Alicia's content is my jam, so choosing Not An MBA was easy. I was after some new tricks, a bit of self reflection, and possibly a cohort group to extend beyond the eight weeks. 

The learning sprints gave me weekly in-depth focus, the chance to learn from others, and Alicia's expertly distilled advice - and having it all in one place on the platform made it easy to keep up. It's made me realise I need more space to be a leader, and given me the confidence to start making that space proactively. 

It's still percolating - I'm a lot more conscious of some things, like closing the gap, but still very much a work in progress. 

The best thing about Not An MBA is the awesome group of enthusiastic people, all aligned with Alicia's 'no bullshit' style, working towards a common goal of being better leaders. Chaos still, but there's light in there now. Shit is starting to happen.

This course has been incredibly valuable to me - a highly practical, applied learning course that can have an immediate impact on your everyday working and personal life. It has been amazing to be part of the naMBA journey and learn alongside the inspiring Alicia and our group of diverse sector leaders. I am currently applying for a new role that I feel will help me continue to develop and learn. I feel energised and hopeful for the future.

A strong recommendation from a previous student is what convinced me to do Not An MBA - that, and having done an earlier mini-learning course and really enjoyed Alicia's newsletters and straight-up way of communicating. 

I was after building my self-confidence and awareness, learning new frameworks and tools, connecting with others outside my immediate organisation, and listening to others. 

The course platform had a huge amount of information and the ability to comment and interact with other participants. 

It has given me a system-view of leadership and practical tools I can apply to professional and personal life, built my confidence, and made me get clear on my priorities and how I want to show up and be present with others. 

I've been focused on being an agent of how rather than getting too caught up in the 'what', and looking at the system aspects that may turn up with a human face. I've been able to apply the learnings in how I interact at different levels of the organisation, and I'm present and asking better questions. 

The best thing about Not An MBA is the people. 

It was Alicia's videos on strategy 101 on LinkedIn - practical, immediately relevant, and backed up with credentials - that convinced me to do Not An MBA, along with how often she honestly calls out the issues and barriers within the public service without making it about blaming and shaming. 

I loved the dedicated time to connect with others sharing my experience - this was a huge part of the value for me, and seeing others with the same ideological and structural issues, still fighting to provide value and expertise, was hugely impactful. 

The course platform was really easy to navigate and use, with good functionality and different formats for learning. 

Not An MBA has allowed me to reframe my own experience and show up better for my team, ready to serve. It has allowed me to quieten my critical voice a bit, and strengthen my wise voice, and generally just be less of a nuisance to myself. I've come back with a better attitude, and I'm so grateful. 

I've shared my learnings with my team, and they were amazed at the differences between the private and public sectors. I constantly remind myself that I'm not asking annoying questions everywhere I go. I'm an Agent of How - which allows me to offer insight in a more generous way, without secretly blaming people. 

Alicia is one of the best facilitators I've come across in my 20+ year career - not just because she's so well-informed, but because she has an incredible skill at taking complex info and distilling it into the language that leaders actually need it in. It is very rare to find someone as engaging, personable and knowledgeable as Alicia.

There's a lot of bang for buck, and the stimulation of the cohort with you leading it. Alicia's stuff resonates with me and is easy to understand and remember for putting into practice. 

The sprints were energising and thought provoking, with the interaction of a cohort, and I didn't need to miss any work as I could do it before work from Perth. I'm thinking more about what the audience needs - the circle of influence - so in 1:1s with my manager I'm being more succinct and not overexplaining. With a team I am delivery lead of, I'm really letting go of the detail and trusting them to deliver, which they are. 

The course has helped me to refocus, helped me give myself permission to rest and recharge, and given me some new frameworks to apply. I took a week's annual leave at short notice! I loved the group, enjoyed the breakouts, and appreciated the constructive and supportive environment you created. The sprints were succinct, practical, easy to pick up. I appreciated the scope of the course and its practicality, and I am always grateful for online options to learn - so much more time efficient.

I chose Not An MBA for the length and time commitment, and the practical application of learnings incorporated in work. I liked the break out groups - good supportive people and good size groups. It has given me more clarity, identified some gaps in my behaviour, and given me more confidence in my leadership ability. I'm blaming the system, not the person. I'm not picking up others' work, as it doesn't allow others to grow. I'm aware of how I show up, and I've re-established some boundaries. The best thing about Not An MBA is the little nuggets of gold that will stick around in my mind for years to come. Really enjoyed the course.

I was after a cohort of smart leaders, an understanding of business context, and Alicia’s knowledge on public service. The sprints were excellent for creating a regular rhythm to be thinking about our learning, as well as providing direct engagement opportunities to share ideas. 

The naMBA experience has given me new knowledge and frameworks to use that are different to what I had learned in the military. The navel gazing aspects invited me to look at myself and how I lead. 

The circle of influence was also quite eye opening. I'm really thinking about the language that I use every day at home and at my part time work place to cultivate how I wish to be seen as a leader - my new work mates have reflected this back at me already. 

The best thing about Not An MBA is the container designed and set up by Alicia to be authentic in our learning and engagement throughout. This has been an awesome learning experience. I thank Alicia for the energy and knowledge she brought to the course. It is truly inspiring to watch her in action as a teacher and writer.

I chose Not An MBA for the authenticity and realness. I was after clarity in my thinking around strategy and some tools to help the process, and to extend myself into learning about leadership in an organisational context. 

I loved the perspective - a systems approach. The clarity from the online videos - cutting through to the underlying issues. I liked processing the concepts in breakout rooms with just a few people, and getting to know people's challenges and how they are approaching them. 

Now, I feel more confident in my decision making, less stressed about making a mistake, I'm asking for constructive criticism of my work, and delegating more. Quite a lot really. My line manager said he can see a change in the way I interact in meetings - asking questions. 

The best thing about Not An MBA is you and the participants - there was a lot of trust within the group, it made for real conversations. Alicia, thank you so much for putting your heart into this program. Everything from the music, to the pictures for each sprint, the presentations, humour and professional approach to this program was outstanding. I've learnt so much personally and professionally.

I chose Not An MBA for Alicia - the smart thinking and practicality. I was after a kick up the bum and a new perspective on work. The sprints were targeted, with very clear intent and content.

The best thing about Not An MBA is the safe and energising space for the participants - it is significant and is what makes the difference. I feel a bit more ready to say No, and to say Yes with intent, and to contemplate a few more challenges.

Not An MBA was something I'd had my eye on doing for several years. I wanted a better understanding of what strategy actually was and how to implement it, having been in different organisations who talked about “strategy” except there was no actual strategy. I was also keen to learn how to improve my leadership skills. 

There was a good combination of learning material and discussion, and each week was different. It has given me more insight into leadership, what is needed, how to be more effective, and how leadership changes with level of seniority. 

I'm now working out what is wrong with a system and trying interventions, accepting that although most problems are due to the system and not personal, people act with positive intent. The best thing was meeting some great and inspirational people from diverse backgrounds, Alicia, and expanding our thinking.

I was after some practical examples of how to improve things to get out of a professional funk. I chose Not An MBA for the real talk and the deep expertise that Alicia demonstrated in her posts and writing. 

The sprints were concise and there were significant takeaways each week. Mid course it gave me the tools and courage to have an open conversation and reset an important relationship, which has improved significantly since I did this. That great lesson about the system versus the person reset all of this stuff for me. 

In terms of how I have benefited from it in the short term, I would call it life changing. I've also stepped back and realised that I am not responsible for solving every issue I see at the business - it is enough to raise them and then let others make the call on the outcomes. 

I can't say enough about Alicia as a facilitator and just an all around good egg. It is great having these complex concepts delivered in such a clear way with a lot of humour and deep knowledge of the subject matter. Pretty inspiring from my point of view. It was choice, kia ora!

I wanted to think more strategically and learn more about systems thinking and chose Not An MBA for Alicia McKay's style, thoughts, models, and the content of the course. 

The learning sprints were interactive, putting into practice what we'd learnt and sharing with other super smart humans - Alicia is the best facilitator. 

Systems thinking has me asking more questions rather than trying to solve immediately, prioritising better, supporting our strategy better and trying to incorporate more 'how'. 

I challenged the leadership team on our strategic theme of Collective Whānau after one of our learning sprints, and I've looked at our strategy and helped the leadership team reprioritise our projects. 

I'm really appreciative of the opportunity and thank you for the best learning and development I've done on leadership ever!