Some years ago, in a Brussels' museum, one could read on a wall the enlarged excerpt of a letter that Rik Wouters [1], a renowned Belgian sculptor and impressionist painter, had written in 1914 to one of his close friends. One paragraph caught my particular attention:

"Art transmits itself by influence. The art of a man that touches you nearly always opens a door that you had unconsciously closed by yourself  (...)  But it is then not so much a matter of influence, rather that of an awakening of dormant or new feelings. Nowadays this is highly indispensable for the continuation of art."   

In our current times one would be tempted to transform the last sentence into: "Nowadays this is highly indispensable for the continuation of leadership". In our 21st century numerous communities and organisations, whether large, small, public, or private ones, and around the globe, are, and perhaps more than ever before, in the awaiting of or in search of experienced, effective leaders. Moreover, the complex intertwining of diverse challenges that will affect our century, our world at large, will be of such a scale that it is likely to be beyond comparison with the ones our ancestor societies and civilisations had experienced in their own times. 

Our Europe-based institution offers its truly international and interdisciplinary postgraduate PALS + PhD  leadership curriculum program as a firm response to the search for experienced leader-educators and advisors, and prepares talented individuals to these crucial roles in our society: locally, regionally, and inter-continentally.

On the PhD degree: about leadership, knowledge, and wisdom

The term and qualification of doctor of philosophy, "Philosophiae Doctor", entails the love-of-knowledge, or the virtually ceaseless search for wisdom. In the Latin language the word doctor means teacher, a learning facilitator. By completing the PALS postgraduate diploma curriculum - a most important and valuable knowledge base - and subsequently undertaking the research and thesis towards the Ph.D. degree in leadership, our graduates accomplish a truly major step in becoming knowledgeable learning facilitators in the wise art of effective leadership and in the mastery of change.

To lead and to educate wisely... let one not focus on the search for the exact boundaries or precise depth of wisdom. As Maurice Maeterlinck [2] stated: "But what may be this wisdom that we rate thus highly? Let us not seek to define it too closely; that were but to enchain it".

The full awakening of leader-talents, their development, and the search for wisdom, are cornerstones of our continuity-embracing curriculum. The developmental aims, as well as the paths leading to success, are nevertheless strewn with obstacles, steppingstones, barriers, and springboards. With these goals and realities in mind our school hopes that our postgraduate programme's participants (a term preferred over student) be prepared as best as possible in order to achieve their heightened professional goals. Our participants and faculty therefore undertake a type of  journey, supported by mutual commitment, and articulated with the vortex programme, as well as with the school's educational approach.

Postgraduate Twin Curriculum, and Single Track

The postgraduate doctoral-level programme focuses mainly on educational and consultative dimensions in leadership development, and organisational change, found in a variety of sectors, societal domains, and professions. The Thierry Graduate School of Leadership's unique Twin Curriculum ('dual track') leads to a Postgraduate diploma in Advanced Leadership Studies (PALS, or PGD), and subsequently to a PhD degree in Leadership and Mastery of Change. The twinning concept is rooted in the reality that prior to a successful completion of doctoral research and thesis, a very comprehensive knowledge will need to have been acquired and mastered. Moreover, since the field of leadership studies has grown  substantially in the past decades, the knowledge and practice requirements have gained an equal measure of importance. 

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Notes. [1] Rik Wouters (1882 - 1916). Text translated from French (Letter to Abel Gerbaud, Archives et Musée de la Littérature, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique).  

[2] Count Maurice Maeterlinck (1862 - 1949), Belgian author, 1911 Nobel Prize in Literature. Excerpt from "Wisdom and Destiny".

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