The LEADER Project provides current and aspiring entrepreneurs with the analytical tools, thought processes, and decision-making skills to tackle complex business challenges. LEADER instructors (Ivey HBA and MBA students and alumni) deliver a two-week intensive program of cases, lectures, and coaching. LEADER is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2022. As part of the celebration, Michael Misko, MBA '22, wrote about his experience teaching in North Macedonia.
In May, I had the pleasure of participating in The LEADER Project - an immersive teaching experience where my team and I taught business fundamentals to local entrepreneurs in North Macedonia using Ivey’s case method teaching format. This experience was truly transformative, allowing me to not only grow as a leader, but also build close bonds with fellow teammates, students and site partners while pushing me to step out of my comfort zone by teaching for the first time.
Joining LEADER
As someone who is passionate about education, entrepreneurship, and economic development, the opportunity to teach entrepreneurs abroad enticed me. After completing hundreds of cases during the MBA program, I not only had the confidence to teach using the case method, but also recognized it was a very effective approach to learning, as every case is based on a real business problem. Students would not only get value from the concepts in the curriculum, but also build their presentation skills through the interactive nature of case method learning and pitching in front of their peers.
Preparing to teach
Before arriving in Macedonia, our team had a few weeks of preparation to tailor our curriculum to our local site and practice with colleagues to make sure we were ready to teach the business concepts at hand. Although I was very familiar with our curriculum, I could not help but feel some imposter syndrome being new to teaching. Luckily, I had an amazing team - we supported each other throughout each session and reminded one another that we knew our content as we had all rehearsed it many times together. I can speak for the whole team when I say we couldn’t have had a better team in North Macedonia.
Teaching experience
Our first case in the curriculum focused on analyzing the strategy of a new airline venture. As the case method is a very interactive way of learning which requires student participation, my biggest fear was not having the students engage with my questions and contribute to the conversation. I went up to the front, very nervous, but jitteriness faded away quickly. The students were incredibly engaged in the discussion, and I ended up having a lot of fun teaching for the first time. This was a theme throughout my whole teaching experience: the students were very prepared and ready to learn.
I was very impressed by the students’ level of engagement, as many of them were still working their day jobs while taking part in The LEADER Project, yet their full-time jobs were not a distraction. After getting over my nerves on the first day, I found my teaching experience very rewarding, learned a lot from the students, and enjoyed responding to their many challenges about the concepts being taught.
Coaching experience
One of my favourite parts of the day was the coaching sessions that we offered at the end of each class. These sessions allowed students to work with coaches to refine their business pitches in preparation for the contest at the end of the program. The coaching sessions gave me a unique insight on problems many Macedonians faced as the students were solving these problems through their business pitches. It was a very rewarding experience to work with students to refine their business pitches and witness them deliver their ideas to the judges on the final day. After speaking to some of the students once the LEADER program was complete, I was happy to hear the experience motivated some to launch their ventures earlier than anticipated. I look forward to keeping in touch with the students and hearing about their progress.
Thank you
I want to thank our site partners, Macedonia2025, for being amazing hosts, teaching us about their country and city, and taking us around Skopje, the capital city of North Macedonia. The hospitality of the Northern Macedonian people was something I will never forget, and I look forward to returning one day.
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