To close their fall semester of self-leadership development, our Ross Leaders Academy (RLA) fellows participated in Exploring Alternative Futures—a session designed to help students envision multiple paths their lives and careers could take. This year, the experience expanded in a meaningful way through a collaboration with Professor Victor J. Strecher, PhD, MPH, a leading scholar in purpose and wellbeing at the University of Michigan and founder of Kumanu. Dr. Strecher’s research on intentionality and values-based decision making set the foundation for the day, offering fellows research-backed tools for mapping possible futures before stepping into guided exploration.
Following his talk, fellows began charting their own possibilities—brainstorming at least three different future selves that align with their personal values and purpose. From there, they selected two to “try on” through interactive role-play conversations. Using prompts such as What wakes you up with excitement each morning?, What decisions define this future?, and What are you saying yes and no to?, students embodied these futures in real time. The design encourages experimentation, agency and reflection, while strengthening Michigan Model of Leadership skills like curiosity, integrity, and resilience.
RLA fellow Rachel Phillips (MBA ’26) reflected on the impact on the session, sharing:
“I really enjoyed Professor Strecher’s talk. It was moving, engaging, and powerful. His perspective on living with purpose and aligning daily choices with one’s core values gave me a lot to reflect on. I’ve since been thinking more intentionally about what an optimal life looks like for me and how best to design it based on the frameworks he shared.”
The session served as a capstone to RLA’s fall focus on self-leadership, building from Identity, Values, and Purpose toward a more expansive understanding of strengthening resilience through possibility. With this foundation in place, fellows will enter the winter semester ready to shift toward interpersonal leadership development, beginning with Empathy in January.
This program is generously sponsored by the Deloitte Foundation.