Finding a new leadership style: Tony Nguyen's journey from corporate life to academia

Finding a new leadership style: Tony Nguyen's journey from corporate life to academia

After leaving JP Morgan to pursue his passion for research and teaching, Dr. Tony Nguyen, Lecturer in both RMIT’s MIB and MBA programs, opens up about how he found his Leadership style and applies it to the classroom.

Tony Nguyen had a typical dream while completing his undergraduate and master’s degree at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, and that was to be a finance guy. “After my MBA, I began working at JP Morgan as an investment analyst. I had been waiting for the opportunity for years, and was already looking ahead to working on Wall St.,” Dr. Nguyen relates. Yet after meeting his wife, who’s family numbered many academics, alongside the desire to complete a PhD, which he began at Texas A&M, Dr. Nguyen’s life pivoted away from corporate America and towards academia.

“It was a change that I was fine with, as during my PhD I fell in love with research and teaching,” Dr. Nguyen states, “especially within the field of Leadership. I enjoyed the complexities of planning a class, telling a story and delivering a lecture.” 

Dr. Nguyen used to follow a traditional way of teaching – that is when teaching a subject, one must tie it to something practical, show proof and then give an application of the subject being used in the real world. In other words, the message was in a one-way direction. However, Dr. Nguyen’s teaching style has evolved since joining RMIT. He states, “teaching and learning is an experience we should all go through together.  It is an organic process, and I learn a lot from my students, especially due to their different backgrounds.” 

Dr Tony Nguyen, Lecturer at RMIT Vietnam Dr Tony Nguyen, Lecturer at RMIT Vietnam

This change in teaching ideology stems from Dr. Nguyen’s own personal leadership style, which he moulds after Peter Northouse’s ‘Leadership: Theory and Practice’ definition of leadership. According to Northouse (2021), leadership is not a person. Leadership is a process that involves influencing others to work together towards certain goals. Leaders and followers share responsibility when it comes to effective leadership and attaining an objective. Dr. Nguyen recognises that people come with diverse skills, expertise, and experiences and thus, he believes that everyone, leaders and followers alike, have something unique to add and that individuals should be empowered to contribute to their organisation’s objectives.  
 
“I’m not trying to teach ‘truths,’” Dr Nguyen notes, “I aim to facilitate a deeper understanding of fundamental concepts by encouraging students to identify these concepts in their own experiences. This approach helps students relate to the subject matter and engage in meaningful discussions.”

By asking students if they have ever witnessed these phenoma in their lives, Dr. Nguyen prompts them to reflect on their personal experiences and connect them to the theories or examples being discussed. This technique not only enhances comprehension but also enables students to see the practical relevance of the subject matter. By relating abstract concepts to concrete situations, Dr. Nguyen ensures that his students grasp the material and its potential applications to solve their own work problems.   
 
Just as he was able to remain agile and pivot his own objectives when necessary, Dr. Nguyen aims to convey this skill to the future managers and leaders he teaches. He states that within the tech landscape, businesses and industry are often lagging behind. “How do we make our organisations nimble and adaptable enough to be ready to be pivot if necessary? Much of the answer lies in mindset, and I push my students to embrace the general concept of change and bring this to their roles and companies.” 

If you would like to learn more about how to be adaptable within business or become a leader yourself, check out RMIT Vietnam’s postgraduate programs: 

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