Background Information: An Oil & Gas Remote Engineer who had a phenomenal growth from a junior engineer to a remote engineer responsible for complex drilling projects and automating the entire operations, is assigned the role to develop strategies to retain the women workforce and develop a comprehensive plan to create an inclusive environment. 

Theme: Understanding Identity and Perspective-Taking, Creating an Inclusive Environment    

Background Information: A PE associate narrates the challenge of onboarding an older candidate to the team. The person had an illustrious career in Technology but was a newbie to the NFT fund the team was managing. 

Even with the history of recruiting non-traditional candidates from different backgrounds – the age (45+) bias, skepticism against a region known for its conservative values, and a warped view of the socio-economic exposure the candidate had, all culminate into resistance from the team in fully embracing the candidate’s ideas. 

Background Information: The fifth example is of a White Male liberal applicant working for a think tank in DC. Unlike ideologues-based think tanks, the non-profit that the applicant worked for has a history of helping Senators introduce transformative Acts. The secret ingredient behind the success was the composition of the team. 

With recruitment geared towards finding balance in political ideologies, the applicant was often paired with conservative team members who had a different perspective on spending limits, regulations, and the value of life. 

Columbia MBA Essay Question

The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a co-curricular program designed to provide students with the skills and strategies needed to develop as inclusive leaders. Through various resources and programming, students explore and reflect on the following five inclusive leadership skills: Mitigating Bias and Prejudice; Managing Intercultural Dialogue; Addressing Systemic Inequity; Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking; and Creating an Inclusive Environment.