Putting On the Scholar's Cap

In 2026, I began a doctoral program because I wanted to study coaching, emotional intelligence (EQ) and leadership more deeply.

Most of the coursework was on AI, so before my research even began, my eyes were opened to the new world of AI.

The Doctoral Acceleration Week (DAW) in Lausanne, Switzerland helped me find my footing as a researcher, and since starting my research in earnest, I have been riding a roller coaster.

That is because a DBA doesn't stop at exploring expertise; it asks you to contribute, through research, to real business results and change.

Fortunately, thanks to a wonderful supervisor, I am finding my direction, and my interest in research itself keeps growing.

Then yesterday, I attended the most memorable lecture since I started the program.

What surprised me even more happened after the lecture ended.

The professor told me, “You have what it takes to be a scholar.”

To be honest, I thought of myself as a researcher, but never quite as a scholar. For years I had defined myself as someone who built experience in practice, someone stronger in the field than in theory.

So I asked.

“Professor, what made you see that in me?”

On the drive home, I kept turning those words over in my mind.

Here are the four possibilities I found in myself.

For more than 15 years, I built expertise doing work I love. And above all, that work was about people: understanding people, helping them grow, and thinking about how people and organizations can move in a better direction. Having watched people closely for so long, I learned to notice small changes and subtle differences, and I naturally grew curious about what lay beneath them. Wanting to do better sharpened my observation and focus, and grew into a habit of looking deeply into what was happening. Looking back, some of the qualities a researcher needs may already have been growing in me through those long years of practice.

For a long time, I have talked with people, tried to understand the world from their point of view, and looked at a single situation from many angles. Along the way, I developed an eye for the context and essence beyond the problem on the surface. Coaching gave me not only coaching competencies and skills, but also an attitude of asking better questions and looking again at what I had taken for granted.

These days, everything I see reminds me of a research topic. (Laughs) I don't let everyday moments simply pass by; I wonder why things happen and what lies behind them. Before I knew it, I was looking at the world through a researcher's eyes.

I can now quickly structure the thoughts scattered in my head, sharpen my questions faster, and explore new knowledge and perspectives. AI is not something that thinks for me; it is becoming a tool that helps me develop my thinking more deeply.

Having looked back on each of these, I began to understand a little of what the professor meant.

And it led me to one more thought.

Perhaps we define ourselves more narrowly than we realize.

If we see ourselves only as practitioners, we may miss our potential as researchers; if we think we are not good enough yet, we may overlook the value of the experience we have already built.

At times like that, what if someone recognized a possibility we hadn't yet discovered in ourselves, and put it into words for us?

That one remark may not create a new ability overnight. But it can help us look again at the potential we already had, and give us the courage to take one more step.

Through coaching, I have helped people discover their potential and find their own answers.

Yesterday, though, I learned the meaning of that work anew.

Recognizing someone's potential. And telling them so, in sincere words.

Perhaps recognition doesn't make a person new; it helps them discover the potential that was already within them.

Going forward, I want to connect my research on coaching, emotional intelligence (EQ) and leadership with the field, helping leaders and organizations ask better questions and create real change.

Starting from discovering people's potential, and helping that potential turn into real results and growth. That is the work I want to keep exploring.