Comments on Creativity and Personal Mastery
Here, in their own words, are various reactions to CPM. Is there a bias here? Absolutely, there is. The students featured all got a great deal from the course and are active members of the CPM alumni community.
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| I have had the rare privilege of speaking on "Business Ethics and the Infosys experience" at Prof. Rao's course on "Creativity and Personal Mastery" at Columbia Business School, on March 15, 2004. My experience at Columbia was unique in several ways. First, I was stunned by the credibility of Prof. Rao in the minds of his students. I was struck by his scholarship, the lucidity and simplicity of his message, the power of his articulation, and of course his walking the talk, when it came to the values he propounded in his class. Second, I was highly impressed by the sincerity and depth of interaction I had with his students, on the ethical issues that we confront in the corporate environment. Professor Rao's course is not just an ethics course; it is a forum for self-exploration. It forces corporate leaders to define their personal values and goals. |
N. R. Narayana Murthy,
Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies |
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| I taught two classes for Professor Srikumar Rao at Columbia University. The only school where the students were close in quality was Yale, and after two classes at Columbia, I am most certain that Rao's class is number one based on my exposure. I have read the syllabus and talked with Professor Rao and the students, and I believe this a one of the most important classes they will take. I am convinced that I would have been better if had been exposed to a course like this when I was in school. Whoever takes this class will have an amazing head start in their career. It was an honor to teach such bright and earnest students and be exposed to the teaching philosophy of Professor Rao. |
Morton H. Meyerson,
Chairman and CEO, 2M Companies, lnc. |
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| I have had the privilege to be a guest lecturer at Srikumar Rao's course last year. It very much discussed a philosophy of life and work, the values that should govern not only our work life but also how it shapes the rest of our being. It was one of the most energizing discussions on how to have an impactful career in business, and how to achieve not only material, but a holistic satisfaction from such a career. I have no hesitation in saying that this could be one of the best experiences one could have as a student. This was the best experience I had and clearly see the enormous impact Professor Rao was having on his students. |
Rajat K Gupta,
Senior Partner, Mckinsey & Company, Inc. |
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| Professor Rao's unique course helps students understand themselves, find their true purpose in life, and pursue it with serenity. Before I agreed to speak, I reviewed the class syllabus, which consists of an eclectic collection of readings and mind-broadening exercises. As a 46-year old lawyer, I was struck by how relevant it was to me: mixed in with ideas I had never even considered were lessons that I had only learned through years of hard knocks. I felt sorry that I had not been exposed to this material when I was starting out as an attorney. Professor Rao is an extraordinary and charismatic teacher. He has put together a course that is completely original and addresses an important need for Columbia's students. I heartily support him as a candidate for the Presidential Teaching Award. |
David D. Brown, IV,
Chief of the Investment Protection Bureau, Office of the New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer |
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| Creativity and Personal Mastery is incredibly powerful in changing students' lives. Through the lessons learned from the course an impact is felt in the lives of their families, their future places of work and their communities. CPM invites its' participants to go deep inside themselves to discover the spark of passion, the deep desire to make a difference in the world by contributing their unique talents and education in a positive way. |
Alex von Bidder,
Managing Partner, the Four Seasons Restaurant |
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| Creativity and Personal Mastery (CPM) is a course that is clearly focused on the values, needs and future of its students. Many MBA courses focus on creating great technicians. CPM is helping to create great leaders and (even more important) to create great people. Dr. Rao's course helps ensure that students have a clear view of who they are and what they want from life. CPM is a great step in helping graduates live a life that is both personally meaningful and makes a contribution to our world. |
Marshall Goldsmith,
Marshall Goldsmith Partners, LLC |
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| In my 41 years of teaching at the Graduate Business School, I have never been as impressed with any teacher as I have been with Professor Rao. The course syllabus presented both a lot of readings and exercises that I found most intriguing; further the assignments dealt with issues of business ethics, and the findings/research of behavioral economists, rather than only neo-orthodox economic theory. Srikumar's presentations are low key but usually build, with the help of videos, or small group discussions, and artful PP presentations of key ideas, to stimulating, thought-provoking ideas. I believe that Professor Srikumar Rao is helping his business students learn how “to think greatly of their functions”. |
James W. Kuhn,
Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University |
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| In light of the recent exposures of questionable ethical practices both in the public and private sector industries, Professor Rao through his course challenges students to examine and enquire into their assumptions about the world they experience and the world they have an interest in creating via their careers. He provides an opportunity for revealing perspectives on what they are thinking and considering as they move toward very important career considerations. Clearly this is much more than what most hope to find in a traditional academic setting, but answers to the ideal we all aspire to in the University environment. |
Francis Mancini,
Assistant Dean, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University |
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| I attribute 80% of my $120K MBA price tag to this one class. It changed my life in profound ways. Not many experiences have that power.Have a completely new outlook on life, happiness and self-worth.I am grateful that I have begun to rebuild my relationship with my mother as a consequence of the readings and teachings of this course.I will continue with the networking exercise forever.Am truly blessed and thankful for the cacophony of strange occurrences that led me to Columbia and to this course.Thank you from the bottom of my heart. |
Brandon Peele, MBA 2004
Columbia Business School |
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| This class led to so much self-growth that I shudder to think of my life unfolding without my having taken it.I came to peace with my body and my body image after many years of disordered eating habits and emotional turmoil surrounding the physical container of my person.has had a major impact on my emotional well-being and my relationship with the humanity I encounter on the streets and in my own home.I could not believe the magic that unfolded in small group settings among people who knew very little about each other.class has changed my life in so many ways.taught me to use my time on earth as a walk of constant selfgrowth. I often employ these ideas. |
Carolyn Bush, MBA 2004
Columbia Business School |
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| CPM was without any doubt the best course I took at Columbia Business School and, for that matter, in life so far…truly wonderful experience…I must have been driving my non-CPM friends crazy…I am not the kind of person who can go through this type of experience without sharing it with others who are close…CPM has also been an opportunity for me to reconcile with many aspects of my religion, Catholicism…even though the course is not religious, it is undoubtedly a way to develop your spirituality…feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to become a 2 part of the CPM community…am truly committed to continuing in the ‘CPM path’ meaning the exploration and discovery of oneself, the pursuit of a truly happy life in every moment. |
Carolina Uribe, MBA 2004
Columbia Business School |
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| Genuine and sincere thanks to Professor Rao, the TAs and the members of this class. I’ll stop there because, quite frankly, words are inadequate to describe the nature of my gratitude…There was so much I liked, so much I benefited from…Every week Professor Rao had a few words of wisdom that inevitably stuck like glue…He just slipped these things in there and collectively they changed my life…limitless possibilities, endless excitement, these are the natural states of existence, not drudgery, not misery, not some finite line or direction seemingly imposed from without…One of my greatest joys these days is spreading the lessons I have learned from this class…I feel so good when I do that, I really do…To everyone: feel free to contact me at any time ever. I mean that. I know people say stuff like this all the time and never mean it. I mean it. |
Baron Leacock, JD 2004
Columbia Law School |
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