Whether or not you had time to participate or follow along during Leadership Crisis Challenge (LCC) this year, you may have heard that our January and March programs were record-setting and remarkable. Here are a few of the top moments we’d like to reflect on and share as we wrap up planning for this year.
1. A historic number of graduate students participated in January.
We hosted our largest group of graduate students ever, topping out at over 185 participants. The Sanger team was so excited that we cheered when student #180 checked in!
2. Then in March, a record-setting number of undergraduates participated!
Topping out at 239 students, the March LCC was the largest we have ever hosted!
3. We successfully used ViewPoint, a new simulation platform, to run the challenge.
We’ve been working with the U-M Office of Academic Innovation since 2018 on ViewPoint, a digital platform that helps us create the simulated environment for participants.
ViewPoint will make LCC more accessible to audiences such as the new Michigan Ross Online MBA as well as other universities, living up to our school’s slogan of the Leaders and Best.
4. We invited students from DePauw University, which is opening its own Sanger Leadership Initiative, to participate—and they did great!
Sixteen students made the journey from Greencastle, Indiana, and joined teams with U-M students to compete in the March LCC this year. Team “3×8,” which made it to the final round, was one of the teams made up of both DePauw and U-M students. DePauw administrators also came long to observe, in hopes of creating their own action-based learning programs at their Sanger Leadership Initiative, which was also generously funded by Steve and Karen Sanger.
5. Four students from the HEC Paris, France also participated, building on an exciting new partnership with HEC.
HEC reached out to Sanger in 2018 with the desire to run their own LCC. After a successful program last year, we extended the invite to have some HEC students visit Ann Arbor. In exchange, the winning team from this year’s undergraduate challenge, “SÏP,” will have the chance to compete in the HEC Paris LCC in 2020!
As a side note, the LCC has now been run using Sanger’s cases at 13 institutions in 7 U.S. states and 6 nations on 4 continents. The group includes 6 of the world’s 30 top-ranked business schools.
6. Students celebrated and relaxed on the field before the press conference.
For many students, LCC represents the first chance (and maybe only chance!) they’ve had to lay on the block M at the Big House and tour the football team’s locker room. Smiles, laughter, and Wolverine pride will always be a top moment for us.
7. We had enthusiastic support from two incredible sponsors this year: PNC Bank and new for 2019, General Motors.
Our sponsors make running the Crisis Challenge possible. PNC Bank also recognized the winning teams on the field of Michigan Stadium during this year’s Spring Football Game on April 13. In addition, each company sent numerous leaders to campus to serve as simulated board members and judges.
8. Two amazing teams got to hold the big check as winners of LCC: Team Uno in January and Team SÏP in March.
Graduate students on Team Uno included: Cristobal Cevallos, Ian Charles, Sankalp Dusad, Marjace Miles, Cepha Nixon, Niyanthi Reddy, and Caroline Tulp.
Undergraduate students on Team SÏP were from Michigan Ross, the Ford School of Public Policy, and Michigan Engineering. They are: Brooke Bacigal, Michael Chen, Brian Chu, Stavroula Kyriazis, Matthew Lougheed, Adi Mannari, Ashton Smith, and Boyang Yu.
The 2020 Leadership Crisis Challenges will be held in January for graduate students and March for undergraduates. Indicate your interest in participating on our form.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming into the LCC, and I was worried that my non-business background would make me the weak link of my team. It turned out that my experience in environmental science was a huge strength, and I brought a unique perspective to my team that helped us strategize, navigate problems, and address complex questions.” – T.C. Knowles, LSA International Studies and Environmental Science, 2020
“The best leadership coaching program at Ross yet. The way it is organized is so real that it doesn’t appear like a simulation but an actual life scenario. Would definitely do this again.” – Sankalp Dusad, MBA 2019