????本周，20多位可口可樂公司高管重新回到他們闊別6周的辦公室。

????從4月初開始，這些很有前途的高級管理人員就一直在忙著跟總部的最高管理層打交道，乘坐可樂配送貨車走遍佛羅里達，并考察該公司在美國、墨西哥和印度尼西亞等地的內(nèi)部運營情況，還拜訪了諸多客戶。

????這種環(huán)球游歷是可口可樂公司2013年啟動的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力發(fā)展項目的一部分。該項目名為唐納德?R?基奧系統(tǒng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力學(xué)院，以紀念這位在2月份去世的可口可樂公司前總裁。其宗旨是幫助參與者從頭到尾全面了解這家公司。

????可口可樂希望參與該項目的高管們能夠獲得CEO穆泰康所說的“頭腦的知識和心靈的知識”，就是應(yīng)對迅速變化的業(yè)務(wù)環(huán)境的具體原則與做法，以及對公司文化、價值和品牌的深厚情感。（披露：筆者曾在德魯克研究院為今年的團隊授課兩天，講述如何管理創(chuàng)新。）

????幾乎人人都清楚可口可樂面臨的挑戰(zhàn)。雖然它是全世界最受尊敬的公司之一，但隨著消費者健康意識的提高，人們開始減少飲用該公司的拳頭產(chǎn)品：汽水。為了應(yīng)對這種狀況，穆泰康開始著手提高生產(chǎn)率，并削減成本。

????主管該項目的可口可樂全球能力總監(jiān)迪莉婭?科克倫表示，擺在未來高管面前的問題是，“在令人難以置信的動態(tài)環(huán)境中”，如何茁壯成長，并幫助團隊取得成功。

????可口可樂并不是唯一一家開展此類工作的公司。德勤博森和智睿咨詢的人才顧問表示，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)大公司對于培養(yǎng)高級管理人才的興趣日益濃厚——但據(jù)博森統(tǒng)計，這方面依舊有較大的發(fā)展空間，目前僅有7%的培訓(xùn)費用被用于該領(lǐng)域。

????博森副總裁達尼?約翰遜表示：“商界正在以一種新的速度發(fā)展變化。兩年前有效的戰(zhàn)略，在兩年后可能失效。各大公司必須更迅速地做出決策，并確保其領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者具備有效決策的能力與信心。”

????可口可樂的項目在許多方面都非常引人注目。首先，很少有公司愿意讓高級管理人員離崗一個半月時間。但可口可樂甚至不鼓勵參加基奧學(xué)院的高管給辦公室發(fā)郵件和打電話。

????金寶湯公司前任CEO道格?科南特表示：“我聽說過許多領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力項目，但沒有一個項目會要求高管如此沉浸其中。”道格?科南特現(xiàn)任西北大學(xué)凱洛格行政領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力學(xué)院主席，并兼任雅芳公司董事長。

????這種全身心投入的做法有三重好處。首先，項目參與者可以只關(guān)注一件事：學(xué)習(xí)。其次，這種狀況將迫使留守的團隊站出來，承擔(dān)新的責(zé)任，進而使領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者深入了解其團隊的優(yōu)缺點。

????該公司研發(fā)實驗室高級主任普拉珊提?杰拉參加了今年的基奧學(xué)院，她表示：“這不僅是對我們個人的拓展，對整個團隊也是一次鍛煉。”她有21名下屬。

????第三，與同事一起旅行數(shù)周，將在彼此之間建立起持久的關(guān)系。在筆者負責(zé)的創(chuàng)新課程期間，參加基奧學(xué)院的可口可樂高管與灌裝網(wǎng)絡(luò)的同事，討論了在未來幾個月后的項目中如何合作。

????基奧學(xué)院與其他領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力項目的另外一個區(qū)別在于，參與者很大程度上是在摸索中學(xué)習(xí)。他們沒有提前發(fā)放的日程安排，只有抵達一個地方之后，他們才會知道要去做什么。科南特解釋說：“這是故意設(shè)計的做法，目的是讓他們處在一種不舒服的狀況之中。”這種方式還可以培養(yǎng)他們在日常工作中必須具備的應(yīng)變思維。

????On Monday, two-dozen Coca-Cola executives will become reacquainted with something they haven’t seen for the past six weeks: their desks.

????Since early April, this coterie of up-and-coming senior managers has been busy mixing with members of the C-suite at corporate headquarters in Atlanta, riding along on a Coke delivery truck in Florida, and visiting a wide range of internal operations and customer sites across the United States, Mexico, and Indonesia.

????The globetrotting is integral to a leadership development program that Coca-Cola launched in 2013. Called the Donald R. Keough System Leadership Academy—in honor of the former president of Coca-Cola, who died in February—it aims to expose participants to the entire business, end to end.

????Along the way, the participating executives are expected to take in what Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent has described as a combination of “head knowledge and heart knowledge”—specific principles and practices to navigate a rapidly changing business landscape, as well as a deepened passion for the beverage maker’s culture, values, and brand. (Disclosure: I spent two days teaching this year’s group about managing innovation as part of my work at the Drucker Institute.)

????Coca-Cola’s challenges are well known. While the company is among the world’s most admired, consumers are drinking less of its biggest product—soda—as they become more health-conscious. In turn, Kent has embarked on a campaign to boost productivity and cut costs.

????For Coca-Cola’s emerging leaders, the question is how to thrive and help their teams succeed “in the incredibly dynamic environment in which they operate,” says Delia Cochran, the company’s global director of capability, who oversees the Keough program.

????Coca-Cola is hardly the only company working on this. Talent consultants at Bersin by Deloitte and Development Dimensions International say they see rising interest among major corporations in fostering executive development—though there’s still plenty of room for more, with just seven cents of every training dollar spent in this area, according to Bersin.

????“There’s a new speed in business,” says Dani Johnson, a Bersin vice president. “A strategy that worked two years ago isn’t going to work two years from now. Decisions have to be made more quickly—and companies want to make sure that their leaders have the ability and confidence to make those decisions effectively.”

????The Coca-Cola program stands out in several ways. To start, few companies are willing to take top managers offline for a month-and-a -half. For those in the Keough Academy, emails and phone calls to their offices are highly discouraged.

????“I’ve heard of a lot of leadership programs—but never an immersion like this at senior levels,” says Doug Conant, the former CEO of Campbell Soup, who now serves as chairman of the Kellogg Executive Leadership Institute at Northwestern University and chairman of Avon Products.

????The benefits of Coke’s all-in approach are threefold. First, it allows those in the program to focus on just one thing: learning. Second, it forces the troops at home to step up and assume new duties, giving the leaders valuable insight into the strengths and weaknesses of their units.

????“It’s not just a stretch for us; it’s a stretch for our teams,” says Prashanthi Jella, a senior director in the company’s R&D lab, who is attending this year’s Keough Academy. She has 21 people reporting to her.

????And third, traveling with your peers for weeks on end creates lasting bonds. During the session that I led on innovation, several of the Coca-Cola executives and their bottling-network colleagues, who also take part in the Keough Academy, discussed how they could collaborate on projects in the months ahead.

????The Keough Academy is also distinct from other leadership programs in that its participants largely fly blind. They receive no advance agenda, and don’t know much about what they’re going to be doing in a particular location until they get on the ground. “That’s by design,” Cochran explains. “It takes them to a place of discomfort”—and, in that respect, nurtures the fast-on-your-feet thinking that’s required in their day jobs.