Alison Corner: Management Consultant

Posted: 28 April 2021

Round Square gave me the foundation to learn about being a leader

Alison Corner, former pupil of Lakefield College, a Round Square School in Canada, is now a Management Consultant at a top firm in New York where she is she is currently working on an international project examining the cultural differences affecting consumers’ financial behaviour.

As a pupil at Lakefield, Alison had the opportunity to attend a RS Regional Conference, which she remembers as a positive, eye-opening experience where “everyone was there for the same reason” and she learned that alongside differences between cultures, there were many similarities too.

At the age of 14, Alison spent three months on an exchange visit to Round Square School Ballarat Grammar in Australia, an experience she describes as “A pivotal moment in my life”, and one that “instilled in me a desire to continue exploring, to travel, to go on adventures and meet people from all around the world.”

These experiences have made a positive impact in Alison’s professional life: “I work regularly with people from different parts of the world” she says. “Having had exposure to people from different cultures, I feel I am better prepared and able to adapt to different cultural nuances”.

After leaving school, Alison participated in a four-month international programme in France, a two-week study trip to India and volunteered to teach English in a small town in Brazil. For her  Masters degree in international business, Alison selected a course in Socially Responsible Leadership: “The pillars of Round Square had stayed with me, and I thought it would be interesting to explore what I had learned about leadership in school and apply it to a business context. It reinforced my belief that being a good leader is not only about advancing your position but inspiring others around you.”

As she progresses in her career, Alison continues to draw on her Round Square experiences in developing her work and leadership style: “I think Round Square activities such as exchanges helped embed a strong work ethic in me” she says “Fairly early on in my career, I began managing projects on my own, which apparently had never happened at my level before”.

And on the subject of Leadership: “Round Square gave me the foundation to learn about being a leader, exposed me to leadership opportunities early on, and demonstrated to me the many different perspectives of leadership. I draw upon this context whenever I am offered an opportunity to lead on a project or mentor a colleague.”

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