CCL Boundary Spanning Experts Practice What They Preach

February 2012 - Greensboro, NC - A little more than a year after McGraw-Hill released their groundbreaking book Boundary Spanning Leadership: Six Practices for Solving Problems, Driving Innovation and Transforming Organizations, co-authors Chris Ernst and Donna Chrobot-Mason are spanning boundaries in their own careers.

Ernst, a longtime senior faculty member and researcher at the Center for Creative Leadership, will join Juniper Networks in Silicon Valley on a new assignment as Organizational Effectiveness Thought Leader. Juniper, one of the world's largest providers of networking technology, is pursuing a vision to "Connect Everything, Empower Everyone." This requires not only practicing disruptive innovation in technology but also developing new organizational leadership models. Ernst will advise Juniper's executive team and human resources group on spanning boundaries throughout the company, while also conducting next generation research. He will remain a senior adjunct faculty member at CCL.

"Given the "interdependent" nature of our business model, deepening our boundary spanning leadership capabilities is mission-critical to our continued success," said Steven Rice, executive vice president of human resources at Juniper Networks. "We are thrilled to have Chris join Juniper Networks as a "thought-leader in residence," enabling our most senior leadership team to apply his breakthrough work to help us achieve our business strategy."

Chrobot-Mason, associate professor of psychology and director of the Center for Organizational Leadership at the University of Cincinnati, will spend a six-month sabbatical writing academic articles and working with CCL faculty on a variety of projects that focus on boundary spanning leadership. Beginning this month, Chrobot-Mason will be analyzing data from hundreds of CCL program participants to explore the relationship between boundary spanning skills and organizational outcomes. She will also be working closely with CCL faculty to design and administer a survey to evaluate organizational change as a result of participating in a network analysis and boundary spanning workshop.

"Donna is a savvy scholar and leader who has been a superb collaborator in pioneering the practice of boundary spanning leadership," CCL President and CEO John R. Ryan said. "We're delighted to work even more closely with her in the months ahead on projects that we believe will truly help clients drive organizational change."

About the Center for Creative Leadership
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL^®) is a top-ranked, global provider of executive education that accelerates strategy and business results by unlocking the leadership potential of individuals and organizations. Founded in 1970, CCL offers an array of research-based programs, products and services for individual leaders, teams and organizations. Ranked among the world's Top 10 providers of executive education by Bloomberg BusinessWeek and the Financial Times, CCL is headquartered in Greensboro, NC, with offices in Colorado Springs, CO; San Diego, CA; Brussels, Belgium; Moscow, Russia; Singapore; New Delhi - NCR, India; Shanghai, China; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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