Global Practitioners – an evolving innovation

Nada Khorchid is one of our inaugural Global Practitioners and loves how this initiative is innovative and evolving. Here, she talks about the impact so far. 

“Strathclyde is the place of useful learning” - this is the teaser that a friend, who was already doing his MBA with Strathclyde, used to attract me to look into Strathclyde Business School when I was ‘shopping’ for my MBA. I had already attended a few information sessions with other universities but nothing had resonated. 

I was already a CEO of a regional tech company operating in the Middle East and North Africa, I had a long career in tech, so I wasn't really looking for an MBA to give me a promotion. Instead, I wanted to learn and be stimulated by real-world conversations. Fast-forward to 2017, I graduated with my MBA, and I definitely learned a lot. 

I stayed in touch with the university; I was invited a few times as a guest speaker to talk about leadership and organisational culture - my new passion after I left my career in tech. So naturally, when I heard about the Global Practitioner role, I jumped on the idea. The vision was bold and much needed. Integrating people with long practical experience in the MBA programme was a dream for me when I was an MBA student and also when I was an executive looking for talent. 

I knew it would be an experiential journey, and learning how to integrate the GPs best would be a process. The experimental part made it more attractive to my entrepreneurial heart. 

This is my second year as a GP, and the journey has been worth it. My current focus is on strategic leadership development, women's leadership, and entrepreneurial thinking and practice. 

What I find most intriguing is the work with students, the interaction, their curiosity, and the ‘a-ha’ moments I witness while guiding them through deep reflections. The fact that Strathclyde has different campuses worldwide makes teaching more enjoyable. The diversity of cultures, ways of learning and reflection, and the vast business and human experiences make the journey more fun for me. 

Through the knowledge exchange activities, I also got the chance to meet teachers and to talk about leadership with them, a new perspective for me as my typical clientele for my leadership development and consulting work usually comes from the private sector. It hit me how much we ignore leadership development across critical industries. 

I also found a space to engage in research focused on women's leadership, a topic that I have always been passionate about. The enthusiasm that my academic colleague and the team in Dubai exhibited allowed our first research project to kick off and more to come. 

The feedback from the students has been superb and makes the work more meaningful for me and my GP colleagues. Students were excited about the real-world examples and the possibility of discussing some of their work experiences, challenges, and aspirations with people from the industry. 

The possibility of expanding the scope of the GPs to be involved with the private sector, public sector, and academia is still shaping up and is very promising. No real change happens without bringing all stakeholders to the table, and at this time of significant change and uncertainty, this is much needed to find new solutions for an ever-growing set of problems. As GPs, this will allow us to expand our impact and to be the feedback loop and the catalysts among the stakeholders, bringing the findings and know-how back to the students. 

The initiative is still young, and like any innovative idea, it is still evolving. 

The team working on putting the idea together, nurturing it, and putting the right structures and processes in place to make this happen and keep it evolving is extraordinary. Their appreciation, enthusiasm, and continuous support make this endeavour more rewarding. 

Let me not forget to mention my GP colleagues - that's the biggest asset from this experience; great friendships are developing, and peer support and knowledge exchange are at the heart of what makes my GP experience impactful. 

About Nada Khorchid

Nada Khorchid is a Global Practitioner at Strathclyde Business School. She is a Leadership and Organisational Culture coach and advisor, a seasoned executive, an active board member, a technologist, and a passionate mentor. She is founder and lead coach of Lead For Impact, an international coaching and consulting practice based in California that aspires to expand consciousness within organisations. Lead For Impact does that by studying and modelling successful leaders and organisations that show commitment to both high performance and purpose; and by bringing the mindsets, strategies, and practices to leaders and organisations through coaching, consulting, and teaching. Nada has over 25 years of experience in the Tech Industry in the Middle East, part of which was taking a start-up from seed to become a regional player and holding several executive roles .