My journey to IMD has been less about a career pivot and more about a personal reckoning. After more than a decade in digital media and analytics, leading marketing/advertising teams and clients across the Middle East and North Africa, I began to feel a quiet plateau. I had grown comfortable solving problems inside my domain, yet uneasy about how narrow that domain had become. The decision to pursue an MBA was not driven by ambition alone; it was the need to re-engage with ambiguity, to rebuild range, and to rediscover purpose beyond performance metrics.
I chose IMD because it felt human in scale and uncompromising in depth – a crucible where learning happens through the collision of perspectives, values, and lived realities. It promised discomfort and challenge. Moreover, the small class size promised real relationships rather than transactional networks, and the school’s intense, experience-based pedagogy aligned with how I learn best: by doing, reflecting, and iterating. I wasn’t looking for prestige but for proximity, seeking ideas, people, and feedback that accelerate growth.
During the Leadership Lab, the coaches didn’t care about polish; they cared about truth. When I instinctively defended my team’s “good enough” result in one exercise, the feedback was blunt; I was rationalizing comfort. That moment exposed a blind spot I hadn’t seen; that defensiveness often hides a fear of inadequacy. Since then, I’ve learned that leadership isn’t about always having the right answer; it’s about creating the conditions for better ones to emerge.
The most profound takeaway, however, has not come from classrooms or simulations but from the people beside me. In a cohort of fewer than a hundred, you can’t hide behind formality. You celebrate together, argue, fail, and rebuild trust – all within the same week. What began as professional collaboration has evolved into genuine friendship, the kind that holds a mirror without judgment. These bonds (organic, unforced, and rooted in shared struggle) are what make IMD special. I’ve learned that authenticity is not a style of leadership but its foundation. This reminds me of what Aristotle called philia: friendship as mutual betterment.
Academically, IMD has challenged me to unlearn my linear problem-solving instinct. Courses such as Strategy and Leadership have forced me to reconcile analytical structure with human complexity, to recognize that data without empathy is sterile, and empathy without clarity is chaos. The school’s emphasis on sustainability action has reawakened my curiosity about systems, incentives, and the social fabric that connects business to society, rekindling my interest in the role business can play in advancing the greater good.
IMD has inspired me to blend two worlds that I once kept separate: the analytical and the human. It is a space where data connects with doubt, and structure meets vulnerability. Through this experience, I have gained a new perspective, one that isn’t polished to fit neatly into slides but is instead shaped by real-life experiences. I came to IMD seeking to sharpen my intellect, but I am leaving equipped with the ability to listen with empathy, patience, and intention. If there’s one truth I will carry with me, it’s that while intellect builds systems, it is emotion that sustains them. This understanding is what truly defines growth, far beyond any strategy.”
