Few Wharton professors can be found running drills with the Marine Corps or trekking in the Himalayas.
But Management Professor Mike Useem defies the stereotype of a typical business professor, and has actually been found in both of those places in the space of a month.
For the past two weeks, Useem and a group of Wharton MBA students trekked to the Mount Everest region to learn about leadership in real world situations.
After flying from Philadelphia to Katmandu, Nepal, the group flew to Lukla, a narrow landing strip in the Nepalese mountains, 9,000 feet above sea level.
For two weeks, the group trekked up and down the Himalayas, eventually climbing to 1',23' foot tall Chukkung Ri, directly across from Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain.
Few might guess that Useem, director of Wharton's Center For Leadership and Change Management, would be involved in such physically demanding activities by looking at his relatively lanky frame and his big round glasses.
However, Useem has participated in numerous climbing expeditions, having tackled peaks on several continents.
"The concepts of leadership aren't all that terribly complicated," Useem said. "What's very hard is for people to actually translate the concepts to what they do."
Useem's center works to build a practical understanding of leadership and change through many initiatives, such as the Wharton Leadership Ventures, which brings students to places where leadership is important and decisions have to be made.
Earlier this semester, Useem led a group of MBA students to Quantico, Va., to visit the Marine Corps. Through physical action and teamwork, students learned about leadership by facing stressful situations and having to make split-second decisions.
Useem and a group of students also recently climbed a peak in Ecuador, which involved significantly more mountaineering than the trip to Nepal did.
"Ecuador is serious mountaineering, where the challenge physically is considerably greater and the risks are higher," Useem said.
Because of the intensity involved, students learn more while climbing in Ecuador than they did in class.
"Someone said that it was a life-changer for them in that it made them appreciate the importance of teamwork and team leadership," Useem said.
"On a mountain with a rope, you've got to have it right," he said.
In addition, Useem regularly brings in high-profile speakers, including Marine generals and World Bank executives, to talk with his MBA students. He has also traveled and worked in over two dozen countries across the globe.
It might be surprising to find one of the established experts in leadership research spending so much time outdoors, since academia is viewed by some as living only in the classroom and the library.
However, Useem is a strong proponent of learning by doing and having academics work with that outside world.
"There is insufficient engagement of academic faculty in the world outside academia," Useem said. "We all need to be plugged in and engaged and participating in institutions on the outside."
Useem's book, The Leadership Moment, is a collection of nine true stories based on interviews that elucidates lessons of leadership.
Useem's colleagues unilaterally praise his use of outside resources to teach lessons.
"While some faculty use cases and articles, Mike Useem is extremely creative in bringing in settings to use hands on experience," Management Department Chairman Harbir Singh said.
"He's managed to pick the most compelling initiatives to push physical limits to learn the lessons of leadership," Singh said.
Ironically, though, the creative faculty member actually jumped into the social sciences and business at a relatively late stage.
Useem, who majored in physics in college, switched to management midway while he was attending Harvard University's physics Ph.D program.
Useem, while a teacher, said he also learns continuously from his students. Each time he conducts a program, he learns about leadership as well, because each person has a different approach.
"The more diverse the topic or the people in the room, the better off from my standpoint," he said.
