'What I Did on My Summer Break': Michael Shaner, Ph.D.
Management professor Michael Shaner, Ph.D., has been helping prepare students from the SLU’s Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business to step out into the world of corporate leadership for more than four decades. During the summer break, however, he often becomes an active globetrotter, heading to locations around the world to speak to students and business leaders on management topics that range from “Adventures in Attitudes” to “Failing Forward: Leadership in Difficult Times.”
Shaner began the summer as the keynote speaker at the International Guide Dog Federation meetings in Nved, Croatia. Although he likes dogs, he didn’t anticipate his business expertise would one day connect him with a group that does so much to train and partner people with support animals. However, it was a connection with Tracy Jones, a student from one of his summer (or winter "down under") classes in Australia, who had applied the principles she learned to her job, that ultimately led him to Croatia.
“Tracy worked for Guide Dogs South Australia in Australia and wanted to focus on why they were seeing a reduced demand for guide dogs,” Shaner said. “She used the course to look at how companion dogs were working not just with the blind but also with those coping with autism and other challenges. They concluded the group needed a change in approach.”
Jones suggested Shaner as the speaker for the annual meeting, where he shared with the group of more than 300 people -- including Jones and her supervisor from Guide Dogs International in Australia -- about how the fear of failure impacts decisions and how it can paralyze people and organizations.
“If their business was declining, as it was, it is important to 'jump the curve' and move forward in perhaps another direction," he said. " Fear of failure can impact future decisions impacting change.”
In June, Shaner headed to Loughborough, England, to teach in the European Summer School for Advanced Management (ESSAM). Started in 1988 by Shaner’s colleague, Douglas Briggs from the University of Glasgow, the program draws MBA students with a wide range of job experiences for the intensive study experience.
“My elective course on 'Failing Forward' has been a staple for ESSAM since the start,” Shaner said. “ESSAM is two weeks of lectures and group consulting work in an international setting with MBA students from around the world. Students get to select a three-day elective from a menu including 'Emotional Intelligence,' 'Strategic Alliances,' 'International Entrepreneurialism,' ' Sustainability and Failure.' Electives can change in any year based on the demand from the students and educational demands. We want the elective to be different from what the student would get at their home university.”
With a group that includes participants from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Canada, among others, Shaner looked for ways to break down misconceptions about each other.
“Sharing their opinions and perceptions about the other countries as well as their own, and adding a touch of humor is a great way to break ground for discussion,” Shaner said.
“We also eat dinner together and go to the pub, watch sports and just sit and talk,” Shaner added. “We become a ‘melting pot’ in our discussions.”
July and August took Shaner “down under,” where he has taught his “Failing Forward” course at the University of South Australia for the past seven years.
“This course is an intensive week-long course on ‘Failing Forward,’” Shaner said. “The students all work full time, and their input into the course is very valuable to make everything ‘real.’ I have made many friends in Australia over the years.”
Although every year and group is unique, Shaner believes there is a universal takeaway from each experience.
“I always learn from my international students,” Shaner said. “They are bright and dedicated. Their papers open my eyes to things I hadn’t thought about. There are new ideas and practical applications I can share with all my classes.”
His favorite trip this summer, though, was a visit to his new granddaughter in Colorado. Chloe Ann Brett was born on July 1 while Shaner was in England and the UK was exiting from the European Union.
The UK exits the EU and the new granddaughter is welcomed into the world.
“Exciting times!” Shaner said.
About Mike Shaner, Ph.D.
A professor of management at SLU’s Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business for more than 40 years, Michael Shaner received his MBA from Michigan State University and his Ph.D. in management from
the University of South Carolina.
He teaches graduate, undergraduate and executive master's level courses; has been
awarded every teaching honor, both school and university, that the University bestows,
and also received the 2013 “Best Management Professor” award from the World Education
Council in Mumbai, India.
In addition to his extensive teaching experience, Shaner has developed and delivers programs in the areas of strategic management, understanding yourself and others, situational leadership, teambuilding and a program called “Adventures in Attitudes.”
His international teaching experience includes the development and delivery of executive MBA courses at the University of Glasgow Business School, Leeuwarden Business School in the Netherlands, Adelaide University, The University of South Australia in Singapore and Hong Kong, Helsinki School of Economics, and both European and Asian Summer Schools for Advanced Management where he teaches a course on “Failing Forward: Leadership in Difficult Times” to executives from all parts of the world.
He has provided management development and consulting services to both large and small organizations, national and international, in both the public and private sectors. His clients have included the Monsanto Company, Anheuser-Busch, British Shipbuilders, Citicorp, Institute of Management Studies, MasterCard International, South Australian Police, UPM-Kymmene, Imperial Chemical Industries and the Nokia Company.
By Jeanette Grider
jgrider1@slu.edu