Developing Higher Ambition Leaders: A Q&A with Emma Summers

Since she joined the Center for Higher Ambition Leadership in June of 2018, Emma Anthony Summers has been a first point of contact for participants in the organization’s leadership development programs. Today, Emma plays an integral role in the design and delivery of these programs, in collaboration with Mette Norgaard, Lynne Camp, Doug Conant, and the CHL executive team.

The pandemic prompted a rapid shift in how the organization designed and delivered its leadership development programs. Before 2020, all courses happened in person. We recently spoke with Emma about how the organization's approach to leadership development has evolved and the value and insights leaders gain when they participate.

Q: How did the pandemic change how CHL delivered its leadership development programs?

Our Higher Ambition Leadership Intensive Program for senior leaders, known as HALI, could not continue in person, as it had before, due to travel restrictions. At the same time, we had been investigating doing a virtual program that would allow us to reach a larger number of leaders, who functioned at another level in their organizations. The crisis prompted us to accelerate our plans, and we designed and unveiled the Higher Ambition Leadership Certificate program, or HAL-C, designed for mid-career leaders, in January of 2020. It was exciting for our team to design something from the ground up, building with the latest research on learning engagement and impact together with the best online communication and collaboration tools. The virtual leadership course was an immediate success, with more than 200 leaders expected to complete the program by Spring 2022.

Q: How have the leadership programs evolved during the past 18 months?

There is heightened appreciation for leadership now. Today’s environment takes a leader who is resilient, intentional and inclusive.

With that in mind, we push to reflect more diversity and to more explicitly develop inclusive leadership behaviors. We’ve begun featuring videos from leaders throughout our courses, showing the diversity we see across our leadership community. We’ve added new facilitators to bring a broader range of perspectives. And we are testing our scenarios and stories to make sure that all participants can find material that resonates.

Everything we do is grounded in consistent, intentional leadership practices these leaders take back to their organizations to carry the learning forward.

Q: What do you hear from participants? What are they gaining from a Higher Ambition Leadership program that they may not experience with other leadership development?

People have told me it was truly transformational for them and their teams. I think we connect with people on a deep and meaningful level. And they walk out with real practices and tools to immediately “level up” their performance and enhance the way they show up for their teams and organizations. The enthusiasm of the graduates is contagious. I truly love working on these programs and seeing the impact they have. Many of our graduates turn around and send their teams to join future cohorts, which really helps to shift the leadership culture in a positive way.

Q: If people are interested, are there upcoming cohorts they can join?

Absolutely! We are currently enrolling for a HAL-C cohort for mid-career leaders that will run virtually from March - June 2022. We will also launch the next cohort of the HALI senior leadership program in September 2022. People can reach out to me directly -- esummers@higherambition.org.

Q: A final question, what does being a Higher Ambition leader mean to you personally?

It’s about doing well by doing good, and building the capabilities both professionally and personally to contribute to society. Higher Ambition leaders are open to using their power and position to unlock opportunities for others. They not only want to achieve high performance, they want it to lend itself to something greater. For me it comes down to learning what matters most to you, so you can direct your energy into that -- and change the world in a positive way.