When professionals enroll in the Executive MBA (EMBA) program at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, they expect to sharpen their business skills, expand their strategic thinking and accelerate their careers.
What many may not expect is the level of personal insight they gain about themselves as leaders.
Through the EMBA’s Psychological Skills Profile (PSP), students receive an individualized assessment and coaching sessions that help them better understand their leadership strengths, identify opportunities for growth and develop the self-awareness needed to evolve and lead more effectively in today’s complex global business landscape.
“Learning leadership theories and concepts in the classroom creates a critical foundation,” said Tom Schoenfelder, academic director of the Fox EMBA program and an industrial-organizational psychologist.
“However, the PSP helps students connect what they are learning to who they’re becoming as leaders.”
The Psychological Skills Profile helps students connect what they are learning to who they’re becoming as leaders.
Looking in the Mirror
Every Fox EMBA student completes the PSP, a research-based assessment that evaluates leadership competencies across multiple levels of leadership responsibility.
The resulting report provides detailed feedback on areas such as communication, coaching, strategic thinking, decision-making, organizational savvy and leading change.
For many students, the experience is eye-opening.
“The EMBA academic coursework supplies rigorous strategic frameworks—such as VRIO or Bartlett & Ghoshal—and robust data storytelling tools like Tableau,” said Murli Iyer, class of 2027, associate director, Accenture.
“However, it’s the EMBA PSP component that provides the behavioral blueprint required to execute them effectively.”
Following the assessment, students meet one-on-one with Schoenfelder to review their results and discuss personalized development strategies.
Unlike traditional leadership assessments that typically end with a report, the Fox EMBA approach incorporates ongoing coaching conversations throughout the program.
A Personalized Leadership Roadmap
The PSP serves as the foundation for individualized leadership development throughout the EMBA experience.
The PSP assesses 22 performance-related attributes such as resiliency, persistence, empathy, social confidence, openness, flexibility, curiosity and drive for success.
Subsets of these performance-driving traits are algorithmically scored and interpreted to reflect the competencies driving success in today’s evolving economy.
Based on this information, students and Schoenfelder work together to identify development priorities and create individualized practical plans for growth. The primary goal is to build strengths and close development gaps in these high-yield areas to help them become more effective versions of themselves.
“The PSP provides a newfound self-awareness regarding decision-making. Recognizing a naturally decisive style brings an understanding of its inherent vulnerabilities—namely, the risk of making rushed decisions or overlooking alternatives in the pursuit of efficiency,” said Iyer.
“Leadership now involves a more conscious effort to pause, evaluate alternative options and consider the emotional or interpersonal impacts before acting.”
The power of self-awareness
Thomas Schoenfelder, CLA ’98, ’00, academic director, Executive MBA Program (Photo courtesy of Thomas Schoenfelder.)
As organizations increasingly seek leaders who can navigate change, inspire teams and build strong workplace cultures, the ability to understand and adapt one’s leadership style has never been more important.
Tom Schoenfelder leads EMBA students on a journey with a simple but powerful question: Who are you becoming as a leader?
“Our goal is to help students form a deeper understanding of themselves while also learning how to develop the people and teams they lead,” said Schoenfelder.
Through leadership assessment, executive coaching, intentional team design and a growing mentoring network of accomplished alumni, the Fox EMBA provides a highly personalized approach to leadership development.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to create leaders who develop leaders,” he continued. “If students leave the program with greater self-awareness, stronger relationships and a better understanding of how to help others succeed, then we have accomplished something that extends beyond the classroom.”
For many EMBA graduates, it is that self-awareness which becomes one of the most enduring outcomes of the program.
This intentional design helps prepare students for the realities of executive leadership where success often depends on the ability to build relationships and navigate complex workplace synergy.
Learning Through Team Dynamics
The benefits of the PSP extend beyond individual development. Assessment results also help shape the team experience within the EMBA cohort.
Using insights from the PSP Team Roles & Work Styles Report, Schoenfelder intentionally creates teams that bring together diverse perspectives, communication styles and approaches to decision-making. Students gain insight into how they contribute to a team and how their work styles influence others and how to leverage differences as strengths rather than letting them slip into sources of friction.
“Team dynamics are now approached with a deliberate focus on balancing different cognitive and work styles,” said Iyer.
“The priority is on active listening, data-driven discussions and concentrating our efforts on desired outcomes. We have also learned how to delegate tasks more strategically, not just as a tool for operational efficiency, but as a method to empower team members and foster their leadership potential.”