Alumni Profile: Kim Holland, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management MBA

Kim Holland is currently the Vice President of State Affairs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, a federation of 36 separate United States health insurance organizations and companies that provides health insurance to more than 106 million Americans. Holland represents Blue Cross Blue Shield Plan in the development of federal and state legislative, as well as regulatory positions and issues. Holland has spearheaded key issues like state flexibility for exchanges and appropriate accounting treatment of the health insurance tax.Holland is also a recent graduate of the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management (LFGSM) MBA program. After graduating from the program, she sat down with LFGSM to share some advice for prospective students. You’ll find a few excerpts from that interview below and can read the full interview here.

Holland told LFGSM that she believes true leadership comes from valuable shared experiences with those of different backgrounds and that classrooms are a perfect place to share those experiences, saying,

“Leaders are not isolated. One thing education empowers you to do is meet other people and understand how they view the world and how that contributes to your view of the world. Academic learning is a very critical piece to that.”

While earning an MBA helped Holland learn about key elements of business she hadn’t fully appreciated before, she says that what she’s learned about leadership is most important.

“The most important thing is that leading is about setting a good example. It’s living those convictions that demonstrate to people that you care about them. That means engaging with people… and learning through others in the classroom with different perspectives.”

regions: Chicago

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