MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership

These strategic components make the MIT Sloan Fellows Program an unrivaled growth experience:

360° Leadership Assessment

Before you arrive at MIT Sloan, you will participate in a 360° Leadership Assessment with the help of a dozen or so of your handpicked peers, managers, subordinates, and clients. Working one-on-one with faculty, you will review the results of this assessment during the summer term before beginning intensive leadership studies.

April Orientation Week

The year kicks off with April Orientation Week, which features an academic overview of the program and gives you a chance to get acquainted with the MIT Sloan environment. This week is also a valuable opportunity to get to know your learning community—and to get oriented to MIT and the Cambridge–Boston area. You will meet members of your class and their partners and families. You will also have opportunities to talk with the outgoing class and get inside tips on program matters and practical issues, like housing options and support systems.

The Summer Session

The first weeks of the program focus on building a strong foundation for collaboration. In addition to activities that introduce the overall program, the curriculum, the faculty, and broader MIT resources, many events focus on team building and developing bonds with fellow classmates, their partners, and their families.

The core of the summer session is a rigorous curriculum that brings all fellows to the same level of knowledge in key disciplines. Given the vast diversity of the class—100+ fellows with 100+ different frames of reference—this mandatory core curriculum means that going forward, you and your classmates will be speaking the same language on essential business topics. Read more about the team-building element.

June Plunge

Leadership and professional development components in the summer term are designed to kick-start your year of deep exploration and reflection across all aspects of your program experience. The multidisciplinary Leadership in Integrative Management course, delivered by a team of Sloan Fellows faculty, is designed specifically as the framework for a range of learning experiences aimed at facilitating this process. This first challenge of the program—which requires dedicated teamwork, consideration of real-world issues, and a measurable deliverable—is arguably one of the most eye-opening experiences of the MIT Sloan Fellows year. Through it, you will begin to comprehend the individual and collective strengths of your study group. You will practice leadership and decision-making as a collaborative process that takes into consideration competing interests and perspectives. And you will build an increasing level of confidence in the strength of your own contributions.

Sloan Innovation Period (SIP)

The offerings are delivered in a variety of formats: half-day, full-day, or weeklong courses, workshops, simulations, and field trips. Many of these offerings focus on leadership theory and skill development, and provide a wide range of opportunities for modeling, practice, feedback, self-assessment, and reflection. The offerings are delivered in a variety of formats: half-day, full-day, or weeklong courses, workshops, simulations, and field trips. Read more about SIP.

Note: While SIP runs during fall and spring terms, fellows have the opportunity to participate only in fall.

Independent Activities Period (IAP)

The Independent Activities Period (IAP) is a special four-week term that runs the entire month of January. A signature component of the MIT experience for almost half a century, IAP provides you with a break from the routine of the fall and spring semesters and offers opportunities for creative learning experiences. During IAP, you are free to set your own educational agenda, undertake independent projects, meet with faculty, or pursue volunteer options around the globe. Read more about IAP.

Seminar in Leadership

The MIT Sloan Fellows Seminar in Leadership is a class without boundaries. You will evaluate leadership models with MIT Sloan faculty, global leaders, and your program peers. You will travel to key centers of enterprise and government and talk frankly and confidentially with leaders about their greatest challenges. And you will give powerful, real-world context to the intense innovation and global leadership expertise you have been building throughout the year.

Leadership Studies

In a world where ever-accelerating change is a constant, skillful leadership is more crucial and more difficult to achieve than ever before. As a Sloan Fellow, you will have the chance to develop your capacity for creative, effective leadership through rigorous analysis and intensive practice. You will enhance your ability to define critical objectives, build dynamic relationships, and deliver innovative solutions. And you will talk face-to-face with some of the most influential leaders of our day and learn about their greatest—and lowest—moments as leaders. With the rigor and range of leadership knowledge and experience as your foundation, you will develop a distinctive and effective leadership style and the ability to practice it with skill and confidence.

One of numerous venues for talking to iconic executives and heads of state is the Dean’s Innovative Leader Series, which brings many of the world’s finest leaders to campus every year. Read more about the Dean’s Innovative Leader Series.

Course selection

The curriculum includes a selection of core courses that will help you and your peers build a shared foundation of knowledge. You will round out your curriculum by choosing a number of strategic electives from among 100 courses across MIT. These electives give you the opportunity to create a tailored course of study that dovetails with your own interests, challenges, and experiences. Review core courses, electives, and the curriculum calendar.

Thesis

As an MIT Sloan Fellow, you have the option to complete a master’s thesis (in pursuit of an MBA or SM), individually or with a coauthor. Developing a thesis is an opportunity to tap MIT’s extraordinary research centers and laboratories to analyze and solve a business challenge that you find particularly pertinent. Such in-depth exploration into a topic is something the normal pressures of day-to-day business just don’t allow. Read more about the thesis option.

Action learning

MIT’s credo is Mens et Manus, or Mind and Hand, and it is integral to the Sloan Fellows experience. During your year in the program, you will meet leaders here at MIT and out in the nerve centers of change. You will work on projects with real-world impact, have an opportunity to put leadership innovations to the test in authentic management situations, and find out how business is being done in your own industry and in related industries around the globe. Learn more about the Sloan Fellows action-learning component.