Charlie Atkinson - President, North America of Human Factors International who provide strategic executive coaching worldwide - delivered a very engaging and dynamic workshop to the students, who were spending a week in the capital at Lancaster University’s London think-tank, the Work Foundation.

Throughout the week the cohort benefitted from key speakers including Lancaster MBA Programme Director, Dr Peter Lenney as part of the Mindful Manager module, which underpins the entire 12-month full-time MBA programme.

Mr Atkinson told the group that he defines critical thinking as the ultimate transferable skill and the foundation for many important leadership skills such as decision making, problem solving, strategic thinking and innovation.

One of those present for the talk was current MBA student Eric Afriyie from Ghana, whose background is in the oil and gas industry.

He said: “The critical thinking for business workshop really made me re-evaluate my strategic thinking and working with Charlie Atkinson has massively benefitted my approach for the future.”

Speaking after the workshop, Charlie Atkinson said: “After five years of working with Dr Lenney and the MBA team at LUMS, I still get excited working with the students to build their critical thinking capabilities.

“This year’s MBA cohort was so engaged and eager that it was a pure delight to spend two days with them at Lancaster’s new London hub. This and the other components of the Mindful Manager really set the Lancaster MBA apart and it doesn’t surprise me in the least that Lancaster continues to climb the world rankings.”

During the last two days of their week in London, the students worked closely with the dedicated MBA Careers Team who organised key networking events, prestigious company visits and personal one-to-one career advancement clinics.

Current MBA student Catherine Isaza from Columbia, who has previously worked in the banking sector, said: “The time we spent with the MBA careers team in London was invaluable for helping us to showcase our skills and experience.”