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Senior Product Manager, T-DM1 Marketing, Genentech
When Chris Caughman says Owen is unique, he can point to the portion of his MBA training that involved living for a weekend as a member of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
There, he and other participants in Owen's Leadership in Action program learned from one of the world's most successful organizations by flying in Blackhawk helicopters, hand-towing a stalled Humvee by ropes for half a mile, and completing a compass-guided land navigation exercise.
"We learned how transferable leadership is from one environment to another," Chris says. "For example, in the military you debrief after every assignment to discuss what worked. They also teach that part of leadership is honing in on each person's strengths."
Chris applied leadership lessons from his Owen experience to Genentech, the San Francisco biotech firm he joined upon graduation.
"Owen challenged me to think differently about solving problems," he says. "I don't think I'd have had an opportunity at any other school to be part of a group so special."
Chris Caughman
Vanderbilt MBA 2008Senior Product Manager, T-DM1 Marketing, Genentech
From Blackhawks to Biotech
Caughman Acquired Leadership Skills Through Innovative ProgramWhen Chris Caughman says Owen is unique, he can point to the portion of his MBA training that involved living for a weekend as a member of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
There, he and other participants in Owen's Leadership in Action program learned from one of the world's most successful organizations by flying in Blackhawk helicopters, hand-towing a stalled Humvee by ropes for half a mile, and completing a compass-guided land navigation exercise.
"We learned how transferable leadership is from one environment to another," Chris says. "For example, in the military you debrief after every assignment to discuss what worked. They also teach that part of leadership is honing in on each person's strengths."
Chris applied leadership lessons from his Owen experience to Genentech, the San Francisco biotech firm he joined upon graduation.
"Owen challenged me to think differently about solving problems," he says. "I don't think I'd have had an opportunity at any other school to be part of a group so special."
