Blog post

Refining business skills through the John Molson Executive MBA

Meet the Class series

July 22, 2020

By Chris Wise, Graduate Recruitment & Marketing Associate

Source: John Molson School of Business

Our Meet the Class series introduces you to aspiring and inspiring John Molson graduate degree candidates. This week we feature two current students in the John Molson Executive MBA program.

Executive MBA students are a special breed. They understand that sometimes, in order to accelerate a career in management that is already well underway, it can be a smart idea to go back to school. The John Molson Executive MBA aims to develop the ‘complete executive’: leaders committed to continuous learning for personal and professional development. Our EMBA candidates come from a variety of industries and motivations, working in close collaboration with their classmates to strengthen business skills and explore different approaches to business solutions.

Maxime Gravel wears many hats

Maxime brings an impressive depth and diversity of professional experience to the EMBA program, including over 17 years in the financial industry sector, 6 years in leadership roles and 5 years in entrepreneurial ventures. A voracious learner with a hunger for excellence, he lives by the Latin saying Nulla tenaci invia est via - For the tenacious, no road is impassable.

Tenacious, indeed! Maxime is many things.

His current role is as Senior Manager, Strategy and Projects at National Bank Direct Brokerage, the online trading platform of the National Bank of Canada, where he oversees projects to make the bank a strong contender in the competitive space of direct brokers.

He is also co-founder of Mr White, an e-commerce fashion brand, which has pivoted from a B2C focus to high-end B2B corporate gifting, all the while testing new markets and new products.

Maxime is also part owner of Xceed Software, a developer of UI and data manipulation components with clients all over the world, and he is also a consultant for marketing, process optimization and business strategy.

An avid runner, he recently achieved one of his personal goals – running the half-marathon – this past September.

On top of all this: Maxime is a John Molson Executive MBA candidate.

“I was looking to up my game in my career and realized that the EMBA would be a great way to gain the missing tools for me to take it to the next level. It will also complete my professional profile to be as competitive and ambitious as I am!”

Maxime believes in the importance of inspirational leadership. “It’s all about connecting with employees so they are really mobilized. Don’t just say it. Act it. Believe it. Stimulate it. Cultivate it. True leadership lives through empowerment, relatability, trust and genuine belief that your team has what it takes to bring your business to the next level. When the team feels this, they are inspired by the vision and are thrilled to take part in the challenge,” he explains. “To get the best out of your team, it’s important to be liked, but you must gain respect for your actions. Not all decisions will please everyone, but if they know the reasoning behind, they will understand even the unpopular decisions you sometimes have to take and respect them.”

Earning the EMBA will not only help Maxime advance his career at the National Bank, but also boost his contributions to the success of his side ventures. Watch this space to see what Maxime accomplishes next!

Cyntia Guralnik has rediscovered her passion for learning

After finishing a Bachelor in Business Administration in 2007, Cyntia joined RBC Royal Bank and rapidly rose to coaching and managerial positions. Bolstered by her subsequent IQPF Financial Planning designation, she has become a successful and committed Senior Financial Planner, elaborating financial planning strategies to RBC’s mass affluent clientele with a focus on retirement, investment, estate and tax planning, cash flow and net worth optimization, as well as debt and risk management.

In her current role, she also provides support and mentors colleagues to increase their sales and advice capabilities. As a result of her commitment to collaboration, her expertise in coaching, and work values that align with a high-performance culture that prioritizes for greatest impact, twice she earned RBC Convention, which is awarded annually to the top 1% of employees. It gave her the opportunity to network with executive hosts, attend inspiring business sessions and learn about upcoming innovations. Cyntia not only is self-driven, loves people, numbers and finance, but has a particular interest in emotional intelligence and its impact on talent management.

Cyntia chose to pursue the John Molson Executive MBA with the goal of further developing and challenging herself. “I am keen to discover what else is out there, learning new ideas and innovations in my field as well as in other industries. Things have changed so much since I earned my BBA”. The EMBA has allowed her to discover new interests in digital strategies, data analytics and prediction learning. As stated by Ghandi, she believes you should “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”.

Now more than ever, discussion and support in and around the topic of mental health have become a priority for many businesses and personal development has been a big motivator for Cyntia to pursue the EMBA.. “Having experienced a depression forced me to reassess my purpose in life and career and, although it was a tough experience, out of it, I’ve grown so much as I have built on my resilience and emotional intelligence. Feeling like I can help build stronger awareness around mental health is extremely important to me, which is why I joined the RBC Unique committee to participate and support community activities around diversity and inclusion. I also recently volunteered with Ami-Quebec, our local mental health association, to share my experience and provide support.”

Cyntia is appreciating the many advantages of the EMBA. One key advantage is the ability to work full-time while pursuing the program, but the best part is the opportunity to learn from her fellow classmates. “This may be cliché, but the EMBA class feel like a family to me. It’s a small class, so the connections we’ve built together are huge.”

Another advantage of the program is that students have the capacity to make important connections between classroom learning and what is happening in their organizations, with students applying their new knowledge right away in the workplace. This is particularly relevant now, given how COVID-has disrupted most industries, including banking.

“It has been very helpful to apply new learning and approaches during this time of changing practices so it’s a really perfect timing to be pursuing the EMBA. Especially with how quickly things are moving in the banking sector, there is fertile ground for experimenting and introducing new approaches.”

For more information on the John Molson Executive MBA, visit our website. Then connect with a recruiter to arrange a one-to-one meeting or participate in one of our many online information sessions.