RSM Erasmus graduates OneMBA Class of 2009
6/19/09
The message was “Go forth and conquer – and do it responsibly,” to graduates at the Global OneMBA Class of 2009 Graduation Ceremony, held on Friday, June 19 at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.
Family, friends and programme administrators gathered at RSM for the event, which marked the culmination of almost two years of intensive study conducted in cooperation with five different universities around the world.
“None of us entering the programme could have foreseen how much this experience would change us,” said class representatives Sylvia van der Woord and Martien Kroeze during their address. “It’s been a phenomenal transformation: professionally and personally. I now feel truly capable of competing in a global arena. I have learned what questions to ask to frame a situation and how interconnected the world is. My personal effectiveness has improved and I have the courage to try and make a difference in the world. Thank you for the best two years of my life,” said Sylvia.
Twenty seven senior executives received their MBA diplomas during the event, an accomplishment that involved, recalled Sylvia, “hours spent on teleconferences late at night”, “number crunching” and wading through information-dense functional disciplines, as well as immense personal growth and development.
But the result, they said, was worth every minute: “We are leaving with an immense confidence in our own capabilities as leaders but also a real awareness of the considerable responsibility that comes with this role.”
The ceremony commenced with a welcome by Dianne Bevelander, Associate Dean MBA Programmes, who thanked friends and family for the sacrifices they had made and which had enabled the participants to invest the requisite time in the programme: “An MBA is never something that is achieved alone,” she said.
An address by Former Dean Post-Experience Programmes Mike Page followed, during which the virtues, challenges, demands and responsibilities inherent in leadership formed the central theme of his talk. “Today I am convinced more than ever that the OneMBA is the world’s premier global consortium programme,” he said. “This programme is doing things others are struggling to emulate or doing so less successfully. As one of the co-founders of this programme I see the foundation of the Global OneMBA as one of the capstones of my career.”
Page went on to reflect on the meaning of leadership to a group he said would become significant contributors to organisations, industries, and communities around the world. He said, “Ask yourself: are you visionary, charismatic, self-sufficient; do you guide, teach and delegate; do you take decisions and risks, possess courage and confidence; are you ethical, humble and willing to acknowledge your mistakes? These are the qualities of authentic leaders.”
While the genetic component of leadership was beyond dispute, he said, a great deal came down to an arduous dedication to self-realisation and individual growth, something, he said, “you as the graduating class of this programme have achieved.”
The presentations of the diplomas followed, during which the Dean’s Honours Award went to Gunther van de Rijt. Van de Rijt said: “For me, the three aspects of the OneMBA from which I will benefit most were the working together in international far-flung teams, learning to bridge different perspectives, and the personal development in leadership competencies.”
Capitalising on the OneMBA momentum meant not losing contact with each other said Sylvia, a notion reinforced by the words of Marleen Mol, an alumnus of the OneMBA 2008 programme. Marleen spoke of how the Class of 2008 had formed a “voluntary MBA afterlife”, during which they regularly convened for presentations in order to recapture the sense of inspiration and continual learning of the OneMBA. Alumnus Officer Irene Versluijs then welcomed the group as new members of the RSM Alumni Network, a community that will yield networking and life-long learning opportunities for the rest of their careers.
Dianne Bevelander closed ceremonies ahead of celebrations at Maria’s Cantina by saying that this event signified the conclusion of “an important era for all the participants,” said Dianne, “and one I hope will mark the beginning of an equally important era, one which the OneMBA will have a great hand in shaping. Go on and be the best you can be.”
Saskia Treurniet, OneMBA Programme Director commented that it has been a privilege to work with this excellent class over the last 21 months! “Not only has each individual of this particular OneMBA cohort contributed to the high level of excellence-sharing in both a local- as well as in a global setting, they have also been able to maintain a classroom-environment in which dedication, supportiveness and true companionship were clearly present. I wish our graduates much success in their future endeavours and have high expectations of them as RSM OneMBA alumni!”
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