In September, 650 students from around the world arrived in Chicago, IL, to begin this graduate education at the distinguished and highly ranked Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. They come in as strangers in the common pursuit of an MBA.

In 1969, the University established the LEAD (Leadership Exploration and Development) Program to help balance out the qualitative bias of the curriculum with the human side of leadership skills. Under this program, the very first experience the incoming class goes through is "Breaking Boundaries," a full day of team initiatives developed in collaboration with members of the ETD Alliance.

Students work in teams of 12, practicing the teaming skills necessary to compete in the main event of their orientation (a 24-hour business simulation called the "Dean’s Challenge"). They use interactive learning processes to hone their skills in communication, creating common goals, decision-making, planning and executing, using feedback and mastering their diversity of perspectives and intellect.

Breaking Boundaries is designed to accelerate the building of collegial relationships, expose the diversity of leadership assumptions from many cultures, and let people practice effective team and leadership skills while shedding the awkwardness of being new to each other and their environment. The spirit of the incoming class is unleashed in a fun and playful day of learning.

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