Imagine that you are a university student and are preparing for a five-day backpacking expedition that will take you and several others into spectacular high-mountain terrain in the Rockies. No, you are not planning for your reading week and no, this is not a vacation! You would be one of a select group of students participating in The Haskayne Leadership Expedition, a unique field course designed to help students cultivate the practical skills and qualities they will need to thrive as leaders in the modern business world. The course is highly experiential, and students will have multiple extended opportunities to practice and receive feedback on their leadership skills in a dynamic and challenging outdoor classroom.
This is just one example of the unique opportunities that are offered to students through the Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business (CCAL), which operates within the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. CCAL was launched in 2012, through the generosity of a lead group of donors, including Viewpoint Foundation, ARC Resources Ltd., ARC Financial Corp., and Brown Family Foundation.
CCAL serves as the premier Canadian forum for thought leadership, applied research, and teaching on ethics, governance, and performance challenges that confront the current and next generations of business leaders. By helping prepare students to meet the leadership challenges and opportunities that are present all around them, we are helping to build a better and stronger society. We need our students – our future leaders – to be prepared. CCAL, along with strong support from our community, is working to help them get there. Led by Director Glenda Reynolds, and with strong involvement from both the faculty and the community, CCAL delivers high-impact student leadership development through strategic events and curriculum, from the Ethics Strategy and BMO 's Mentorship Program to the development of a new Embedded Certificate in Leadership Studies.
CCAL is also committed to producing impactful applied leadership research for the purpose of improving management practice led by the CCAL Research Chair, Dr. Nick Turner. Through an ongoing speaker series and Research Roundtables, there is a focus on connecting faculty with industry to share these practices. CCAL’s research is creating a hub to draw national and international researchers.
The ultimate winners of all this work are the students, who get to connect with real-life role models, gain exposure to advanced leadership and ethics learnings, and practice leadership inside and outside the classroom. If you are passionate about leadership and supporting the next generation of leaders, CCAL is always looking to grow the community with volunteers and philanthropists. Connect to learn more about how you can get involved with CCAL’s growing community.
Interested in sharing your experiences and mentoring a student?
Several of Viewpoint’s employees are involved in BMO’s Mentorship Program, which connects business leaders to business students through a facilitated mentoring process! CCAL is always looking to add more mentors to the ranks.