KS EMBA Alumna Shares Leadership Learnings on YouTube
Sara Mazhar (EMBA ’21) is the founder of the Strong Leadership Credos Project, a YouTube channel that features interviews with more than 20 prominent Canadian leaders in various industries who share their insights about what makes a successful leader. Tracy Arnish, VP, HR, Google; Sam Sebastian, CEO, Pelmorex Group; and Mary Ann Yule (EMBA ’11), President and CEO, HP Canada; are just a few of the leaders interviewed.
Mazhar had the idea to start the project after taking the required Authentic Leadership Journey course, which is an integral part of the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program. The course exposes students to leaders from various domains and backgrounds to stimulate thinking and is taught by Pamela Laycock, Executive in Residence, and incoming President, Schulich Global Alumni Network. According to Laycock, “The core outcome of the course is for EMBA students to establish their own leadership credo, which acts as the North Star for their journey as leaders.”
One of the course assignments is to interview a leader of their choice on the credo that allowed them to lead and succeed. For Mazhar this aligned with her own objectives: “One of the reasons I decided to take my EMBA was to have the opportunity to reflect, and the opportunity to come out with more powerful perspectives and approaches to how I was going to grow as a leader.”
Mazhar was also inspired by getting to know a variety of leadership journeys throughout the course: “I wanted to talk to different leaders and absorb different stories and perspectives. I took my strong urge and passion towards learning, built momentum and decided I was going to talk to as many leaders as possible.”
Mazhar did not stop with her own learnings. She felt that others could benefit from the insights these highly accomplished leaders provided, hence the idea to share her interviews on the YouTube channel.