As AI reshapes industries and professions, geopolitical tensions challenge long-held assumptions, and organizations face relentless pressure to reinvent themselves, the Executive MBA Class of September 2026 gathered in Lausanne to celebrate a remarkable milestone. While the challenges ahead were front of mind, the message from the stage was one of possibility: leadership is about creating hope, embracing change, and never losing the willingness to learn.
Presiding over her first EMBA graduation ceremony as Dean of Degree Programs, Alyson Meister, Hilti Professor of Leadership, urged graduates to recognize the vital role they play in helping others navigate uncertainty and shape the future.
When people face threat and fear, she said, their horizons can narrow. The task of leaders is not simply to manage performance, but to help people see possibilities beyond the immediate challenge.
While hope can sometimes be dismissed as soft, sentimental, or passive, Meister argued that it is, in reality, among the most demanding leadership practices. Hopeful leaders, she said, take on three responsibilities: they see reality clearly, they point to possibility, and they create agency.
“Hope, then, is active, not passive. A wishful thinker might believe: things will get better. A hopeful person believes: I can make this better — and here’s how I’ll do it,” she said.
“The very best leaders don’t just make you believe in them or their vision,” she added. “They make you believe in yourself and your ability to achieve it. Ultimately, that’s what you’re trying to create: a sense of collective agency,” she said.
Staying curious, especially when things are going well
A decade after graduating from IMD’s EMBA program himself, Johannes Kwizda, Member of the Management Board at Kwizda Holding, reflected on the leadership lessons he has learned through taking up Jiu-Jitsu.
The martial art, he explained, taught him the value of becoming a beginner again, admitting and learning from mistakes early, and closing the gap between knowing and doing. It also helped him develop the ability to make decisions in milliseconds while under pressure.
For Kwizda, the greatest danger for leaders is not adversity, but success.
“The most dangerous phase of any career is not the crisis. It is the phase when everything works,” he said. “Competence is comfortable, and comfort is quietly expensive — the world keeps moving while you enjoy the view.”
He suggested that by embarking on the EMBA, the class had already demonstrated the willingness to step outside their comfort zone and start again. Comprising physicians, founders, directors, and even a deputy mayor, the cohort of professionals from 21 different countries chose growth over certainty, a mindset he encouraged them to maintain throughout their careers.
“So sometime soon — not immediately — walk into a room where nobody knows your title and be the least capable person in that room at something that matters to you. Be open, be curious.”
Rooted in trust, rising together
Representing the graduating Ascenders class, EMBAssadors Merle Brunner and Willem Spijker reflected on a transformational year that had challenged classmates not only to think differently about leadership, but also to rethink who they wanted to become and be known for as leaders.
Brunner spoke about the importance of adaptability in a rapidly changing world.
“The world of work as we know it, is changing in front of our eyes. Our instinct can be to hold on more tightly to what we know. To the way we have always led. To the answers that have worked before and to the things that made us successful in the first place,” she said.
“But perhaps, one of the most important things we have learned this year is to have the courage to be more adaptable,” said Brunner, a senior business consultant.
Drawing on the class slogan, Rooted in trust, rising together, Spijker reflected on the responsibility leaders carry to turn knowledge into action and use new skills to create meaningful impact in their teams, organizations, and communities.
“In times like these, that responsibility matters more than ever,” said Spijker, Commercial Director at Multraship Towage & Salvage. “So, let’s use what we’ve learned. Let’s apply it with intention. And let’s create something positive in the world around us.”
Spijker ended his speech on a suitably uplifting note when his classmates rose to their feet to dance along to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. Equipped with new perspectives, stronger networks, and a renewed belief in their ability to shape the future, the EMBA Class of September 2026 are leaving Lausanne ready for whatever comes next.
