Important Lessons This Blind Executive MBA Graduate Can Teach Us About Leadership

When you walk into a business school classroom, you expect to find a mix of nationalities, sectors, and career backgrounds. But what does inclusion look like when it extends to disability and accessibility?

A case in point is Jesús Argumedo Castañeda. Having lost his sight at the age of six, Jesús had already broken significant barriers at 31, becoming the first visually impaired PhD in Audiovisual Communication, Advertising and PR in Spain.

To fulfill a long-held ambition to study an Executive MBA (EMBA) and open doors to senior leadership, Jesús enrolled at Esade Business School.

“Since I was a child, I liked the world of business. My dream was to work in the companies that produce the products and brands I admired. Studying an EMBA was my dream, and now it’s been my reality,” he says.

Now a graduate working for a renewables company and specializing in diversity, Jesús feels lessons from his business school experience can help teach future leaders about diversity and accessibility in business education.

Breaking barriers in education

Long before enrolling in business school, Jesús had learned to navigate obstacles most students never encounter.

To qualify for an international PhD, he was required to write his dissertation in English and complete a research stay abroad—in his case, in Stockholm.

“It’s more complicated to learn another language when you cannot see,” he explains. “But I decided to accept the challenge and write my PhD in English. I even wanted to write it in British English because I love it.”

The obstacles he faced echo a wider reality. Across the EU, nearly one in four adults (23.9%) reports a disability. Yet disabled students remain underrepresented in higher education, which makes Jesús’s presence in an EMBA classroom all the more significant.

For many of his peers, it was the first time they had studied alongside a blind classmate. His presence, he says, gave them an added value in how they now understand leadership and inclusion.

“I am aware that my classmates now take into account new ideas—different ideas—about how to work with people with disabilities or other kinds of profiles in their teams and organizations,” he explains.

It was also a learning experience for the school’s faculty and administrators. Xavier Ferrás, associate dean of the Esade EMBA, says the experience encouraged professors to innovate their teaching methods.

“For the teachers, the interaction with Jesús has provided a unique opportunity to improve and diversify their teaching methods, fostering more accessible, flexible, and inclusive teaching.

“The experience has shown that inclusion is not just a question of accessibility, but an opportunity to innovate in teaching, reinforce values of collaboration and empathy, and prepare all members of the educational community for a world where equity and diversity are fundamental pillars.”

What inclusive leadership means

When Jesús talks about leadership, he frames inclusion as central to how businesses succeed. Leaders have to start by recognizing the diversity already present in society and in markets, he says.

“A leader with an inclusion vision must understand the world is diverse, and that markets are diverse. There are business opportunities in society and cultures, but they must be approached with ethics and responsible business vision,” he says.

In his view, diversity adds real business value. Companies that make it part of their strategy, Jesús argues, gain not only ethically but also in terms of performance and reputation.

He believes the real implementation of diverse leadership comes after hiring. Leaders should ensure that diverse talent is not only brought into an organization but also developed and supported over time—that is how inclusion becomes part of everyday leadership.

“If you are a leader with an inclusion vision, you have to work to keep this talent and your diverse consumers, and develop your vision, resources, and strategy every day to show real inclusive leadership.”

He applies the same thinking to his own ambitions.

“My main goal is to reach senior positions in large companies and become a manager who can contribute with a vision of responsible capitalism, and of inclusion of profiles like mine,” says Jesús.

The EMBA experience

For Jesús, studying an Executive MBA marked what he calls a “before and after” moment in both his professional and personal outlook.

“I learned not only academic and professional concepts, but I also grew personally in many aspects. Although I have finished my EMBA, I’m still applying this personal knowledge in my day to day,” he says.

One of his core lessons was learning how to manage people while thinking of them not only as collections of skills, but as individuals with different goals, ideas, and perspectives.

“It’s very important to understand the personal perspectives of colleagues in your teams, and not just their professional skills,” he says. 

A residency in London with Warwick Business School stands out as one of the more significant experiences of the EMBA. The trip was not without obstacles—navigating the city and the airport brought accessibility challenges that at times felt overwhelming, he says, but still it was a profound experience.

“I understood that sometimes there are barriers I cannot overcome in the moment, but I shouldn’t punish myself. Nevertheless, that trip was one of the best experiences of my life. It taught me a lot,” he says.

Today, Jesús works as a diversity specialist at Acciona, a Spanish multinational in renewable energy and infrastructure, where he focuses on data analytics, communication and reporting around equality and inclusion.

Looking ahead, he is determined to progress into senior leadership, believing the EMBA has equipped him with the tools to get there.

“All that I have studied has been with the future in mind. One of the most important learnings of the EMBA is to understand the present. Everything that I build now is the basis for my future,” he says.