Concordia student to be ‘CEO for a day’
Katerina Fragos is having a hard time containing her excitement. “I can’t wait!” she says.
As a winner of the executive search firm Odgers Berndtson’s CEO x 1 Day competition, Fragos will learn what the life of a senior executive is really like when she spends a day shadowing Manon Brouillette, the president and COO of Videotron.
The John Molson School of Business (JMSB) student is one of four Quebecers and seven Ontarians to make it through CEO x 1 Day’s rigorous selection process, which identified third- and fourth-year students with outstanding leadership potential and matched them with the CEO of a leading Canadian company.
Each applicant completed an online leadership assessment. They then received a personalized report from Hogan Assessments that took stock of their relationship-building, goal-setting and strategic-thinking skills.
“Even though the final round was a competition, the Odgers Berndston team treated it more like a training workshop,” says Fragos. “I knew that even if I wasn’t selected, I would leave with a new understanding of my strengths and weaknesses as a leader.”
The process was unlike anything she has ever experienced. “My favourite part was meeting so many well-rounded students from across Quebec and Ontario.”
And being among the CEO x 1 Day winners is a serious honour.
“A lot of us at JMSB take on roles to develop skills, experience and knowledge that will ultimately allow us to become better leaders,” Fragos says. “Being selected to shadow a CEO for a day gives me the hope that I might have what it takes to become a leader.”