Lecturer Kelly Watson integrates her passions into the courses she teaches by including and engaging every single learner. She strives to meet the unique growth needs of every student and ensures that each person gains something special from their learning experience.
What is your favorite Executive MBA course to teach at LMU and why?
I teach the capstone international strategy project course. I love that I have the opportunity to integrate all of the learning that has gone on in the program and bring it to a real-life application in an international context. Also, it is wonderful to travel with the students and see new destinations through their eyes. I feel blessed to get to be a part of the culminating experience of their EMBA.
What are you most proud of in your career?
I have been fortunate to have so many wonderful experiences as an executive business leader, consultant and educator. I am proud to have successfully balanced my professional workload so that I could also contribute to my community as a parent, recreation and parks commissioner, a coach and referee for a youth soccer league, and community volunteer.
What’s your area of expertise and what research are you working on?
I have an extensive background in business operations consulting as well as leadership development, particularly in gender equity and inclusion. I have co-authored two books and am currently working on a Ph.D. My research interest is in managing diverse teams for optimal performance outcomes from a leadership skills and organizational processes perspective. I am also an experienced adult educator both in-person as well as in the virtual classroom.
What advice do you have for incoming graduate students?
Squeeze every last drop of the learning experience out of your program – you can sleep when you graduate!
