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The Welcoming Letter of Prof. Jean-Pierre Bal

Firmly rooted in its authentic organisational mission our Graduate School offers a comprehensive educational response to the growing need for highly effective and experienced leaders in corporations, in education, in public organisations, in consultancy, and in many other action-fields and domains. Leading effectively is a lifelong process of learning and practice, and therefore leadership certainly deserves to be called an art. That art of being a guide for both the people and the organisation is based on the practice of 'old' ways, the discovery of 'other' approaches, and the creative melting of 'old-and-other' into one's own or 'new' leadership style, as applied by successful executives. This implies that one be able to ride the waves of change, a skill for which our School provides a number of paths towards the mastery of it, mainly by transforming learning. We strongly believe that many leaders are made, not born. One grows to become a leader, for instance by the mastery of self and by the development of strategic vision -- these are two key components in our action-oriented leadership curricula.

Our School's programmes resemble arrowheads that point towards the future. They are the tangible and present-day result of foreseeing, as early as the 1980s, the growing leadership needs worldwide, the ones that emerged in our fast-paced society, and in our 21st century in general. The School demonstrates the courage of challenging society by stating that it has a vision of how the world could be in the three to four decades ahead. A perhaps singular statement, yet it is the most daring and steadfast cornerstone of our concept in leadership education -- in our role of grooming the present and future generations of leaders who face the hard realities and who shoulder increasing responsibilities. 

Furthermore, with the individualised mentoring approach we strive to attain the real-time equivalent of a 1-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. This quite exceptional type of personal care ensures that each participant effectively succeeds in, for instance, the establishment of an unbiased leader-purpose, by setting a strong direction in his (her) career, by sharing deep personal values, thus adopting a soulful leadership style.

If I were to describe a leader's career as a work of art, then the fact of earning of a THIERRY diploma constitutes one of the pillars or arches of the archway a leader shapes by his (her) lifetime actions or achievements. Leaders hopefully build a number of lasting personal, organisational and societal archways. While building his (her) archway, the leader provides support and assistance to people who shape their own. Finally, with leadership being an art, it requires all of the leader's six senses in nurturing relationships with, and in the influencing of and by other people.

Prof. Jean-Pierre Bal, Founder and Executive Director 

Read the next page of the Welcoming-tour, click on     MISSION STATEMENT

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