I am delighted reading the feedback from one prominent reader, AIM alumnus Zakaria Mohd. Nor (Pak Zak) on my story entitled “School of Executive Education and Lifelong Learning (SEELL) aligns executive programs with priorities of organizations” published by newswav.com dated Saturday, 17 October 2026. I quote “The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) SEELL provide continuous professional development Postgraduate Diploma programs that helps leaders and managers adapt industry shifts, AI advances, and changing market demands. Key trends and why it matters such rapid skill obsolescence, making continuous upskilling essential rather than optional, flexible modalities, offering hybrid live-online, self-paced, and on-demand formats to fit the demanding work schedules, etc. There is the difference between lifelong learning and lifelong education primarily in its scope, agency, and institutional role, that some managers often use them interchangeably.”
I agreed with Pak Zak, there is a very different approach to management education, which encourages practicing managers must learn from their own experience. No one can create a manager in a classroom. But existing managers can significantly improve their practice in a thoughtful classroom that makes use of that experience. Some of the conventional MBA programs are mostly for young people with little or no experience. Programs to train them focus on analysis & technique, overemphasize the science of management while ignoring its art and denigrating the craft & ethical values.
I can still remember during my tenure with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) in the mid-1990s to early-2000s, management development reached its most elaborate state at MAS Academy. The emphasis then in management development as based on lifelong learning for employees at all levels, from general hands to senior executives and beyond, into the supplier/customer chain. My attention was placed on the development of job-related competencies and the instilling of a sense of the corporate culture & ethical values, linked to the strategic and operational needs of the airline business.
Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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