Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/470545
LOOKING As John Fernandes prepares to retire after 15 years at AACSB, he reflects on his accomplishments, his leadership style, and the challenges that still lie ahead. JOHN FERNANDES THINKS a leader's style is a direct reflection of the people being led. "If you don't have the right people in place in the organization, I don't know that your leadership style will do any good," he says. Therefore, he believes a leader's first task is to build a superb staff—acting as a mentor until employees develop their own managerial acumen, then stepping back to become more of an enabler. That's the path he has followed since he was named president and CEO of AACSB International in 2000. Working with the board, he quickly developed key goals: Make the association more global; update the accreditation standards; relocate from St. Louis, Missouri, to the more interna- tional city of Tampa, Florida; and assem- ble a staff that could smoothly handle all these directives. Now that each one of these goals has been achieved, Fernandes is set to retire on April 30. Thomas Robin- son will take over the office on May 1. ON A LEG During the 15 years that Fernandes was in office, the association achieved many impressive milestones. Inter- national membership grew from 18 percent to 52 percent of the total; the number of international accredited schools grew from 4 percent to almost 30 percent. The accreditation standards were updated twice, in 2003 and 2013, and each revision created standards that were more straightforward, more efficient, and more accessible to global members. In 2001, the association launched BizEd; in 2004, it moved to Tampa; in 2009, it opened its new head- quarters office in Singapore; and in early 2015 it opened its headquarters in Amsterdam. As Fernandes prepares to step down, BizEd talked to him about his proudest achievements, his greatest challenges, and his predictions about what's ahead for management education. BY SHARON SHINN PORTRAIT BY WIDOFF PHOTO 50 BizEd MARCH | APRIL 2015