Nobody trains you for this job.
WIBE is the year round room for the people running business schools. Monthly workshops, a mastermind with peers who hold your seat, and a community that stays open in between. Get better where you are, or wherever you are headed next.
You were promoted on scholarship. Now you are judged on management.
Three things happen the day you take the role. None of them is in the job description.
The peers you lost
One day they are your colleagues. The next, you are their boss. The room that made the work bearable closes behind you, and nobody warns you it is coming.
The training the promotion never came with
Budgets. Evaluations. A crisis week. The conversation you have been putting off since March. All of it arrives at once, and none of it was in the work you trained for.
The eight percent problem
Only 8 percent of deans say they have time for their own development. WIBE is built for exactly that constraint. One hour a month, and you pick which hour.
WIBE is the room between the programs.
Everything else in this category has an end date. Your next hard decision does not wait for the next one to start.
- Conferences Give you a few days, and a stack of business cards that goes cold by November.
- Fellowships Give you a cohort for a defined period. Then the cohort disbands.
- Accreditor programs Accreditor programs carry credibility, but can feel more institutional than innovative. And because they evaluate your school, they can't offer an independent peer community with nothing to judge.
- WIBE WIBE is your room all year, every year, for as long as you stay. It's a community built to lift you up, help you succeed, and give you a trusted place to work through what's really happening.
One price. One decision.
Low enough that you can decide it yourself, and most institutions fund it once you ask.
Everything below is included. Members renew at $799. Cancel any time before renewal.
- Your monthly mastermind. Peers who hold your seat, several sessions a month so one always fits.
- Monthly live workshops. Built from what we hear inside the masterminds.
- Every virtual summit. Multi day deep dives, no extra ticket.
- The full on demand library. Every workshop and summit, recorded.
- The private community and app. Open at 11pm the night before the board meeting.
- In person gatherings. At the conferences you already attend.
- Introductions. To editors, stages, and the person who can actually solve it.
Almost all of our deans bring an associate dean or a chair with them. The rate drops for everyone as the group grows.
| Members from your school | Each, per year |
|---|---|
| Just you | $799 |
| Two of you | $599 |
| Three or four | $499 |
| Five to eight | $399 |
| Nine or more | Ask us |
Email membership@wibenetwork.com to get a group invoice.
One hour a month, and you pick which hour.
The objection is never the money. It is the calendar. So every mastermind runs several times a month and you take the session that fits your week.
Your mastermind
One hour is the whole ask. You choose which session to take, so a bad week never costs you the month.
Workshops and summits
Come live if the week allows. If it does not, the recording is in the library that afternoon. No guilt either way.
The community
Our busiest space is called Ask Anything, and that is exactly what happens in it. Post the question at 11pm. Someone who has faced it answers.
Get in a room with people who understand what you are navigating.
Masterminds are small, peer based groups where members bring the challenges, decisions, opportunities and questions they are working through right now, facilitated by Lisa Leander. Choose the one that fits where you are in your leadership journey. Each is offered several times a month for flexibility.
The Dean's Table
Bring the complicated leadership issues, strategic decisions, people challenges, institutional politics, and opportunities that come with sitting in the dean's chair.
The Strategy Table
For associate and assistant deans, center directors, department chairs, and other academic faculty leaders who want smart peers around the table as they work through a challenge.
The Leadership Lab
For those pursuing promotion, exploring new opportunities, navigating recruitment, preparing for a job search, or working toward becoming a future dean.
The President's Table
A trusted space for conversation about institutional strategy, board dynamics, leadership teams, campus politics, external pressures, crisis management, and the decisions that only presidents understand.
Everything in one year round membership.
One price, and none of it is an upsell. Here is the whole list.
Your monthly mastermind
Four rooms to choose from, each running several sessions a month. Bring the decision you are working through right now.
Monthly workshops
Expert led, practical, and built from the actual conversations happening inside the masterminds.
Virtual summits
Multi day deep dives on the issues moving careers right now. Always included, never an upsell.
On demand library
Every workshop and summit, recorded and ready. Learn at 2am if that is when your hour appears.
Private community and app
Your always on room to ask the question you cannot ask anyone at your own institution.
Leadership visibility
Panels, contributions, and introductions that put you in front of the people who open doors.
In person gatherings
Dinners and meet ups at the conferences you already attend, so you never walk in alone.
The member bulletin
What is happening across the network each month, and who to meet, in one short read.
The community in your back pocket.
Your membership comes with a private community and mobile app, so the people who get it are always one tap away.
- An active discussion forum
- Hundreds of members ready to help, right when you need them. Post a question at 11pm and wake up to real answers from people who have been there.
- A full resource library
- Templates, recordings, and tools you can actually use, all in one place, ready whenever you are.
- An event calendar
- Every convening, workshop, and summit in one view, so you never miss what matters.
You would be in very good company.
The best way to understand WIBE is through the leaders already in it.
The value of membership shows up in specific moments.
These all happened. Every one of them is somebody's story on this site.
What members say in their own words.
“You can be brilliant alone, but you are unstoppable in WIBE.”
“Real community in WIBE is not about comfort. It is about challenge, raw honesty, and growth.”
“The issues tackled in WIBE convenings are timely and real. I consistently leave with insights that help me lead more confidently.”
“WIBE is the place where leaders want to help leaders.”
“I didn't have to decide to join. The welcome was so immediate, I realized I already was a part of it.”
“I had a tribe that helped me crawl out of the hole.”
“I'm surrounded by people who encourage and support me.”
“I will remember how I felt on the way home. That the work I do matters, and that I matter. I didn't realize how much I needed this.”
“Being surrounded by higher education leaders all experiencing the turbulence of 2025 was inspiring.”
“Taking time to think about my decisions and values was extremely helpful. I will be sharing this with many of my colleagues.”
You never arrive alone.
We gather at the conferences you already attend. A group arrival dinner, breakfasts through the week, and someone who saves you a seat. You never end up eating alone.
I built the room I could not find.
For twenty years I worked with business school leaders across six continents. I watched the doors stay closed to the people who needed them most. Every other organization in this space is an accreditor, a council, a charity or a training company. None of them was the room.
So I built a new one. WIBE exists so that nobody has to do the hardest job of their career without people who understand it.
If you are reading this, consider it your invitation.
The things people ask before they join.
How much time does this really take?
One hour a month for your mastermind, and every mastermind runs several times a month so you take the session that fits your week. Workshops and summits are live if you can make them and recorded if you cannot. No guilt when life gets busy, which it will.
What exactly do I get for $799?
Your monthly mastermind, with four rooms to choose from and several sessions a month in each. Every monthly workshop, live or recorded. Every virtual summit, with no separate ticket. The full on demand library of past workshops and summits. The private community and mobile app. In person dinners and meet ups at the conferences you already attend. Introductions to the people who open doors. And the monthly member bulletin. That is the whole list. Nothing on this page is an add on.
What if I do not want to be a dean?
Most of our members do not. They joined to be excellent at the job they already hold, and they stay for years. That is a success story, not a stall. If you are aiming higher, The Leadership Lab is built for exactly that. Either way the door is the same.
Can I see it before I join?
Yes. Sit in on a mastermind as our guest. Save your seat here and come see how the room works.
How is this different from AACSB, HERS, or a fellowship?
Those are excellent and many of our members value them too. They run programs with start and end dates, and most need a nomination or an institutional sponsor. WIBE is the room between those programs. Ongoing, matched to your seat, and open to you without anyone's approval. We are also independent of the organization that accredits your school, which is the structural reason people can say the real thing out loud here.
Will my institution pay for it?
Usually, yes. Most members expense membership through professional development funds. At $799 it also sits below the approval line at most schools, so it fits inside a budget you control if you would rather not ask. We have written the approval language for you, linked above. Copy it, add your name, and send it.
Is WIBE only for women?
No. WIBE started as a women's leadership community and most of our members are women. That heritage is something we are proud of. The membership has always been open to men in the same seat, and plenty of them are here. WIBE stands for Where Imagination Builds Excellence.
How do group memberships work?
Two or more people from the same school qualify, and the rate drops for everyone as the group grows. See the table above. Email membership@wibenetwork.com and we will send you a group invoice.
What happens after the first year?
You decide to renew for another great year. Many members bring a group with them at that point for an affordable group rate. Your mastermind changes every four months, so you keep meeting new people and building new relationships and experiences.
Stop doing the hardest job of your career alone.
One hour a month, at a time you choose. A table of peers who hold the same seat you do. A room that is still here next year.
Join WIBE, $799 a year