IMD’s mission is to develop leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society. To fulfill this aim, we have developed a series of assessment tools over the last three years and used them to design optimal development and educational pathways for executives across the world.
To build on the initial success of these efforts, we are placing them in our Strategic Talent Development initiative and appointing Tania Lennon as its Executive Director responsible for research and development, marketing, and sales and operations activities, with a responsibility of scaling it up to amplify the impact of executive development.
Tania Lennon has over 20 years of international experience as a consultant and a practitioner in assessments of senior executives at ZS and Korn Ferry, and translating them into concrete development plans so that the executives can reach their full potential and drive organizational performance at scale. She has been widely recognized for her ingenuity in creating assessment and development strategies around utility, learning transfer, and productivity.
“IMD combines a commitment to innovation with a rigorous research-based approach to the practice of leadership assessment and personalized learning. So, as an organizational psychologist, it’s the perfect place to drive advancements in science and at the same time deliver Real Learning and Real Impact.” Lennon said.
Lennon joins a team led by Professors Misiek Piskorski and Ric Roi who are the academic leads for this initiative. “Tania brings a wealth of experience in building and deploying different types of assessments and using them to create individualized development journeys to help leaders progress to the next level,” said Professor Piskorski.
He added: “In addition, she has previously incubated a similar initiative and built organizational structures needed to scale it. Her experience and work ethic will bring Strategic Talent Development to the next level, and will also accelerate IMD-wide efforts related to impact assessment, and development of new educational platforms, led by others.”
Stephanie Comenge, who used to represent IMD in the German market, has joined Lennon as Director of Strategic Talent Development Europe to work with the Client Market Development team to accelerate the deployment of Strategic Talent Development in the region. “I am delighted to work with a fantastic team who have already done amazing things. We’re really excited about where we can take it next,” Lennon said.
Tania holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in economics and psychology from the University of Queensland and an MSc in organizational psychology from the University of London. She is in the final year of a professional doctorate in organizational psychology from Birkbeck College in London. Her research is focused on game-based assessments and how they can be used to provide robust and valid insights for leaders and increase the impact of learning. She is a guest lecturer at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and has held roles as Associate Fellow on the Masters in Organizational Behaviour at Birkbeck College and co-designer of the Diploma in Healthcare Leadership at the Open University in the UK.
