Susan Van Weelden
Business
Associate Professor
Business is Service
Business, according to Susan Van Weelden, is “a service discipline – it provides people with valued goods and services that they need for everyday living and it employs the majority of people in our society. Business covers topics that touch everyone on a daily basis.”
Serving her students means realizing the pertinence and significance of business as an “applied discipline, a service discipline, and a relevant discipline,” and imparting those concepts to her students. In order to effectively serve, Susan believes she must prove herself to be a credible leader, full of integrity. She quotes the First Law of Leadership which states: “If you don’t believe in the messenger, you won’t believe the message.” Furthermore, good leaders “abandon themselves to the strengths of others” – Max De Pree. And in serving her students, Susan helps them apply their individual talents and abilities accordingly.
Achieving long term success in the field of business requires good technical skills, reliability and honesty. Susan affirms that “it requires commitment to values and the courage to stay true to one’s convictions.” It is no surprise then that Susan’s dedication and determination to invest in her students prepares them to readily serve in the community and in the world.
Susan is currently writing cases and modules for the CMA professional program and serving on the marking team for the Society of Management Accountants of Canada. For more information, visit her Faculty Profile.