How a passion for people led to a Global Executive MBA degree

Richard Telleria enjoyed a formative and rewarding experience as the founder of global company, TEAL Consulting. He was at an impasse mid-career when he discovered the University of Sydney’s Global Executive Master of Business Administration.

“Sometimes life gives you signals and things happen for a reason,” he explains. “I started to explore executive education options around the world to fill a gap I had identified around growth, whilst also learning about business maturity."

"I discovered the Global Executive MBA and I thought this is actually what I want - I wanted to be on-site in locations around the world, not just in the classroom or online.”

Leadership ambitions from childhood

With his entrepreneurial background, Richard’s ambitious personality has its roots in spending time with his mother, and watching his father in his home country, Spain. His father’s work ethic has carried Richard throughout much of his life.

“I come from a very close village-based family. My father was a carpenter and he had his own business from around the age of 15. He did that for 55 years of his career.” Richard says. “I was interested in how my dad was bringing bread to the table so I spent four or five summers working as a carpenter with my father. This brought us closer and gave me some of my personal values that I have personally and professionally”

It was this ethos that shaped his career into what it is today, where his passion for people came together with his passion to build business through transformation.

“My passion for people comes from my mum and I believe the most important thing in a workplace is the people.” Richard explains. “Choosing a career in consulting has come from my love of people combined with a strong business-led mindset.”

A global experience

For Richard, there were innumerable benefits to the program – from the people, his cohort, the Program Director, Professor Clinton Free, to the experiences in each new country.

Travelling to India in particular made a deep impression on Richard, where they were tasked with finding a solution to a teacher shortage for many schools.

“It was incredible because we were visiting schools and companies and we really understood the problem,” he says. “We could see that sometimes they were 120 students and only one teacher. We were told that in other schools in rural areas there can be thousand of students per teacher.”

Unforgettable international connections

It wasn't only the unique international experiences that made the decision to study at Sydney easy; it was the diverse mix of his cohort that made the experience worthwhile too.

"My cohort had a mix of people in their thirties and forties, some of them in the fifties. There were several consultants, people in retail, in healthcare, people in startups as well." Richard remembers. "Some people close to joining a big corporation, others close to retirement, and others trailblazing."

The unique experience of the Global Executive MBA has created lifelong connections, both professional and personal. "This kind of experience is irreplaceable," says Richard.

“When travelling, we wanted to make the most of our time in each one of the cities that we were visiting. It’s great to also learn with the cohort and maint relationships,” he says. “The cohort still meets whenever we can which is really cool.”

His advice to those who are thinking of pursuing a Global Executive MBA at Sydney?

Explore the Global Executive MBA program to see what you can achieve.