investment. I decided on MIT because a business school set within an engineering school could give me a much more informed perspective on new technologies. I knew that having the skills to understand technology trends would be of enormous value going forward—and it has been.”

Generating ideas and connections

“One year immersed in an idea-generating environment with some of the best minds in the world is an extraordinary opportunity. The faculty, of course, taught me so much, but I learned just as much from my peers in the program. Working closely with these inspiring, highly accomplished people day in and day out, I picked up valuable knowledge across an astonishingly wide spectrum of the global marketplace.”

“Most MBA programs are formulaic–graduating is almost like getting your passport stamped. The MIT Sloan Fellows Program, on the other hand, is a 360-degree experience. As a serial entrepreneur, I was able to take courses in any area of the Institute I thought would help me to grow my company. In those two years, I built the broad and powerful range of skills I needed, all the while taking A123 from startup to success. I think it’s the impact that Sloan Fellows have on their companies that best illustrates the strength of this program.”

Reaching across MIT

“I strategized with the world’s top aeronautics scientists, explored pivotal technological innovations at the MIT Media Lab, learned from leading security experts in political science–even tapped the latest thinking on defense policy at Harvard’s JFK School of Government. If it was essential to me as a leader, I could reach across the MIT universe and get it.”

Exploring and reflecting

“Immersion in the MIT Sloan Fellows environment is not just about rigorous academics. It’s about the accelerated learning you experience by being at MIT full time: the dozens of thought leaders who visit campus each week, the spontaneous brainstorming sessions over coffee, and the exploration and reflection you never have room for in your normal routine.”

Developing perspective

“Working so intensely with classmates from around the world day in and day out meant that, by year’s end, their experiences became my experiences. Today, as I leave the program, my perspective encompasses a wide swath of countries, cultures, and industries. I could not have developed that expanded view any other way.”

“The MIT Sloan Fellows Program didn’t just change the way I think about business. It changed the way I think. If ever there were a brain trust for engineering and innovation, it’s MIT. As a fellow, I had access to that incredible depth of technical expertise and cutting-edge research. And the reward of focusing without distraction on ideas, learning, discovery, and growth was incalculable. When I returned to UTC, I found I had a new confidence born of spending a year measuring myself against some of the best minds in the world. I also found myself asking questions that wouldn’t have even occurred to me before the program. The MIT Sloan Fellows Program was a mind-expanding coming-of- age experience, and it prepared me to take the next big step in my career.”

“When I was about to begin the program, I was worried. ‘One year?!’ It seemed an eternity to spend at that point in my career. By graduation, I was wishing I had another nine years. Until you arrive at MIT, you don’t realize the extent of the adventure that awaits you. As the CEO of a startup that has grown from six to 60 people in five years, I use what I learned in that jam-packed year every single day–technology strategy, system dynamics, product marketing, competition, leadership. In fact, to some extent, we have modeled Anaqua on the MIT Sloan Fellows Program itself, bringing our clients together from various countries and industries to pool their knowledge and help one another thrive. It is an approach that has proved as successful for Anaqua as for the program that inspired it.”

Unfolding value.

“Whenever I’m faced with decision points, I realize just how that year as an MIT Sloan Fellow equipped me for so many facets of my career and my life. Three years later, the full significance of my time at MIT is still unfolding on a daily basis. ‘Aha,’ I often think, ‘so this is what that lesson meant.’”

Shaping the future.

“The intellectual climate is exhilarating. You are among the global movers and shakers, adding your own experiences and perspectives to the mix. I wanted to jump out of my skin, I was so excited by the global leaders I met and the peer conversations I had with faculty I have admired for years. I knew I was contributing to dialogues that were shaping business.”

Deepening understanding.

“You take away a whole lot of wisdom when you leave the program, including a deep understanding that we see things not as they are but as we are. I am a more conscious leader and a more global thinker, and I take that sensibility into every situation. My colleagues tell me that I am a very different leader since I’ve returned from MIT, and I know they are right.”

Embracing adventure

“MIT is on the crest of the world, and I feel like a kid on a skateboard with my hat on backwards ready to take off. I’m in this adventure for the thrills and for the chance to stretch, discover, and expand.”

Harvesting the ecosystem

“In New Zealand, we are great innovators, but we are not commercializing or exporting nearly enough. As a CEO and a passionate New Zealander, I need to fix that. Just a couple of weeks in, I’m already building a powerful global network and tapping into MIT’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. This is exactly where I need to be right now.”

Building community

“The Sloan Fellows Program is a strong, inclusive family. When my husband saw how enthusiastic the partners are about the program and how close-knit the community is, he decided to make more time to visit from New Zealand so he can take part.”

Boosting emotional intelligence.

“Personal and professional growth are interdependent. A leader’s increased emotional intelligence can have a huge impact on an organization—even on the bottom line. As a fellow, I learned the value, power, and responsibility of leadership, the contributions I could make to society, and how to build a successful career that’s about more than maximizing profitability.”

Earning horsepower.

“As I left the program, I was approached by a group of corporate and philanthropic leaders in my home state. They wanted me to head a catalytic initiative that would grow entrepreneurship in Ohio. I was an experienced serial entrepreneur, but what interested them was that I was an MIT Sloan Fellow. With this credential, they knew I had the horsepower to do the job.”

Bonding with family.

“I heard from alumni that the MIT Sloan Fellows Program was a profound family experience. For me that was a pivotal differentiator and a powerful reason for going to the program. It wasn’t just that I wanted to make the year worthwhile for my family. I wanted us to bond and build shared friendships. The year topped all our expectations.”

“I came to this program to think outside the inbox. Executives have few opportunities in their lifetimes to reflect, absorb, and put all the pieces of their lives together. The MIT Sloan Fellows Program offers a highly valuable refueling station at the crossroads of our careers. In the program, we figure out just where we should be headed and how to get there. All the while we’re meeting people we could never meet and learning things we could never learn anywhere but here. I really valued the intersections. You might find yourself in a negotiating class with a real estate expert, a neuroscientist, and a mechanical engineer. As a result, I know so much more about so many things. I can see the impact this very deep knowledge and experience has had on my life and work.”

Strategizing with experts

“I wanted the high-level access to MIT faculty that comes with being a Sloan Fellow–to be able to talk over problems with Nobel Laureates in physics and economics, with innovators and ground-shakers. I have seen the remarkable power of MIT Sloan thinkers, and I wanted to learn from them and grow to be one myself.”

Mapping for expansion

“My company is eager to reach out into the world and become a great enterprise. I see this year of immersion as the nourishment of that aim. When I was deciding whether to apply, I mapped all our goals and gaps to the opportunities offered in the program and achieved a one-to-one match. I couldn’t afford not to come.”

Discovering depth

“The Sloan Fellows are so legendary, I wondered if there was an element of myth. But during orientation, I realized the elite caliber of the fellows is real…the depth of accomplishment, the breadth of diversity, the global network, the bonding and collaboration–all greater than I could have imagined.”

Expanding impact

“Even if you think of your business as a domestic operation, you probably have global links in your supply chain. The companies that thrive today can launch innovation on an international platform. No other resource can provide the depth and breadth of global perspective I can build in the MIT Sloan Fellows Program.”

Learning 24/7

“In the daily life of business, I focused, like everybody does, on solving immediate challenges. There just wasn’t the opportunity for thinking about larger issues. I’ve come to the MIT Sloan Fellows Program to focus on vision, leadership, and everything I can learn from this incredible community. That means keeping my eyes open—no blinking until May.”

Sharing experience

“It’s hard to take in the dizzying breadth of this cohort, a melting pot of the international marketplace. I want to know what my peers know. Why Singapore is so good at attracting outside investment or how Bangalore is handling the economic downturn. I’ve come here to learn the secrets of the global economy from the people around the world who know them best.”

Taking ideas the distance

“Before MOT, I started a small company, and it was successful, but I felt I could take my ideas much further. I realized there were gaps in the story I wanted to tell about myself. I needed the pedigree and capabilities to match my vision—and a management program that could help me develop that. It’s true. An entrepreneur who wants to bring revolutionary technologies to market has one clear choice in business education—MIT.”

Moving the world forward

“MIT is instrumental in moving the world forward, and my year in the MOT Program gave me the resources to join that effort. On top of everything I took away, I can show up on campus today and ask for whatever I need—with the confidence that that need will be met.”

Shaping history

“At GenomeQuest, I am riding the most exciting technology development in the history of mankind. But I am convinced that if I hadn’t taken that year out for the MOT Program (now Sloan Fellows), I would still be a mid-level technical manager in a biopharma company. My time at MIT gave me everything I need to go as far as I want to go.”

Waking up to the world.

“I’ve only been here a few weeks, but I can already feel something within me waking up, something that has been long dormant. It’s a renewed excitement about the world. When you are always frantically responding to the day-to-day demands of your work and family life, your window on the wider world tends to shrink. Suddenly, I feel I can see farther and through fresher eyes.”

Tapping the e-ecosystem.

“If your life is the business of new technologies, MIT is the hub of your universe. I want to spend my life creating companies, so it’s important that I plug into this ecosystem where advanced thinking about business and technology fuses with advanced thinking about entrepreneurship. The world is being reinvented here every day, and I need to know how.”

Pushing boundaries.

“This program is designed for people who need to know how the world works and how it thinks. My company is about to launch a radical technology in the global marketplace—it could change life for many in the developing world. Just within my cohort, I can test the concept and get essential feedback about how this invention will play across the globe.”

Drinking from the firehose.

“I’d been warned about the MIT ‘firehose effect.’ Opportunity is so relentless here, you must have a plan of action. If you balance focus and exploration, you will have the best year of your life. I learned the fundamentals I needed, but also ended up a founder in one early-stage venture—and took another to the final track of the MIT $100K with two entrepreneurs in my Media Tech class.”

Building bonds.

“You grow incredibly strong bonds working so closely together over the year. You couldn’t build that global network of advisors any other way. If I suddenly need to understand the private equity industry or how to set up a retail franchise along the Pacific Rim, I have close, trusted friends in every corner of the world who can provide answers.”

Executing big ideas.

“I used to be guilty of the entrepreneurial fallacy that if you have a cool product, people will buy it. Here, I’ve discovered that a great idea is no guarantee. What matters is execution. As an MIT Sloan Fellow I gained an understanding of the market, how to lead the people bringing it to market, and the best practices for getting it to market. I couldn’t get that combination anywhere else.”

Learning to lead

“The program is a microcosm of the corporate environment. You work closely with people who hold very different perspectives from your own. You evolve from accepting those differences to counting on them. You learn there’s far more power in collaboration than in competition. And you learn not just how to lead, but when to lead.”

Transforming the dialogue

“My year as a Sloan Fellow was the best of my life. I met so many influential leaders and saw how they integrated who they were with the fundamentals of good leadership. When I returned to my job at HP, my dialogue with senior executives was transformed. I was immediately making things happen in my company.”

Improving the world

“I always knew I wanted to do big things with my life. As a Sloan Fellow I gained a deeper understanding of how the world works – economics, finance, ‘the Street’ – but I also learned about poverty, sustainability, and social issues. I gained a clearer, more actionable vision of how to make the world a better place.”

Developing visions

“MIT is an intellectually invigorating, high-energy environment. You are surrounded by people who are pushing themselves to realize their dreams. Accomplishment is not about status at MIT. It’s about making something important happen—something that makes a difference in the world. I found that spirit infectious. In fact, it influenced the course of my career.”

Expanding perspectives

“During my time at MIT, I came to realize that I had a very ‘Singaporean perspective,’ and that if I were to discuss an issue with colleagues back in Singapore, they would share that perspective. My program peers from Brazil, Japan, and other cultures, however, would share very different ideas on the same issue. It was incredibly illuminating. Now, if I want an alternate perspective, I have a global network I can turn to for advice.”

Integrating value

“MIT looks at technology holistically. The value of integrating management strategy, marketing, technical issues, and other factors is an approach that has proven successful again and again worldwide. And it’s a perspective that has been extremely valuable to me as I help bring innovations to market in my work at the NRF.”

Welcome to this virtual introduction to the MIT Sloan Fellows experience.

Many MIT Sloan Fellows begin their life-long relationship with the program right here on this website. Throughout these pages, you will discover essential facts about the faculty and the curriculum. You will meet fellows, past and present. And you will learn about the program's immense value to your company, your career, and your life.

As an alumnus and the program's director for nearly a decade, I have experienced the program's power–and I have seen it at work in the world. I'll be honest. Don't come to this program if you are happy with the status quo. Come here to take the lid off your world. Come here to give your vision velocity. Come here to find a way–maybe many–to achieve what others have crossed off as impossible.

You will find answers to many of your questions here on this website, but be sure to register with us to get more in-depth information. Just click the Get Started button below.

Stephen Sacca
Director, MIT Sloan Fellows Program
in Innovation and Global Leadership