Thursday, May 24, 2012
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BATTLE CREEK — Mike Bivens, retiring from the Kellogg Company in April, has spent the past semester as an adjunct instructor teaching the Leadership Principles course for Miller College. Mr. Bivens focuses on the differences between managing and leading and also understanding of why an effective leader needs the skills, abilities, and knowledge to do both, well. The course work covers work done by retired Harvard Business Professor, John Kotter, and his extensive research with leaders from different sectors across the world.
Bivens recently retired from the Kellogg Company after more than 31 years of service. In his current position, Mike was accountable for the development of leaders throughout the company. He led the effort to establish the development of the W.K. Kellogg Leadership Academy, which is focused on the accelerated development of the Top 150 Executive Leaders at the Kellogg Company globally.
Throughout his career with Kellogg, Mike held a variety of leadership roles in Sales, Marketing, and Human Resources. Miller College is very fortunate to have such an experienced and talented instructor teaching for the College. Mr. Dave Fisher, Dean of the Miller College School of Business, commented, "Mike provides our students a unique opportunity to learn from a true expert in leadership. He trained the leaders of a major corporation like Kellogg on leadership skills. That perspective and the research he continues to pursue in the field gives our students an insight into the study of leadership that parallels major universities."
As Mr. Bivens embarks on his next career as Executive Leadership coach working with business leaders and leadership teams to help them to develop as leaders and improve overall performance, he is excited about the vision of Miller College and sees the Leadership Principles course as a good fit. Mike commented, "It has been an enlightening experience for me. I have tried to provide the students with an understanding of the differences between managing and leading, how to lead change effectively, and the importance of developing high performing teams.
We've worked hard to apply these skills, abilities, and knowledge to real life situations they are experiencing in hopes of helping them create their template for how they will lead others. We have had great interaction, discussion, and some fun throughout the course. I hope the students have enjoyed it and learned as much from me as I have from them."
