Putting the “executive” back in the EMBA: Designing paradox-savvy learning goals for holistic professional development

This article seeks to address the professional development of executive MBA students holistically and from the learners’ perspective. The aim is to examine how more experienced managers outline their goals for professional development and how this in turn should be considered in designing a program pedagogy to help them become more paradox-savvy. We discuss the learning and development of these senior professionals as being more leadership oriented and wisdom based than knowledge based, drawing attention to several paradoxical tensions inherent in this approach. Our study involves participants in an internationally accredited executive education program, employing a theoretically constructed comprehensive approach to managerial learning. The results of our qualitative study shed light on this process and promise to (a) help executive learners outline key goals for their professional development as well as (b) guide educators in the further development of holistic learning in executive programs embracing the paradoxical nature of managerial learning.