Redefining Success

steve riccio sits on stone steps

Photo by Dan Loh.

Exploring the Intersection of Liberal Arts and Business in a Stakeholder-Centric World

by Tony Moore

Dickinson's Burgess Institute for the Global Economy was recently established through a gift from Mark Burgess ’81, and Senior Lecturer in International Business & Management Steve Riccio is its newly minted executive director. It's now his job to help the institute build on Dickinson’s 240-year-old liberal-arts foundation and offer business and leadership preparation for our students. And he relishes the mission. Here's how he sees the path forward and the possibilities that await. 

Imagine it's 2030. What headline about the Burgess Institute would make you feel it's been a resounding success?

It is funny that you ask this question, as this is how I finish when I talk about Burgess with our different stakeholders.

I would imagine more of a culture shift than a headline, in which experiential learning throughout the four-year experience is expected by students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff. In which an ecosystem has been created where parents and alumni not only identify internship and job opportunities for our students but also real-world projects that can benefit our students while assisting organizations and communities. There is also flexibility in our academic calendar to allow for more opportunities for our students to network with parents and alumni, and take part in student conferences along with local, regional, national and international opportunities.

What's the most unexpected connection between liberal arts and business that the Burgess Institute aims to explore?

I’ve spent several years providing executive coaching from leaders at all levels and across all industries. What I notice over and over again is the extensive amount of time leaders spend on urgent and important matters. They are reactive vs. proactive. I want our students to be able to examine, appreciate and adopt a strategic, global perspective. In other words, when they are faced with a difficult decision or an exciting opportunity, they see the big picture and who might be involved and affected.

What business principle do you think would surprise most liberal-arts students, and how does the Burgess Institute plan to explore it?

Many students look at businesses from a pure capitalistic perspective with the goal of making as much money as you can (ethically) for you, your company and your shareholders. I want to shift our students’ paradigm using the term stakeholder capitalism. Simply stated, the most important stakeholder is not the shareholder, or the customer, or the employee, or even the community. Each is important for the success of all. As Professor Ed Freeman from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business states, “If you have a purpose, profits will follow.”

The concept of stakeholder capitalism will be a foundational element to our affiliated courses, events and programming. Connecting to the previous questions, our students need to think strategically and understand how their actions can have an impact on the local and global economies.

If you could have any historical figure as a guest lecturer at the Burgess Institute, who would it be and what topic would he or she discuss?

There are so many individuals to choose from, but I would say the late Dr. Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I would love for our students to hear him talk about proactive thinking and the importance of focusing only on the things that we can control in our lives, not what we can’t. This would include the value of forward thinking and sharing with our students that great leaders are empowered to believe they can initiate and respond to any situation as they choose.

What's the most unconventional skill or knowledge area that students might gain through the Burgess Institute?

I hope you don’t mind if I select two. Like an organization, we all need our individual mission statement. Who are you? What do you do? Why do you do it? Who do you serve? When I give talks on this topic, I tell audiences that it took me over 40 years to discover my purpose. I recently had a great conversation with John Frisch ’80, a Dickinson trustee and executive coach. He said his vision is to have every Dickinson student know their purpose and identify their values before graduation. I share in his vision.

The second is the ability to say “no.” This is near and dear to my heart, because I struggle with this to this day. Saying no can be difficult for students as they intern and get their first job. But that doesn’t mean you automatically say yes. You need to advocate for yourself, and even the organization, and work with your supervisor to identify solutions that works for everyone.

TAKE THE NEXT STEPS

Published October 11, 2024