The Impact of Executive Education: How Brian Applies His Teaching Experience to Real-World Business Strategy
What continues to set good business executives apart from great ones? For most, it's translating abstract concepts into clear, actionable steps. That's exactly what Brian Bourquard accomplishes. Holding a PhD in Applied Economics from Purdue University and an MS in Management from France's elite Grenoble Ecole de Management, Brian not only comprehends executive education. He's experienced it, taught it, and now applies it to spearheading transformative strategies in high-stakes business situations.
From Classroom to Boardroom: Why Teaching Matters More than Ever
Admit it.
Teaching academics is light years beyond boardroom chatter. But for Brian, it’s
exactly the reverse. While teaching MBA and executive education courses at
Purdue University, Brian learned to value clarity, form, and impact. His
students were not academic learners. They were working professionals looking
for information they could act upon immediately.
Molding an
expertise that not many leaders are good enough to master, namely 'getting
strategy to make sense', Brian honed this skill through converting research
from academia into practical examples.
This talent
accompanied him through subsequent roles—through EY-Parthenon to Verdant
Robotics, and most recently, to running operations and finance for a top
Californian technology and manufacturing company.
Executive Education = Everyday Strategy
Executive
education isn’t about theory for theory’s sake. It’s about giving
decision-makers tools they can use now. And that’s exactly how Brian
Bourquard runs his teams and operations.
At Verdant
Robotics, for instance, Brian took the company through a period of big growth,
through a $30 million Series A funding. What made all the difference? He
introduced a teaching mindset: pose better questions, divide large problems
into smaller ones, and align strategy and individuals.
His academic
mindset not only raised capital, but it also formed the way in which the
company became market-ready. Every strategy had a built-in “how-to,” like the
way he once instructed in class.
Global Mindset, Local Action
Brian's
international education, most notably time spent at Grenoble Ecole de
Management, offered something executives often lack: a global perspective.
Whether he’s dealing with Fortune 500 organizations or working for start-ups,
he grasps local specifics within bigger patterns. That’s invaluable in taking
products across borders or translating innovation to new marketplaces.
Indeed, in one of
his thought leadership articles, “Navigating Global Markets: Insights fromBrian Bourquard on Taking Innovation to International Consumers”, Brian
lays out the way businesses can be global in thought and local in action. It’s
this mix of big picture insight and ground-level expertise that distinguishes
his approach.
Still Curious. Still Teaching. Always Leading.
These days, Brian
no longer teaches in front of a whiteboard. But he's teaching—just in a
different way. Whether he's coaching young professionals, leading
cross-functional teams, or making large-scale operations decisions, he's using
the same values he learned in class: stay curious, be accurate, and build
confidence in others.
The truth is,
executive education wasn’t just a chapter in Brian’s story. It’s the foundation
of how he leads. And it continues to shape how he helps companies grow, teams
thrive, and ideas become action.
Final Thought
At the heart of
Brian’s career is a simple belief: better thinking leads to better doing. And
whether you're a founder, a CFO, or just someone trying to build something that
lasts, that’s a lesson worth learning.
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