Eurotrip with the Bambino

Last week we returned from a week-long trip to Switzerland and Italy - with baby in tow - and it was quite an adventure!

We began our trip with two days in Lausanne. My IMD MBA Class of 2008 was celebrating our 10-year reunion, which means I've now been blogging for more than 10 years too! The reunion was fantastic with well organized activities - social, professional, and educational - and the weather was idyllic for enjoying the beautiful locale outside of the scheduled events.

~40% of our class (plus families) showed up and it was wonderful to see so many dear friends at the site of the "crucible" where our strong bonds were forged. For the first time, though, the joy of our reunion was tempered by those who could not be there. Our class suffered its first loss this year as a classmate died suddenly and several classmates could not attend the reunion due to treatments for cancer or other afflictions. They were dearly missed and it was a reminder to us all of the fragility of life and the need to prioritize the things that really matter.

The reunion continued for four days but we departed after two in order to visit relatives in Italy. We flew to Napoli, rented a car, and drove to Lucera, the small Pugliese town where my relatives live. When we stopped along the highway to pick up a couple of bottles of water for the road, we were pleased to discover that the gas station was offering extremely fresh mozzarella and locals were coming from kilometers around to purchase some. The father-son team who ran the station prepared a couple of sandwiches for us with that fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, and freshly baked bread - not bad for gas station food and definitely #onlyinitalia!

Our three days in Lucera were joyful. We hadn't seen these relatives since our wedding seven years ago so this reunion was long overdue. Additionally, it was a particular joy to introduce them to the next generation of our family since it had been nearly half a century since the arrival of the most recent addition on their side. Our Italian relatives have always been incredibly welcoming of us but, with a bambino now upping the ante, they went into full-on doting mode! Our kiddo was a little off of his usual schedule but there was no shortage of family members lining up for a turn to hold him and settle him down.

We spent some time touring around Lucera - walking around the castle, visiting local churches, and taking pictures at the house where my father was born - but, frankly, most of our time in Lucera was spent eating. I, of course, wouldn't have it any other way! It was a short trip but certainly enough to keep the relationship going between our side of the family and theirs.

I don't know if our son will identify with the Italian side of his family as I have or if he will ever learn Italian; that will be his choice. I am pleased, though, that he spent some days feeling the Italian love and being surrounded by the beautiful, undulating language - not to mention the amazing food - such that the culture will always be at least a small part of him.

We had two full days of travel to return to the States - one day back to Geneva and then the next day back to NC. I'm really, really glad we did this trip, though. It is easy to be intimidated by the prospect of international travel with a little one but we have many friends who, to borrow a popular tag line, just do it. We have been inspired by them (And certainly we have been beneficiaries of their advice!) and now we are pleased to have moved down the experience curve ourselves a bit, hopefully laying the foundations for more adventures in the future! Bon voyage and buon viaggio!!!

Full of Birthday Love

What a wonderful birthday celebration it has been! Although I prefer to celebrate all month, things crescendo'ed last week. On birthday eve, a couple of guys came over to try out some new beers. Instead of beating our chests and male bonding, though, we found ourselves talking politics, economics, science, and entrepreneurship until we realized how late it had become - very stimulating!

The day of my birthday itself I started by playing Dad's old pinball machines. There must have been some birthday magic at work because I set a new high score on The Black Knight - 30 years later he still puts up a good fight!

It was actually a pretty intense day at work but I managed to duck out for a good workout  (Birthday tradition!) and the evening weather was great for some beach volleyball - very refreshing after our recent cold snap. When I came home, Katie surprised me with some decadent chocolate cake - I guess that's a tradition too!

Most importantly, I had offered up a birthday challenge to match dollar for dollar any donations to GIVEWATTS on my birthday. Several friends and family rose to the challenge and together we managed to contribute several hundred dollars to the cause - THANK YOU to those who participated! It is always nice to receive gifts and wishes on my birthday but it is even nicer to pay forward my blessings to others!

The real treat for me was over the weekend, when I hosted a dear, dear friend from IMD. Katie and I did our best to introduce him to regional cuisine during his short stay: BBQ (City BBQ), biscuits and donuts (Rise), fried chicken (Time Out), ice cream (Fresh Local), and fried green tomatoes and grits (Mama Dip's). We also visited the NC Museum of Art for a "hike" around the spacious sculpture park and interior exhibits on Ansel Adams and the Venetian Renaissance.

The pièce de résistance was enjoying the nice weather by smoking cigars and sipping bourbon out on our back deck. He and I shared cigars very early in the IMD year and neither of us smokes them terribly often so it was special to re-create that event in a very different context - different location, different cigars, and [very] different US!

It was a wonderful visit and my heart is quite full (Not to mention my stomach!) so I am deeply appreciative of him, Katie, and everyone else who has made my birthday so special. Of course there are still a few days left in March so there is more time to celebrate!

Leadership Journey

12 years ago today - 1/3 of my life ago - I accepted my first chief executive role. While I had been elected to and selected for leadership roles during my scholastic and athletic careers, this was the first time a Board of Directors actually hired me for it.

That first chief exec role was tumultuous, challenging, exciting, and rewarding. During my tenure I developed lifelong friendships and grew substantially as a leader. I made many mistakes - but I learned a great deal as well.

Ultimately I learned that leadership could be a great power for good and I shipped off to IMD to expand my horizons and capabilities. Every day since then has been a deliberate step in an ongoing leadership journey.

The journey continues but today I pause to reflect on the big milestone of 12 years ago and how significantly it has impacted my path.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

― Bilbo Baggins, J.R.R. Tolkien's, The Lord of the Rings

IMD Reunion in Dubai

Last weekend Katie and I joined my IMD classmates for a reunion in Dubai. It was our first time to the UAE and it left quite an impression!

We departed Wednesday night and, after the longest flight I've been on in some time - possibly ever - we arrived Thursday evening. We checked in with our hosts and then met a few of the other early arrivals for a drink at a hotel bar.

In Dubai, hotels are the only establishments that can sell alcohol. These aren't your typical hotel bars, though; they are full-on bars/clubs/lounges/discotheques that just happen to be affiliated with hotels. They seem to be pretty loose with this requirement too. In the airport, for example, there are numerous "hotel" bars but I didn't see anywhere to rent a room . . . At any rate, Thursday night we had drinks served up by an award-winning bartender right on the beach with a fantastic night view of the Burj Al Arab.

Friday morning we had a chance to see the city in the daylight and it is hard to describe it in any way other than "impressive." It's a veritable forest of skyskrapers but with a very different feel than, say, New York City. Whereas NYC is populated by buildings with an older, "brick and mortar" aesthetic, these all look like buildings of the future - all chrome and glass. Considering that just a couple of decades ago this was all desert, you can see why the architecture might be more modern.

Still, first impressions were a bit dissonant with expectations. There didn't seem to be any local architectural styles; rather these buildings could have been anywhere in the world. Another difference from a place like NYC is that there is no grid pattern among the blocks. As such, there are no lines of sight along long avenues in any direction; no matter where you go (downtown at least), you are just surrounded by tall buildings.

Another first impression was, "Where are the locals?" Everywhere we went there were expats and all of the service staff seemed to be "imports" as well. Perhaps we weren't going to the right places but I'm not sure we met a single person who was born in Dubai on our trip.

Our first meetup Friday was at The Dubai Mall, the world's largest mall. Walking into the mall was, again, impressive. However, as we looked around, we found that most of the stores were brands that we already knew from the US or Europe. There was a bit of a feeling of, "Did we really fly 13 hours just to find ourselves right back in the US?"

Once we explored a bit, however, we did discover some pretty unique things about the mall, including the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest building) and the aquarium. Several of us took a tour of the aquarium, which was really impressive and immersive.

In the afternoon we went on a desert safari, taking Land Cruisers offroading and racing up and down the sand dunes. That was a lot of fun and we ended up at a campsite where we rode camels, ate middle eastern food, and were entertained by a belly dancer. Finally we felt like we were getting some local flavor - even if it was clearly just for tourists!

We capped the evening with drinks at 40 Kong, a rooftop bar with views in every direction of downtown Dubai. They tried to sell us an expensive bottle of wine that, when it arrived at our table, was clearly a fake. After that we stuck with more accessible drinks and had a great time.

Saturday we did our own things during the day. For Katie and me that included a stop by the Mall of the Emirates to gape at the indoor ski resort. We all met for dinner along the waterfront of the marina and drinks at another rooftop bar called Pure Sky.

The view from this bar was interesting because we could see the entire Palm Jumeirah. We could also see all the construction cranes working at full speed even into the wee hours of the morning. Clearly one of the keys to building a megacity in just a few decades is 24/7 construction!

Sunday Katie and I met some classmates out on the Palm for some sun, sand, and beach volleyball! It was nice not only to add another country to my beach volleyball list but also to play with some people with whom I haven't played since we were in Switzerland together.

After a lazy afternoon lunch and a nice evening dinner with our hosts, Katie and I departed around midnight for the return flight home. It was a very short trip but it was interesting exposure into a very different place.

As I wrote earlier, Dubai is very impressive. However it is so overtly trying to impress that some of the luster is lost. From villas designed to showcase the owner's Bugatti to a self-proclaimed seven-star resort, everything in Dubai is just so over the top.

From having to have the biggest/tallest/most luxurious everything to trying to sell fake high-end wines to being populated [seemingly] entirely by ex-pats, one starts to wonder where is the real, authentic Dubai, rather than the Dubai that is trying to convince you that it is something spectacular. Does a real, authentic Dubai even exist?

Finally one has to wonder how sustainable Dubai is. From the incredible pace of construction - and not just paint-by-numbers construction but engineering marvels such as world's tallest buildings and man-made islands - to the obscene energy and water (a ski resort . . . in the desert!) it must take to run the place, I found myself considering whether Dubai was here to stay or whether it was a house of cards. After all it seems that Dubai doesn't produce anything per se; it imports everything from natural resources to human capital and it is hard for me to see how that works in the long run.

It was a very nice place to stay for a few days, though, and we were treated like kings - er, Shuyukh. Katie has never been called "Madam" so often in her life! Perhaps the best part was staying with an IMD classmate and his family rather than at a hotel. During our down times we were able to relax and catch up with friends whom we hadn't seen in years.

This may be the true value of the IMD network: it's not having contacts all over the world; rather it is having an open door, a warm meal, and a gracious host all over the world. That's a very important difference and one that truly makes the entire world our home.

Many thanks not only to our hosts but to the reunion organizers and to everyone who came as well. It was a very special experience and we are so glad that the global IMD journey continues on and on so many years after we thought we finished the program.

A Few Days En Suisse

After the grand weekend in Paris I took a detour of just a few days in Lausanne, Switzerland before returning to the States. The trip on the TGV was wonderful as always. There is just something so civilized about traveling by train: plenty of space, Wifi, more than decent meals, and the gorgeous French countryside streaming by at more than 300 kph (200 mph)! Oh how I miss this option when I am in the US.

Upon my arrival I was met at the station by my IMD classmate and host, Mathieu. We wasted very little time before heading up the mountain for something canonically Swiss: fondue! As I have blogged before, Le Chalet Suisse offers not only an authentic "chalet" experience and delicious fondue but incomparable views of Lac Leman as well.

We arrived around sunset and were treated to gorgeous views, a crescent moon over the lake, and a magical twilight in the land of fairy tales before dinner. The magic only intensified as several other IMD classmates joined us for fondue. It has been nearly seven years since I met them all and nearly six since we finished the program but meeting them again makes it seem like it was only yesterday!

As I have blogged before, I have eliminated grains and starches from my diet, which has had a positive effect on my body composition. One doesn't exactly go into a fondue dinner for his health but I at least intended to stick to my nutritional guns. My willpower wore down quickly, though, and it rapidly devolved into a cheat meal. This began with the bread I dipped into the fondue pot, continued with the potato I took along with Mathieu's raclette, and then really hit a new high when I helped Allessandra finish her rösti. It's too bad no one had any spätzle as I would have devoured it since I was already breaking my rules! It was a very Swiss and very perfect way to start my brief trip.

Monday morning I had breakfast with another classmate - one who is trying to launch a startup, incidentally. We had a nice breakfast in Ouchy right along the lake. Unfortunately most of the menu items had grains in them and I was trying to return to my strict diet so guess what I had for breakfast: more cheese - because a huge fondue dinner the night before wasn't enough! Well, there are worse places in the world in which to find yourself eating a metric ton of cheese!

I spent the day at IMD, which was a refreshing homecoming. In the morning I met with many of the MBA staff. I must have looked famished (Not!) because they took pity on me and invited me to lunch at the famous IMD restaurant. It was just as good as I remembered and offered plenty of excellent vegetables and fish so that I could dilute my cheese consumption a little.

After working from the IMD cafe all afternoon, I went back up the mountain and did some trail running. The previous several days of perfect weather were finally at an end and the mountain slopes were shrouded in a misty fog. This made for another fairy tale experience picking my way first through the Parc de l'Hermitage and then the Bois de Sauvabelin - truly magical!

My hosts and I joined another IMD classmate for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It turns out that on Monday nights they only have pizza available so it became another [delicious] cheat meal for me! Much as my breakfast classmate was launching a new venture, so was this other classmate at dinner. I'm beginning to notice a trend! I suppose alumni of the IMD MBA class of 2008 are nearing their seven year itch at their corporate jobs and starting to explore more entrepreneurial opportunities. It was quite rewarding to learn that my classmate had actually followed my online entrepreneurship lectures and found them very beneficial - glad to help!

Tuesday I began the day with a run along the lake. The fog over the lake and the Chateau d'Ouchy recalled visions of the mists of Avalon. In order to make it back to my apartment, shower, and then return to Ouchy for meetings at IMD in time I took the metro up and back. On the way up I received lots of stares as someone who was clearly out of place. Dressed in Under Armour and wearing Vibrams Fivefingers shoes, I was looking very un-Swiss!

However, on my way back down to IMD I received even more stares - this time because of my Google Glass, which is even less common in Europe than it is the US. Being so blatantly stared at was a really interesting sociological experience. Even as extroverted as I am, even as much as I enjoy the spotlight, I felt uncomfortable by the unapologetic gawking on the metro. I can only imagine how uncomfortable women feel when they are gawked at in public or, worse, catcalled and harassed.

Clearly this wasn't as much of an epiphanous experience as, for example, Dustin Hoffman's character experienced in Tootsie, but it still opened my eyes somewhat to how people in the minority feel when they are clearly out of place within the majority. As a white American male I am more often in the majority in the US so I will try to be more sensitive to those who are not.

Tuesday I got a little work done at IMD but spent most of my time catching up with former professors. I even went to dinner with one (Fondue again - the diet was on full pause by this point!), who was on the verge of taking on a new challenge as dean of another business school. He has been a professor, a mentor, and a friend to me so it is thrilling to see him leave a very comfortable situation at IMD for a new adventure.

Wednesday I followed the path I still know all too well from my time in Lausanne: down to the train station, the train to Geneva Airport, and then the flight back to the US. Wednesday happened to be seven years to the day that I received my call from IMD's fabulous alumni director notifying me of my admission - how poetic!

It was a very short trip but it was wonderful to see so many friends and familiar places. It was a productive trip as well - in more ways than one! Shortly after my departure, my hosts gave birth to their first child (Congratulations!!!!). No need to thank me; I just seem to have that effect when I am a houseguest.

Now I'm back in the US and working hard to complete Smart OES's funding round - big news to report about on that front soon!

World Cup in the USA

Four years have come and gone since the last World Cup, which I enjoyed in Switzerland. This is my first time really following the action in the US, which is - of course - a different experience. One side effect of having attended such a global school as IMD is that I have friends and classmates from almost every country represented in the Cup. This results in friendly rivalries popping up all over my facebook feed during these few weeks of competition.

The upshot is that, even when the US loses, I hold no animosity toward the victors. For example, it is hard to stay mad at Germany after they beat the US 1-0 when some of my best IMD friends are German. And taking an anti-Belgium stance before tomorrow's knockout match would be impossible in light of my Belgian classmate and professor / program director.

I suppose this is the intent of the World Cup: to foster friendly rivalries rather than riots and beatings. Much as the Olympics draws attention to more obscure (at least from the American perspective!) sports every four years, it is fun to see so many Americans getting swept up in World Cup fever. Here's hoping for a strong US showing and for a good World Cup regardless of the outcome!

IMD MBA 2008 Reunion in Lausanne, Switzerland

Six years ago I first set foot in Switzerland for what would ultimately become a life-changing trip. Shortly after my exhausting, exhilarating day of interviews at IMD, I received my acceptance and decided to attend the intense, transformative one-year MBA program. And shortly after that I made my very first post on this blog! This weekend 56 members of our 90-person class (plus families) reconvened in Lausanne for our 5-year reunion.

My flight over was uneventful but was the first time I've ever flown to Geneva airport from a departure point other than Houston. On the train from the airport to Lausanne I met a delightful Australian couple who had just arrived for their first tour of Switzerland. It was fun sharing their compartment and, upon our arrival, they told me I was an excellent representative of American culture - quite a compliment for this extrovert!

Once settled in my home away from home in Lutry, I became more and more excited for our reunion kickoff dinner at Watergate along the lake. Several other classmates were also keen to get started, so I trained into Lausanne early. Despite my jet lag and lack of sleep, the thought of seeing everyone infused me with so much energy that I chose to run from the train station down to the lake instead of taking the metro.

The first classmate I was able to meet was none other than Sergei, my Belorussian teammate from my very first IMD team. What a joy to reconnect with someone with whom I shared so many significant - and often painful - leadership development experiences! We were both nearly six years older and he had with him his wife and 13-month-old son - and yet it was as if we had only been toiling away in the IMD study rooms yesterday.

Once we arrived at the restaurant it became evident that many other classmates were in a similar situation as well, joining us with partners and recently born children - apparently the IMD MBA is pretty good for fertility! Incidentally, one of the interesting side effects of attending such an international program is witnessing parents speaking baby talk to their children in 20+ different languages! We closed down the restaurant but, exhausted as I was from travel, I opted for bed in lieu of a wild night out.

Friday we spent all day on campus at IMD. It featured presentations from some of our favorite professors as well as IMD management about the status and direction of the institution. The class's four entrepreneurs were also asked to make a brief presentation about our startups so I was pleased to have a chance to catch everyone up on what I've been up to. I was somewhat surprised by how much interest my presentation generated as the rest of the day classmates kept engaging me with their ideas, feedback, offers to make useful introductions, and even a few offers of investment!

The highlights of the day were lunch and dinner, both served at IMD's famous restaurant. The food is just as amazing as I remember it - as is the post-food ping pong with classmates! After dinner several of us went out to a bar in Le Flon and, once we closed it down, then proceeded to a nearby club (L'Atelier Volant, the very first Lausanne club I ever frequented!). It has been a long, long time since I stayed out until 4 AM but, as much fun as I was having catching up with classmates, I could have stayed out indefinitely.

After the late night, morning came much too soon. Once again, though, the collective energy of the class was infectious as we boarded a morning bus for the Parc Aventure in Aigle. The adventure park is a large wooded park with ropes courses of varying difficulties between and among all the trees. We arrived, suited up in our harnesses, and spent the day challenging ourselves to make it through one obstacle course after another many meters above the forest floor (and the most difficult courses even had parts that extended out over a river!).

Much like the IMD MBA itself, it was a LOT of fun in hindsight. While I was out there grappling, tight rope walking, and zip lining, though, it was actually quite stressful - anyone who knows my [lack of] command of balance will understand why!

Saturday night we had dinner at a new restaurant started by an IMD alum from the class of 2007: Eat Me. Although we started early, we still closed the restaurant down after more than seven hours of eating, drinking, and making merry with dear friends we hadn't seen in awhile - some not since graduation.

Sunday there was a soccer match between our class and the current MBAs (which we won, of course) followed by a closing lunch at our favorite class hangout, Le Pinocchio. The weather, which had been gorgeous all weekend, continued to impress, so I took a slow jog along the lake to the park where soccer was being played and then another jog back to Lutry after lunch. Sometimes I wonder if my memory of living in Switzerland - perfect weather, beautiful views of lakes and mountains - is somewhat idealized, but days like Sunday remind me that it really is a fantastic place.

And there you have it: after a three-day sprint, our reunion is over. The reunion itself actually seemed like a microcosm of the IMD experience: late nights, intense days, and much joy in being together. Even as much time as we spent together, though, there are some people with whom I regret not catching up more.

Much has changed since we underwent the MBA journey together five years ago. Jobs have changed, families have grown, and both accomplishments and disappointments have been realized. That which has remained constant throughout the five years, however, is the bond that we all formed first by choosing to undergo (and being selected for) such a unique program and then by traveling that unique journey together.

In fact, that bond is so strong that, even though the reunion is over, those of us still in Lausanne are meeting up every chance that we get. Five years out is a good time to reflect on the IMD experience. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to attend IMD but, as this reunion really drove home, the most tremendous blessing that IMD provided is the addition of all these great people in my life.

The Dude Ranch

Two weekends ago Katie and I were excited to host our first house guests since remodeling our house. Peter, a good friend from business school, and his girlfriend came into town from New York and it was the first time in Houston for both of them.

They arrived late Friday night so we just went out for dinner at Roost and rested up for a big day Saturday. Saturday began with the Houston Area Women's Center Race Against Violence 5k. Sunny and cool, we each did pretty well and then enjoyed recovery food with a brunch of almond flour pancakes.

Next we met up with the other IMD MBA 2008 Houstonian, Hernan, a recent transplant from Buenos Aires. What do three IMD MBAs do when they meet in a city that isn't native for any of them? Play ping pong, of course! We convened at the Rice Rec Center and held an epic international tournament for the ages.

Saturday afternoon we were pleased to introduce our IMD friends/guests/families to a unique cultural experience: the Houston Rodeo! From bull riding events to the livestock show to lots of Texas BBQ I think it's safe to say that we all enjoyed the experience and that our guests will always remember it!

Saturday night we went to dinner at Beaver's for some more locavore fare and Sunday our guests had to leave too early! The weather was gorgeous Sunday so it's too bad they couldn't stick around; we played beach volleyball all afternoon. Actually, as both of our guests were really, really tall, maybe it's a good thing they couldn't stay and play against us!

The weather here is still absolutely beautiful so now is the right time for us to be cultural ambassadors of Houston. If anyone else would like to visit, COME ON DOOOOOOOOOWN!

Secure Base In the Office and Gym

As I've posted before, I'm a big fan of IMD Professor George Kohlrieser's advocacy of secure base leadership. Quick summary: as children we gain confidence to take risks (like learning to walk) because we have secure bases (like Mom) to pick us up if we fail (like falling down). We carry this pattern with us into our adult lives and Dr. Kohlrieser's contention is that leaders lead more effectively when they act as secure bases for others. In his book, Care to Dare, he argues that this supportive culture/environment is crucial for employees to have the confidence to stretch themselves and take risks - to play to win vs. playing not to lose.

This morning in the gym I was struck by an extremely apt illustration of this exact principle in action. Usually I work out without a spotter (a workout worst practice, by the way) because my main training partner is more than a thousand miles away in Florida. Also I'm never sure exactly how effective skinny Rice kids would be at spotting! This morning, however, there was a big Rice rugby player in the gym who looked like he could handle my weight so I asked him for a spot on bench press.

Anyone who knows my strength training philosophy knows that my metric of success is how much muscle fiber I am able to stimulate. When training without a spotter I am not able to stimulate as much muscle fiber as possible because I lift conservatively, not wanting to fail and drop the bar on my chest! With this spotter behind me I had the confidence to go all out this morning and I took my bench press routine to absolute, complete failure by working with more weight (strict form, of course) and doing more reps. When I finished a rep and was already tired, I still took the risk of doing another rep because I knew the spotter would save me if I failed. The result was that I was actually able to do several more reps! It was such a good workout that now I can barely move my arms.

Because of my spotter I was able to stretch myself and now my gains (with adequate recovery) will be much greater. This is exactly what secure base leadership is all about! I'm thrilled that Dr. Kohlrieser is bringing his top-ranked High Performance Leadership program (much of which centers on the secure base) to the US this year. I wonder how many of our country's private and public leaders playing not to lose instead of playing to win!

IMD HPL

I've just returned from a transformational week back at IMD for their top-ranked High Performance Leadership program! This time five years ago I was organizing my move to Lausanne, completing pre-work assignments, and preparing for a life changing experience. As I flew across the Atlantic last week, completing preparatory work for this IMD program, I couldn't help but feel a little déjà vu!

After four years of putting into practice the many things I learned during the IMD MBA, I thought it was time for a refresher. The very last session of our MBA was on grief and separation, taught by  George Kohlrieser, a business school professor with a very unique background. As a clinical psychologist and former police hostage negotiator, he has a very different perspective on leadership and communication. After that day I read his books (Check out Hostage at the Table and Care to Dare) but I had always hoped to work directly with him. He leads IMD's week-long High Performance Leadership program so I bit the bullet and signed up!

While I was excited to return to IMD, I was also somewhat anxious. Would I learn anything new? Would this short program meet the high expectations that had been set by my [perhaps somewhat idealized] memory of the MBA? Or would it be a waste of money and, worse, time? And if it were quite beneficial, would it be as painful as those first few weeks of our program? Our leadership stream was full of deep personal reflection and tough feedback from teammates - was I up for that again?

Indeed this program did feel a lot like the first weeks of the MBA. 54 execs from around the world started the course wearing our personas and engaging in superficial conversation. Several of the attendees reminded me a lot of my MBA classmates. Even some of the faces on IMD's side were the same, including two of our leadership coaches. There were fruit baskets outside our auditorium every day and, of course, theIMD restaurant was amazing as always!

There were many differences from the MBA program, though, as well. We were in the Nestle executive education building and there was something quite symbolic about spending the week on the other side of the street. Instead of raiding leftover food from the executive programs, we were the ones leaving those leftovers. And naturally mid-career executives whose companies have paid for one week training don't have the same deep commitment to learning as MBAs who have moved around the world and dedicated an entire year of their lives. Also there were no cases to prepare or homework at night. None of us were sleeping much but that had more to do with late nights at the bar than with group projects or writing papers. So perhaps this was a taste of what it would have been like to attend the Insead MBA!

The week was packed with putting fish on the table, giving and receiving candid feedback, learning in the auditorium and putting that learning into practice in our seven-person coaching groups. I was actually really impressed with how quickly the walls came down for everyone such that we could get down to open, honest work on our leadership skills.

It was a very emotionally charged week as well. George does a lot of work with grief (both personal and professional), which can severely impact leadership performance when bottled up or left unaddressed. Additionally we spent a lot of time analyzing past events and relationships (both good and bad) that shaped who we are as leaders today. I think it was a bit of a shock to most participants, who suddenly found themselves crying and sharing and hugging rather than learning "formulas" for efficient management.

For me it was an incredibly impactful week! I found myself naturally slipping into roles that I had assumed during the MBA: the "professor" trying to help others in my group through keen insights and rational models. My teammates managed to call me out on it such that I refocused those efforts back at myself and discovered some quite significant areas for development. I would call those discoveries more than "significant," actually; "profound" would be a better word. And, if I can follow through on them, hopefully "transformational" for my leadership.

I see now why High Performance Leadership consistently receives the highest ratings of IMD's open programs. It takes what IMD does best (deep, personal development of leadership) and focuses on it in a very personalized way for an entire, intense week. Unlike the MBA program, which balances the leadership stream with finance, accounting, marketing, etc. this was 100% leadership focused. If any of you are also looking for an opportunity for continued learning, I would strongly recommend it. In fact, the next session is in April in the US (San Francisco Bay area), so it would be more convenient travel-wise for my North American friends. Shout out if you'd like to learn more about my particular experience.

After this sabbatical, I feel more motivated and focused than ever to be the world changer that I hope and strive to be. In all areas of my life I aim for constant improvement, working smarter not harder, and this was a tremendous step in that direction. Working with IMD's professors, my team, and our leadership coach, I put together a concrete action plan to take my efforts to the next level. That plan is already in effect and my teammates are holding me accountable. So . . . game on!

IMD Alumni Event in Boston

Last weekend was a wonderful trip to Boston, reconnecting with friends, classmates, colleagues, and professors!

I flew up Thursday night and spent Friday in business meetings downtown + catching up with a dear friend / former colleague in Somerville. Lacking a car was no problem because Boston has a very robust public transportation system.

Saturday I turned my attention to IMD, preparing and helping to set up for our opening dinner. We chose this particular weekend because it coincided with the opening weekend of the Academy Of Management's annual conference. I came up with the idea of hosting an IMD all-continent event last year when I presented at the AOM's annual conference and realized that ~1/3 of IMD's faculty were there as well. It is not often that we have so many IMD professors together in the US, so it seemed worth capitalizing on!

In all of North America we have the same number of alumni as there are in Switzerland - but we're obviously much more spread out here! We weren't certain how many people we could motivate to travel hundreds or thousands of miles for such an event but it was worth a try.

We were very pleased with the results: 60+ IMD alumni joined us at the opening dinner at The Top of the Hub, coming from the US, Canada, Mexico - and even some from Europe and Asia! Add to that number 12 IMD professors and some other honored guests and we had a nice group!

Dinner was very nice and a great chance to meet other IMD alumni in this part of the world. My class (2008) tied with 1982 for the most alumni in attendance (3) and it was fun reconnecting with my former classmates. Years go by but relationships pick up right where they left off! We shut down the restaurant, stopped in a bar for some Olympics watching, and then turned in way too late.

Sunday morning began very early. We had lined up seven excellent IMD faculty presentations at the Harvard Club of Boston so we needed plenty of time to squeeze them all in:


IMD President Dominique Turpin - Introduction to the day’s program
Professor Margaret Cording – Identifying, Valuing & Capturing Strategic Synergies
Professor Bala Chakravarthy – A New Type of Country Manager for Winning in Emerging Markets
Professor Martha Maznevski – Developing Responsible Leaders Through Action Learning
Professor Michael Watkins - Moving Up: The Seven Seismic Shifts
Professor George Kohlrieser – Care to Dare: Secure Base Leadership in Action
Professor Maury Peiperl – What Makes a Global Leader Global?
Professor Suzanne de Janasz – Beyond Juggling: Achieving a Sustainable Work-Life Balance


It was a long day but so packed full of great discussion and learning. It was like a shot in the arm, a reminder of what it was like to be at IMD, when every day covered so much ground that you felt almost like a completely new person by the end of it. As someone dedicated to constant self improvement I was grateful for such a "dense" opportunity to learn and grow. And besides, exhausted as we were by the end of it, several of us still found the energy reserves to go out for drinks and plenty of seafood afterward!

It was an excellent weekend and I hope we can build on the success to bring more IMD activity to North America.

IMD: a Global Brand - a Global Bond

With four years now to reflect on the IMD network, I recently had two travel experiences that really cemented its value for me: Buenos Aires and Switzerland. When Katie and I went to Buenos Aires in May we were really helped along by my two IMD classmates there. They and their families met up with us, advised us on how best to experience the local scene, and even helped me make very valuable business connections while I was in town. Last month in Switzerland - where we need no advice on where to stay / what to do - it was the same: classmates came out of the woodwork to spend time with us and some were even incredibly helpful in business networking as well.

Before I discovered IMD I looked down my nose at MBAs, believing them to be people who were essentially paying for a new network of peers/colleagues. As I already had a nice network, this seemed of very little value to me. In my very first blog post ever I laid out my reasons for attending IMD, which happened also to be an MBA program. I joked often during that year that the IMD network would indeed be very valuable: with students from 45 countries we would surely be invited to weddings in fun destinations all over the world!

Indeed it has proven itself in that regard but I've been really impressed by how much more it is as well. In Buenos Aires, in Switzerland, and everywhere else I have encountered my IMD classmates there is a sense of joy at our reunion that is really hard to describe. There were so few of us and we underwent such a very intense experience together that an incredible bond was forged between us. Now, four years and thousands of miles removed from most of these classmates, the bond has only grown stronger.

Whenever we get together we all immediately fall into patterns of catch up about ourselves / our families, updates about our classmates (For such an ambitious, globally mobile group of people, it's almost like a competition to see who knows the the most recent update about each of us!), and earnest offers to help each other succeed in our professional and personal lives.

Having this extended team/family virtually anywhere we might hope to travel in the world is an incredibly comforting feeling. This is a very underanticipated, undermarketed aspect of the IMD MBA program: it's not just a global brand; it's a global bond!

A Swiss Day in Houston

Today was a very Swiss kind of day! OK, OK, let me explain, because Houston, Texas is a pretty far cry from "Swiss!" What I mean is that today really felt a lot like my Swiss/IMD experience even though it was a Saturday in Houston.

To start, the weather was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky and the high temperature was mid 60s F (high teens C). There was a breeze that made it a little chilly when staying still or in the shade. Taking Max for a walk in the sun, though, was paradise on earth. And the breeze was very, very welcome during my run at Memorial Park this morning. Despite the very, very different scenery, I almost felt like I was running along Lac Leman in Lausanne. In the evening we had a long, lingering twilight with a dark blue sky, prominent stars, and crescent moon. There you have it: Houston in January is Lausanne in June!

Unfortunately my experience today did not include excellent food outdoors with great friends as it surely would have in Switzerland. After my run and Max's long walk, I spent most of the day inside PowerPointing in front of my laptop. Even this felt very Swiss, though, because it's exactly how I spent many a Saturday at IMD!

Ah, Suisse, vous me manquez! It will take more than ideal weather to recreate the Swiss experience truly, though. After all, the best thing about Switzerland is all my wonderful friends there. Hopefully there will be a chance to visit soon but, in the meantime, back to work!

School Pride Continued

No sooner had we returned to the US than we traveled to San Antonio for more IMD action - but this time closer to "home" turf! The Academy Of Management's annual meeting was being held there in several venues along the River Walk. The AOM is the preeminent academic organization for scholars in the fields of business and management. As such, many IMD professors, including IMD's president, were in attendance - along with 10,000 other management profs! I had been asked to participate in the session of one of my former IMD professors and jumped at the chance.

Katie and I arrived Saturday and spent the afternoon strolling along the River Walk. Although my brother attended university in San Antonio and I visited quite often, we never really spent much time in this part of town. Katie and I were enchanted by the canopy of trees, the fun restaurants along the river, and - above all - the lower temperature down in the shade! What a fantastic environment they have created!

Sunday morning was my presentation in the San Antonio Convention Center. Our session, led by Maury Peiperl and Suzanne de Janasz, focused on social value creation. Specifically, is it possible for organizations to to embed it in their philosophies/cultures? Or will it always be bare-minimum-box-checking?

We began with research by IMD professor Francisco Szekely, who had been my leadership coach during my MBA year, on Corporate Social Responsibility efforts by large corporations. The conclusion was that generally these have been ineffectual and are not being approached correctly at all.

I then followed up with my case study of Smart Office Energy Solutions, which we have designed from the ground up to have social value creation inextricably embedded in its DNA. It would be absolutely impossible for us to achieve economic success without also doing some good - and the more of one we achieve, the more of the other we achieve. Furthermore we create that same alignment of economic and social value for our clients, suppliers, employees, and investors such that this "good capitalism" spreads virally. My conclusion therefore was quite optimistic: that capitalism can align with social good but we need business leaders to search out business models that feature that alignment.

Our final "practitioner" (as we non-academics are called) was Lynellyn Long, who concluded with a much less optimistic "reality check" based on her experience in human rights activism, working with non-profits, NGOs, and governments. Her conclusion was that yes, perhaps it can be done but that Smart Office Energy Solutions is by far the exception to the rule and that the current landscape for corporate social value creation is actually quite bleak.

Finally we launched a session-wide discussion about not only these topics but also, more pointed for the business school professor crowd: how can social value (or attempts to align it with economic value) be taught to future generations of business leaders? The discussion was quite lively as we had a packed venue and I was encouraged by how much interest there was in the topic. Regarding social value pedagogy, I get the feeling that it may be like entrepreneurship, for which the consensus is that it can't be "taught" theoretically; instead it has to be developed experientially. That corresponds with my own experience; I certainly didn't develop a passion for using business to "do good" in the classroom!

I was really honored to be included in this session and it felt good to dip a toe back into the pool of academia. Who knows, maybe some day in the future I will expand my academic pursuits - in the meantime, though, I'm focused on getting things done! In addition to the session, it was a good chance to catch up with other IMD professors, including the few minutes I spent psychoanalyzing Jack Wood over coffee - I thought I was turning the tables on him but he was probably actually just gaming me the entire time! And on top of it all, it was a lovely 30 hours or so in San Antonio with my beautiful bride - tough to beat that!

School Pride

These last two weeks have been full of involvement with my university (Rice) and MBA (IMD) almae matres. After the Finnish wedding (which was itself an IMD connection), Katie and I spent a few days in Lausanne, Switzerland before returning to the US. Being in Switzerland always brings back memories of times at IMD, partially because Switzerland just doesn't change (Even the ads at the airport are the same!) and partially because Switzerland is just so different than Houston!

On our first afternoon we returned to the park where I proposed and celebrated our one year proposal anniversary / three month wedding anniversary. It was a grand mini-vacation and excellent welcome back to a place we love. Monday evening we had fondue (How Swiss!) with IMD friends at Le Chalet, overlooking Lac Leman. The sun was setting, lighting up the mountain faces with soft rose colors, while the moon was rising - absolutely beautiful!

Goodness, though, if we thought Finland was expensive, it was nothing compared to Switzerland! Switzerland has always been pretty costly but now, with the incredibly strong Swiss Franc (vs. the dollar and the Euro), it is more extreme than ever. Our modest picnic lunch, assembled at the grocery store, cost more than $60!

Tuesday we just kind of hung around Lausanne and caught up with other friends there. In the evening we divided up: the girls had a ladies night at a wine bar in Flon while the guys had male bonding at the Croix d'Ouchy - an old favorite. It was fun to see several classmates I haven't seen for some time.

Wednesday I gave a presentation at IMD on using social media for your own personal branding. I gave the same presentation last year but practically rewrote it from scratch this year due to all the changes/advances in the social media world during the last 12 months. The students seemed receptive and I hope it was valuable for them as they pursue their career searches. This was followed by an incredible dinner at Beau Rivage with our most gracious hosts - also IMD classmates. Beau Rivage was the site of our graduation so the IMD connections continued.

Early Thursday morning we hopped the train to the airport and returned to Texas, where the scholastic links rolled on - but that will be the subject of my next post.

Finnish Wedding Part 3

Saturday also began with a very late start (after briefly waking up for the amazing breakfast buffet). It was raining a bit so we didn't venture too far but we did walk around and see the Church in the rock, which was very cool. Again we bumped into our classmates while we were walking around town and, while we were having lunch, we witnessed a SlutWalk protest - hundreds of Finnish women (and some men) dressed outlandishly made for a "unique" cultural experience!

Saturday evening was the wedding itself, a positively lovely affair. After a short civil ceremony we were treated to more excellent Finnish cuisine for dinner: lots of raw meat and fish, but also delicious vegetarian options. The wine was very well paired with the food too. As we ate there were some toasts, mostly in English but also in Finnish. They were clever and poignant and paid great tribute to the happy couple. When Tuomas delivered his toast in Finnish to Emilia, it reinforced something we all learned at IMD - that only a very small part of communication comes from the actual meaning of words. Even though we couldn't understand his words, the heartfelt homage to his life partner was clearly evident.

Before we transitioned completely from sitting to dancing there was a brief bit of drama. It seems that someone kidnapped the bride! In order to earn her back, Tuomas had to answer trivia questions about her and then dance a traditional Texas line dance! At first his performance was not deemed enthusiastic enough so he gave it another try, pulling out all the stops, and won her back - what a great tradition!

Then the dancing started and it was a LOT of fun! The DJ played everything from 80s staples to contemporary Finnish music, to everything in between - including Finnish covers of classic songs. Despite the cool weather outside, it got very, VERY warm inside so I had to alternate between dancing and cooling off outside. Eventually the best man made an announcement that it was time to stop drinking . . . and start getting wasted - what a great sentiment!

As Katie and I were dancing with one of my Chinese classmates, having a blast, it reminded me of a failure of mine from the IMD year. I was so focused on academic achievement that I missed many opportunities to bond with my classmates, foregoing parties to work, for example. It is so evident to me now, though, that my classmates were IMD's greatest assets, and relationships with them are the greatest benefits that I took from the program. This is now the top piece of advice I give to incoming students: to take time to get to know their peers. In my case I am now finally doing it at, for example, weddings like this one - better late than never!

At 1 AM we had to relinquish our venue so we all hopped on a bus to The Tiger, the self-described classiest club in Helsinki. There we had some tables reserved and kept the dance party going until 4 AM. As the club closed, Katie and I walked back to our hotel under the early sunrise and relished in the denouement of what had been an incredibly fun night.

Sunday began with brunch at an island mansion. Our party was noticeably diminished in size, partially because some people had already departed, but also because many people were still suffering from the previous night. Those of us who made it out were treated to excellent recovery food and a great view of the bay. Afterward Katie and I ferried over to Suomenlinna, the world's largest sea fortress, for some touring and sight seeing.

Sunday evening featured a final, casual dinner with the wedding couple and then Monday morning we were up eaaaaarly to catch our flight to Switzerland. Somehow it is easier to get up at 4 AM, though, when the sun is already rising. As we waited for our airport ride, I breathed in and took one last look at the gray, early lit skies above the train station and savored my most "canonical" view of Finland. It was a short trip but a fantastic introduction to a great country and great people! Many congratulations to Tuomas and Emilia!

Finnish Wedding Part 2

Friday began with an amazing breakfast buffet at our hotel. It was a veritable smorgasbord of Nordic staples: pickled herring, mustard herring, marinated salmon, little pancakes, organic spelt/barley porridge with lingonberries, eggs, freshly baked bread, cheese, pastries, nuts/seeds, and fresh fruit. None of this wimpy continental breakfast for us - these Finns know how to start the day off right!

To be more precise, Friday actually began by waking up at 4:30 AM - my body was still getting used to the new time zone. Normally I might be able to roll back over and go to sleep in the dark. However, it was already very light out! This far north they have very little actual darkness in the summers. While we were there the sun generally set ~11 PM and rose ~4 AM - I can't imagine what it was like back around the summer solstice!

Because of this early morning wakeup, we found ourselves spending the rest of our morning after breakfast napping instead of exploring the town - oops! We roused ourselves in time for the first event of the wedding weekend, though: soccer! We walked down to the south end of the peninsula (Helsinki is incredibly walkable and there is public transportation to take you anywhere that's out of range.) and met the families of the bride and groom in a beautiful green park.

The groom's side would be playing the bride's side in a "friendly" game of soccer in the park. However, it was immediately evident that the bride's side was very sporty and pretty competitive to boot! Having not played soccer since I was ~5, this made me a little nervous. Also, I didn't have any cleats, just the Vibrams Five Fingers that I had brought for walking/jogging, so changing direction might be hard. Oh well, even if I made a fool of myself and totally let Tuomas down, I would at least get some good exercise!

Before the match started we energized with Finnish home cooking and plenty of beer - my kind of pre-game ritual! Then the match began on a [fortunately] shortened field. Long story short: I managed to score three of our five first-half goals - two kicks and one header - so hopefully I acquitted myself well. They were mostly blind beginner's luck, but I'll take them! The highlight for me, though, was a jumping scissor/bicycle kick to clear the ball out of our side. It just went out of bounds but at least it connected and it felt pretty cool! The groom's side had more people than the bride's side so I sat out the second half and got to know some of the other attendees - including two other Houstonians, one of which was a Rice Owl!

Afterward we continued to drink and threw around a REAL football as well. Both the bride's and groom's sides were full of Finns who play American football - both full contact and flag varieties. How awesome is that? Finally we disbanded from the park and several of us went for a late lunch at a cafe overlooking the bay. The weather was beautiful so we were happy just to relax and soak it all in. Walking around in the afternoon we bumped into some other IMD folks. Helsinki is small enough that it isn't uncommon just to bump into people you know--even when you're not from there!

Dinner that evening was organized at The Sea Horse, a traditional restaurant near the wharf that serves classic Finnish fare. We began with cocktails and Katie and I both tried ones that we thought we could never find back home. She had one that was like a kir royale but with rhubarb liqueur. I had a martini-like drink with blueberry liqueur - they were both delicious!

To eat, I tried the traditional Vorschmack  while Katie had a very creamy mushroom soup. Then, for our main courses, we both had freshly caught local fish . . . for the third time that day! Dinner was delicious and was followed by some drinks at a local bar. Once again it was good to catch up with IMD classmates but this time it was also great getting to know some of the Finnish friends and family of the wedding couple. We called it an evening by 1 AM as we needed to rest up and bring our A game the following night!

Finnish Wedding Part 1

Katie and I went to Finland for the first time in our lives for the wedding of two IMD friends and we absolutely loved the place! A cynical MBA friend of mine once advised me that the best benefit of business school was that it provided many travel opportunities for weddings of classmates. As international as IMD is, it really takes that benefit to the extreme! This was our third wedding outside of the US in the last 10 months but the first in a place that was totally new to us.

We arrived Thursday in Helsinki, where we were immediately impressed by the architecture. Many buildings were designed by famous artists and were both unique and beautiful. We were also astounded by how many and how well people spoke English. In fact, not only did they speak English better than many Americans, they were incredibly hospitable, nice, and gracious - which was a good thing, because everything was very expensive there! Still, given the quality of the people, buildings, and open spaces (many parks, plazas, sea views, and tree-lined promenades), you clearly get what you pay for!

Thursday evening we met up with other IMD couples for dinner and it was great to see people from Finland, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, India, China, Hong Kong, Romania, New Zealand, and France. In all there were  eight alumni from the IMD MBA Class of 2008 - nearly 10% of our class - and amazingly I had only worked closely in a group with one of them. Accordingly, in addition to celebrating the wedding of our classmate, Tuomas, and his awesome bride, Emilia, this weekend turned out to be a great chance to bond with other classmates as well. Dinner Thursday evening was a great way to kick that off!

While we were at dinner, we bumped into an older gentleman who had noticed us talking about IMD. It turns out that he was an MBA graduate from 1988. Small world! Or rather, global network!

Ah, Summer in Switzerland

I've just returned from a week in Lausanne, Switzerland that was both productive and refreshing. The original purpose of my trip was to attend IMD's annual meeting for presidents of its global alumni clubs. As the founder and president of the Houston alumni club, I was invited this year for the first time. As this is a great time of year to be in Lausanne and a terrible time of year to be in Houston, I extended my stay a bit to work from a different location.

I flew out Wednesday evening, arriving in Geneva early Thursday morning. Instead of sleeping on the plane, I got on a real roll of catching up on some work, which was great for productivity but less great for feeling rested upon arrival! Still, I knew that I couldn't sleep during the day Thursday if I hoped to synchronize my body clock with the new time zone.

After checking into my "hotel," the exquisite house of a former IMD professor and mentor of mine, I spent the afternoon at IMD, attending a session of OWP. OWP, Orchestrating Winning Performance, is IMD's flagship event every year, featuring a full week of cutting edge research presentations to the 500 execs who come in from around the world to stay up-to-date. It was my first time attending a session and it didn't disappoint!

Thursday evening I had dinner with another IMD professor / mentor and a new colleague of his. The three of us will be presenting together at the Academy of Management's annual conference in August so it was a great chance to coordinate our goals, content, and logistics.

Friday and Saturday I spent at the Alumni Club Presidents meeting. Many of the presidents come from much larger markets than Houston (where we have 500+ alumni) and have been running their organizations much longer than I have. Therefore it was interesting to hear about their challenges, successes, and ideas.

Many of the discussions reminded me of the same discussions we have in Rice University alumni leadership meetings - philosophical questions about the purpose of school-alumni relations, metrics of success, debates about best practices, etc. Hopefully I can bring some of our good ideas from the Rice community to IMD and vice versa!

Sunday was a relaxing day as I met a high school classmate (who now works in Geneva!), showed her around Lausanne, and went out on the lake with one of my IMD classmates and his family. The weather was absolutely perfect, the lake was gorgeous, and the company couldn't be beat - what more could I ask??

Monday we hosted a 4th of July party at the "hotel." They have a great house for entertaining - big yard, nice patio, great pool, amazing view - so we BBQ'ed out, lit up some fireworks, and celebrated American independence. What a blast!

Tuesday and Wednesday I worked from IMD as my "remote office." This afforded me the opportunity of catching up with several contacts for lunch or coffee and it felt good to be back in the setting where I worked very hard not so long ago. It helped, of course, that the food at the restaurant is still AMAZING!

Wednesday evening I attended the Euro Tech Tour Cleantech Summit's gala dinner in Geneva. Well, at least we *met* in Geneva but the dinner itself was on a big boat lake cruise. Meeting other cleantech entrepreneurs to learn about their innovative ideas, networking with European cleantech investors, and fine dining on the beautiful lake - what a fantastic way to wrap up the trip!

This morning I left for the airport WAY too early and the trip was over WAY too soon, but it was a welcome change of scene even if just briefly. Although there are many things I love about being back in Houston, there are many things I miss about Lausanne as well. I feel fortunate to have developed a good network there which makes it still feel like a second home. I hope this will always be the case!

Computer Science and IMD

A prospective applicant to the IMD MBA program recently contacted me to ask about how my computer science (CS) background affected my IMD experience and whether or not IMD was a good fit for him. It got me thinking, especially since I had just received an invitation to talk to the current crop of Rice undergrad CS majors. Following is an abbreviated version of my response:

No one else can answer whether or not IMD is a good fit for you - only you can. And in fact, you probably can't truly answer that question until after you've completed the program! For example, I thought IMD might be a good fit for me before I applied. After my second round, onsite interview day, I thought IMD would be a great fit for me. After completing the program, I knew it had been a great fit for me--but for very different reasons than I originally thought! 

Still, I'm glad to provide some contextual information about my experience in the hope that it helps you better anticipate what the program is like.

To answer your practical question first, yes, the international organizations you have mentioned recruit very heavily at IMD. The World Economic Forum is probably the most prodigious; 4 of my 89 classmates took a job there after graduation. Something I didn't realize until I was already in business school is that your location has a significant impact on the job opportunities that just come your way. If you're looking to work in San Francisco after business school, Stanford is your best choice hands-down. If you're looking to work in Geneva, there is no better pedigree than IMD. Can you go to Stanford and then take a job in Geneva or go to IMD and then take a job in San Fran? Of course, but it's more of an uphill battle.

As for my CS degree, I didn't find that I used it much at all during the program. Certainly my engineering-driven problem-solving approach came into play every day. Certainly my experience pulling all nighters to study/do problem sets/build software helped prepare me for the intense IMD work load. Certainly my skill with software programs like Excel was very useful, but I would guess that your career in the Finance world has imbued you with more of those skills than did your CS studies.

Honestly some of my greatest take-aways from the IMD program were really the result of unlearning my CS education. In studying CS I was taught that everything is rational/logical and that everything can be modeled with deterministic formulae. However, at IMD I learned that actually most people--myself included--behave quite irrationally. Recognizing that and learning to identify "what's really going on" in intra- and interpersonal dynamics has been one of the most useful skills I have ever developed.

Is this helpful background information for you? Again, only you can decide whether or not it's a good fit (although the Admissions team is pretty good at gauging that too!) but I applaud you for seeking out some more data. In the end you'll just have to do something that you probably didn't learn in CS class (but that you might learn at IMD): trust your feelings.