Robyn Bew, Principal
Places lived: South Africa, Belgium, United States (Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC)
Education: Georgetown University, MS (honors); University of Pennsylvania, BA (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa)
Experience: Senior director at Corporate Executive Board, a research firm serving C-level executives; consultant at Monitor Group, working with public- and private-sector clients in the United States, Europe, and South Africa; adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Foreign Service; facilitator at Action Design Institute seminars on interpersonal communication and business team dynamics
Focus: How education, leadership, and ideas are best combined
Intellectual influences: Various thought leaders in strategy, decision-making, and group dynamics
Turning points: Returning to Monitor after a six-month sabbatical. “I did some exploring of the 'road not taken' – which, for me, was art and art history. But I realized (to my surprise) that I really liked thinking about business and strategy problems, and I wasn’t done with that. I had the opportunity to be part of a team developing the next phase of Monitor University, the firm’s executive education group, and have been in the leadership development space one way or another ever since.”
There are two things her friends know about Robyn. First, she is adventurous. When Monitor needed people to move to its recently opened Johannesburg office, she jumped at the chance. When the Corporate Executive Board needed someone to orchestrate its biggest meeting in China, involving five global membership network programs, she took the lead. She is just as adventurous on weekends, when she and her husband can often be found on a sailboat, a ski slope, a bike trail, or at a newly-opened restaurant.
Second, Robyn is unable to resist exploring new ideas and opportunities to learn. “The South Africa opportunity was just too good to pass up. It was a country at an inflection point,” Robyn recalls. “President Mandela had been elected a couple years prior and there was tremendous enthusiasm to rebuild institutions, get companies more competitive, and rejoin the global economy. I wanted an opportunity to get involved in the firm’s cross-sector, country competitiveness work. It was also a great part of the world to get to learn more about. Aside from its history and beautiful landscapes, South Africa has an amazing contemporary art scene and great music.”
After two years in South Africa, Robyn returned to Monitor in Cambridge to work with several different business units of a large, global company that was at a major strategic crossroads. Her work at Monitor University followed. It was there that her focus on leadership development emerged. “The Monitor University experience was really a springboard – it led to teaching at Georgetown, my work at CEB, and now Tapestry – helping leaders get better at what they do.”
Based on her work over the last 10 years, Robyn has concluded that “The term 'executive education’ is, in many ways, unfortunate. It can convey an image of broadcast-mode training programs. For very senior leaders, the most important ingredient is co-discovery – integrating different perspectives to get to the best thinking – especially in complex environments where there’s not necessarily a single 'right answer.’ That’s the case for many of the challenges non-executive directors are facing as they interact with fellow board members, with management, investors, and regulators during a time of real sea change in corporate governance,” she says. “We share with our members and clients the aim of uncovering insights that are fresh and also practical; maybe even co-developing something entirely new.”
Robyn and her husband live in Washington, DC and Boston, MA.
Download Robyn Bew's Formal Biography
