You’ve certainly heard that things go better with a Coke. Well, ExecEd’s Custom Solutions approach is definitely one of those things.
You may know a little about these special programs, but our Insights blog doesn’t often get specific about them since these are all very different curricula designed by our faculty and staff for each specific client.
But today we’d like to boast about one of our strongest custom programs, with a company you know very well – the ongoing partnership that we call the Coca-Cola Consolidated Leadership Academy.
This year’s cohort is the third, the program having launched during the 2021-22 academic year. As is the way with Custom Solutions, the class is made up of up-and-coming Coca-Cola Consolidated Leaders who are identified as candidates for through their annual Talent review process, and the curriculum is designed very specifically to address not only the skills that the company most wants them to have, but also the issues the company most wants them to solve.
And the solutions that are found don’t stay in the classroom. This knowledge follows the participants back to their jobs, to be translated into reality. Associate Dean for Executive Education Mark Cecchini is impressed by how well that works in this case. With the Coke Academy, “Twenty percent of the action happens when they’re with us, and 80 percent when they apply it back at work.”
An important part of the experience is a specific “leadership challenge.”
“We split them up into teams, and they do a project together,” says Cecchini. Particular care is taken in selecting those projects,” he says. Each one has to be “future-facing.”
That means the group is not addressing something they’re doing right now, but at the same time, it’s not such a theoretical subject that it may never actually arise. It needs to be something they will encounter within a year or two so that the participants will still be in place to apply what they’ve learned in the real world, on the job.
“At Coca-Cola Consolidated, we believe leadership is the cornerstone of lasting success. Through our partnership with the Moore School’s Executive Education department, our Leadership Academy develops future-ready leaders equipped with the skills, confidence, and purpose to drive growth across our 14-state and Washington, D.C., territory,” says Todd Miller, HR Vice President. “Together, we’re building a culture of excellence, innovation, and service that strengthens both our organization and the communities we serve.”
When time comes to present their findings, it’s done off-site. And most importantly, the participants’ leaders and the executive leadership team are there. The sessions are often scheduled as part of the team’s quarterly meeting.
That adds something additional to what’s learned in class and in the work groups. “They tell us the networking is such a big deal,” says Dr. Cecchini. “One measure of the success of the Academy is that even though this is just the third year, 57% of the participants have received next-level promotions,” he adds.
The cohort gets together five times during the year, alternating between doing so in person and virtually. Here are the topics covered, along with the faculty members who handle them:
- Business Strategy & Innovation – DJ Schepker
- Financial Acumen – Mark Cecchini, Janice Fergusson and Joel Wooten
- Human Resources Strategy – Rob Ployhart and Julian Dalzell
- Supply Chain and Customer Supplier Relationship Management
- Effective Business Communications – Brad Stratton, Karen Kalutz
But it’s certainly not just classwork. A great highlight of the program is a team-building exercise at… a local escape room. This is not only fun, but very much to the point of what the program is about: Better teamwork makes better managers.
If your company or organization would like a Custom Solution tailormade to address its challenges, contact the Darla Moore Business School, Executive Education program to learn more.
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