Student Leadership

The Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking at the University of Washington Foster School of Business helps accelerate the development of Foster students by offering resources, fully integrating with core curriculum, leveraging natural learning opportunities and exposing students to leaders in the Seattle and alumni community.

We look to natural learning events to accelerate the development of leadership and strategic thinking. We strive to impart the “source code” for leadership development that will serve students during and after their degree programs as they continue to develop themselves and others. This includes developing adaptability, complex thinking, a sense of ownership, confidence and capabilities to influence multi-directional relationships—leading up, down, sideways and along the diagonal. In the classroom, in study teams, and through outside panels and speakers, we link leadership with strategic thinking to promote integrative learning and the capacity to see problems from multiple perspectives.

Leadership Rooted in Research
We only use the best ingredients: Well-validated models and methods. Being a research institution means we have access to and are producers of the most current and well-researched methods and models to ensure that Foster graduates are leaders who think differently and make a difference in the face of complex, unstructured, real-world problems.

Explore Student Programs

• MBA Leadership Fellows connects a select group of second year full-time MBAs with teams of first-year students. Each Fellow coaches and advises a team of first-year MBA students to enhance leadership and strategic thinking skills and works closely with each other and with the Leadership Center's coaching staff in a supportive network to enhance their coaching skills.
• Leadership Performance Coaching is available to Fellows through classroom instruction as well as outside of the classroom setting. The selected fellows also support the development of every first-year MBA in Foster's Full-time MBA Program with support from these performance coaches.