Contextual Learning: Senior Advisors

Thayer Leadership Senior Advisors are a select group of retired Army senior leaders from the U.S. military who are distinguished leaders experienced in leadership and leader development at the highest levels of an organization. Their vast experience with a broad range of missions, and a variety of operational challenges uniquely positions them to provide the strategic context drawn from their professional experience and tailored to meet the specialized objectives of each client.

These esteemed senior leaders serve as coaches and mentors to help merge leadership theory with practice to better illustrate and reinforce the learning points within the Thayer program. They speak from personal experience about the variety of challenges confronting leaders at specific levels, the nature of both successful and unsuccessful leader actions, and examples of actions taken that highlight leader principles stressed by Thayer. This will demonstrate the successful and distinguished practice of those leader competencies identified in instruction as critical to effective leader and organizational behavior.

Through their interaction with the students, their presence throughout the full period of the Thayer training, and their involvement from start to finish in the design and execution of a client’s program, the Senior Advisors ensure the connection of course content with client leadership and organizational objectives.

Mentorship by leaders of this caliber, and the meaningful experiences that these retired senior leaders can share regarding the leadership that they used, saw, and applied in the Military as it relates to their roles in corporate America, is a unique and invaluable component of a Thayer Leadership program.