Mini Executive MBA Accelerator to Chartered Manager – M Group

Jonathan was initially encouraged by M Group’s COO to attend the Mini Executive MBA Accelerator with a simple brief: network, stay curious and use the experience as an opportunity to reflect on his leadership journey.

Rather than approaching the programme with a particular qualification in mind, it became an opportunity to step away from the demands of his day-to-day role, validate the experience he had built throughout his career and consider how he could continue developing as a leader.

“The brief was simple: network, be curious and use the opportunity to reflect on and validate my leadership journey to date”

Jonathan’s experience on the Mini Executive MBA Accelerator became the starting point for a much broader development journey. Having seen the value of connecting practical leadership experience with academic thinking, he progressed through the PGCert before ultimately pursuing Chartered Manager and CMI Fellow status.

The journey became about more than collecting qualifications. It allowed Jonathan to challenge himself, reflect on his progression from engineer to business leader and introduce greater academic structure to the leadership and management experience he had developed through practice.

“It gave me an opportunity to challenge myself, reflect on how far I had progressed in my career and put some academic structure around the leadership and management experience I had developed through practice”

Support continued throughout each stage of Jonathan’s development.

During the Mini Executive MBA Accelerator, he found the programme well coordinated, with experienced and approachable lecturers who were genuinely interested in the experiences and perspectives of those within the cohort.

That support continued into the PGCert, with the InPD team providing guidance while helping Jonathan remain focused on key milestones and deadlines alongside the demands of a senior leadership role.

“The InPD team were always available to answer questions and provide guidance, while also keeping you focused on milestones and deadlines”

The Lead Assessor also played an important role, combining support with constructive challenge throughout the process.

“I found the Lead Assessor to be an excellent coach throughout the programme, providing constructive challenge as well as support”

A key strength of the programme was the tutors’ ability to connect academic concepts with their own leadership and business experience, making the learning practical and relevant to real organisational challenges.

“The tutor’s ability to bring their own leadership and business experiences into the teaching was particularly valuable”

Jonathan also valued the environment created within the cohort. Participants brought different backgrounds, sectors and levels of experience into the room, while the tutors created a psychologically safe space in which people felt comfortable discussing both their strengths and areas where they felt less confident.

As a result, learning came not only from the tutors, but from the experiences and perspectives shared across the group.

“That openness created a learning environment between the participants as well as from the tutors themselves”

One direct example came from the marketing module within the Mini Executive MBA Accelerator, which encouraged Jonathan to think differently about how marketing principles could support business development and work winning.

His interest led him to explore approaches to strategic client and account management, including Miller Heiman’s Gold Sheet methodology. Elements of that approach have since been adopted within the business to support the management of key client relationships.

“The marketing module made me much more curious about how marketing principles could be applied to business development and work winning within the business I lead”

The experience has encouraged Jonathan to become more deliberate and reflective in his leadership.

While experience had already given him strong instincts as a business leader, the programme helped him understand the theory behind many of the approaches he was using while also challenging some of his established thinking.

He now gives greater consideration to which leadership approach, framework or perspective best suits a particular situation rather than relying solely on previous experience. It has also reinforced the importance of creating space for others to contribute different perspectives and challenge thinking during decision-making.

“Experience gives you instinct, but the programme helped me better understand the theory behind some of the things I was already doing and, equally importantly, challenge some of my established thinking”

Theory into Practice

The programme helped Jonathan connect established academic frameworks and management theory with the operational and strategic challenges he encounters as a business leader.

Broader Perspectives

Learning alongside leaders from different sectors provided fresh perspectives, challenged existing thinking and demonstrated the value of building a professional network beyond his own industry.

Flexible Progression

The experience showed that executive development does not have to follow a traditional long-term study route. Jonathan was able to progress from focused executive learning into postgraduate study and professional recognition.

Achieving Chartered Manager and CMI Fellow status provided Jonathan with independent professional recognition of the leadership and management experience he had developed throughout his career.

However, the process of achieving those statuses was just as significant as the recognition itself.

Although Jonathan regularly journals and reflects on current challenges and performance, the process encouraged him to look back more broadly at his career – from beginning as an engineer to becoming responsible for leading a major business operation.

“I realised through this process that I had rarely stopped to look back at the broader journey and recognise how far I had developed.”

“The qualifications are important, but for me the reflection required to achieve them was equally valuable.”

Jonathan has already recommended the route to both current and aspiring leaders within his own organisation.

For him, its value comes from the combination of experiences rather than any single qualification: executive development, learning from other leaders, postgraduate study, professional reflection and ultimately Chartered Manager and CMI Fellow recognition.

“I would recommend it not simply as a route to Chartered Manager status, but because of the overall experience. The learning, networking, reflection, postgraduate qualification and professional recognition all complement each other”

Jonathan’s advice is to approach the experience with curiosity and a willingness to challenge yourself.

“Be curious, network and challenge yourself”

Rather than focusing solely on what can be learned from the programme content, he encourages leaders to make the most of the people around them, step away from the everyday pressures of their role and use the experience as an opportunity for genuine reflection.

“Use it as an opportunity to step outside the day-to-day pressures of your role, reflect on your own leadership journey and challenge yourself to take the next step”

Find out more about our Executive Mini MBA Accelerator here