Abstract

In this paper, I will argue, supported by interviews with a number of leading academics, that perhaps the MBA program, which is unlikely to change to meet numerous critiques, should be left as is with acknowledgement that its purpose is education that provides analytical, functional, and technical skills, and, basically, the first couple of positions out of business school. With that core acknowledgement, business schools could then also develop more humanistic approaches to leading and managing for individuals who have progressed in their work to the types of positions where humanistic capabilities associated with wisdom—moral imagination, systems understanding, and aesthetic sensibility in the service of the greater good—are vitally important and can better be learned. Through interviews with leading academics, I outline core elements of a wisdom-based approach to leadership development over time.