The only physician-only MBA from a top-ranked business school launched an empowering new component of its revamped curriculum: Leadership Immersion Week presented by the Randall L. Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence.
Leadership Immersion Week is among the new program innovations announced in April to enhance the Kelley School of Business Physician MBA curriculum and provide greater access to physicians who want to reform healthcare.
Through dynamic industry speakers, engaging alumni panels, and off-campus active learning opportunities, the week-long residency proved to be a transformative experience for physicians to build teamwork, communication, and storytelling skills while expanding their network of like-minded physicians.
“We integrate leadership topics throughout the week by weaving them into every course and experience to create a cohesive learning journey,” said Julie Manning Magid, vice dean and professor of business law at Kelley Indianapolis. Julie has taught business law and healthcare policy in the Physician MBA Program since its inception. She also serves as the executive and academic director of the Tobias Leadership Center.
Day 1: Welcome and Leadership Foundations
The week began with a warm welcome from Kyle Anderson, assistant dean of academic programs at Kelley Indianapolis, and Physician MBA Faculty Chair Tony Stovall, who both teach courses in the program. Physician MBA alumni also welcomed this year’s cohort and provided advice and best practices to the new students.
Jennifer Robin, the lead executive coach in the program, delivered a compelling session on the importance of leadership at all levels. She laid the groundwork for “strategic self-awareness,” a cornerstone of effective leadership. Using Hogan personality assessments, students gained a deeper understanding of their strengths, areas of opportunity, and potential derailers. This exercise lays the foundation for the physician MBAs to create a plan for their leadership development throughout the program.
Day one ended with a thought-provoking discussion that set the tone for the week. It focused on vertical development and the three conditions for growth, stressing that leadership needs to be cultivated throughout a career. Vertical growth describes a deeper and more strategic, systemic approach to solving complex challenges, which allows for continued development as a leader. It’s not simply about acquiring new skills (which describes “horizontal growth”) but, instead, integrating skills into a broader understanding. This growth mindset is essential for leading major organizations effectively, and it requires ongoing reflection and learning from experiences.
Day 2: Leading Through Change and High-Performance Teams
The second day kicked off with an interactive session with David Hunsaker, clinical associate professor of management, who is an expert in negotiation, conflict management, team dynamics, and culture.
Next, physicians moved off campus to the Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway, Ind., where they learned about the roles of collaboration and communication in the development of high-performance teams.
“Changing tires on a race car is not something you’d expect for leadership training, but this experience helps develop new understanding and concepts of how to grow as a leader,” Julie said.
By drawing parallels between high-stakes auto racing and business operations, the Pit Crew Challenge is a dynamic program that helps organizations build high-performing cultures. Participants learn to deliver on organizational values by focusing on what is truly important and by managing complexity when faced with conflicting priorities. The challenge emphasizes the importance of developing a customer focus, aligning teams toward common goals, and making strategic decisions about prioritizing people versus processes. These foundational themes are crucial for fostering a culture that is not only performance-driven but also adaptable and customer-centric.
“The Physician MBA Program chose this active learning experience because it is relevant to the key components of our Leadership Immersion Week,” Julie noted. “It’s all about teamwork and collaboration and communicating in ways that advance a mission. It incorporates many vital skills and concepts, and it connects students to a variety of topics for the week, like how to approach change, form a team, cultivate talents, and coach and mentor an effective team.”
The Pit Crew Challenge delved into the complexities of building a collaborative and agile workforce. Participants explored how to create a coaching culture that encourages learning and knowledge-sharing, which is essential for quickly adapting to market changes. The challenge also addressed how to navigate ambiguity and challenge existing contexts, helping teams break down silos and work seamlessly across boundaries. By examining metrics and rewards, the challenge highlighted how these factors influence collaboration and overall organizational culture. Trust versus risk is another critical theme. The physician MBAs learned to balance these often-competing forces to foster a more cohesive and resilient team environment.
Led by Bob Parker, facilitator and owner of The Pit Crew Challenge, the experience was designed with physicians in mind to encourage and nurture team development.
Day 3: Ethical Leadership and Real-World Application
The day concluded with a site visit to the new Indiana University Health campus scheduled to open in late 2027 in downtown Indianapolis. Ryan Nagy, MD, MBA’15, president of the IU Health Adult Academic Health Center and interim president of Riley Children’s Health, leads the $4.3 billion project. He shared valuable leadership lessons from his career as a physician executive and how he builds a team he can trust to lead the healthcare complex that stretches across 40 acres. His journey is a good example of vertical growth.
“Leading such a complex system requires leaders to rely on their teams. You won’t grasp every detail of the IT infrastructure or every aspect of community engagement. Instead, focus on bringing together the experts who understand these elements and coordinate their efforts effectively,” Julie said.
Dr. Nagy encouraged the new Physician MBA cohort to approach their MBA education differently than their medical training. He also shared advice on leadership, decision-making, and the importance of active listening to better understand context and team members.
“The Kelley Physician MBA Program equipped me with the ability to think critically and formulate the right questions, which is essential for effective leadership,” he said.
Sometimes, the right questions are the tough questions. When evaluating new ideas, Dr. Nagy may ask “who’s going to be mad?” to anticipate potential conflicts. He stressed that strategic leadership means taking ownership of problems. Leadership also involves fostering a supportive environment where people can take risks and learn from their mistakes. Dr. Nagy believes in empowering his team to solve problems while providing a safety net for growth.
Day 4: Storytelling
On Thursday, Chemen Neal, MD, executive associate dean for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at the IU School of Medicine, spoke to the Physician MBAs about personal leadership. In her session on well-being for leaders, she outlined how to create inclusive environments that not only benefit teams and organizations but also enhance the well-being of leaders by fostering a sense of belonging and purpose. Dr. Neal provided actionable strategies for leaders to balance their personal and professional lives.
The students then joined a discussion about the art of effective communication led by Sally Perkins, a storytelling and presentation trainer. Drawing upon three decades of work in storytelling, performance, and instruction, Sally guided the cohort in how to tell stories that improve leadership and build effective teams.
The day concluded with a historical walk-and-talk tour guided by Sampson Levingston, who provided a unique perspective on leadership within the Indianapolis community. The tour focused on Indianapolis neighborhoods rich in Black history, including stops at the Madam Walker Legacy Center, the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library.
Storytelling is an indispensable skill for leaders, enabling them to build connections that foster trust and rapport among their teams, ignite passion and drive within an organization, simplify complex ideas, and help embed the organization’s core values into everyday actions and decisions. Stories also provide a powerful medium for reflection and learning. By sharing both successes and failures, leaders create a culture of continuous improvement and resilience.
Day 5: Reflection and Future Planning
During the final day of Leadership Immersion Week, the physician MBAs reflected on their experiences and prepared for the future including an introduction to executive coaching, available to students throughout the 21-month program, and their fall quarter courses. They left energized and ready for the next quarterly residency in Indianapolis.
“The Kelley Physician MBA Leadership Immersion Week was a powerful blend of theory, practice, and reflection, equipping physician leaders with the tools they need to lead with confidence and integrity in their organizations,” said Julie.
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