Level up this Summer with the Nyenrode Summer Growth Guide
The Summer Growth Guide 2026 is a self-reflective workbook created by Nyenrode Business University to facilitate personal and professional development over six weeks. Each week focuses on a specific pillar of development, including experimentation, courage, creativity, decision-making, and purpose. Using prompts and exercises, the free guide encourages readers to replace rigid planning with curiosity and active learning. Ultimately, the guide helps individuals to identify meaningful next steps in their career and life journeys.
Beyond the Brochure: Why Every Aspiring MBA Needs the Summer Growth Guide 2026
For the modern professional, the path to an MBA is often a whirlwind of GMAT prep, application deadlines, and high-pressure career moves. Amidst this rush, we often sideline the most vital component of leadership development: intentional reflection.
MBAGRADSCHOOLS recently discovered a resource that changes that narrative. Instead of the typical promotional brochure, Nyenrode Business University has released the Summer Growth Guide 2026. It is a practical, interactive, six-week workbook designed to turn summer downtime into a period of meaningful personal and professional development.
In an era of endless notifications, the Summer Growth Guide 2026 offers something increasingly rare: a reason to unplug. While a digital PDF version is available, the guide is primarily designed as a tactile A5 workbook meant for use in a quiet coffee shop, a park, or a dedicated corner of your office. By moving away from “digital noise,” readers can create the mental space necessary for true growth.
What makes this guide particularly compelling is its lack of rigid rules. As the Impact MBA team at Nyenrode notes, there is no “right way” to complete it. The goal is simply to create space for new ideas and fresh perspectives.
For a prospective MBA student, this self-directed approach mimics the autonomy and critical thinking required in a top-tier business program.
Six Weeks of Curated Wisdom
The guide is structured around six core themes, each inspired by seminal works on leadership, creativity, and strategy. For those looking to sharpen their mindset before entering a classroom, this curated journey provides a sophisticated foundation. Key themes include:
- Experiment: Drawing on the work of Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff, the first week challenges the traditional goal-setting mindset. It invites you to replace the pressure of a “perfect plan” with curiosity and small, low-risk experiments.
- Be Bold: Inspired by Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati, this section focuses on moving forward despite uncertainty. It asks readers to step out of their comfort zones. In this section, you identify the specific acts of courage, like starting a difficult conversation or pursuing a long-held ambition, that can create new momentum.
- Create: This week utilizes insights from the co-authors of Genius At Scale, Linda Hill, Emily Tedards, and Jason Wild, to debunk the myth that creativity is a solo endeavor. It pushes professionals to seek out “different perspectives” to solve complex real-life problems.
- Decide: Relying on Stephen Witt’s The Thinking Machine, this module addresses the paralysis of analysis. It reinforces that waiting for absolute certainty is often a decision in itself and that clarity often emerges only through action.
- Discover Your Why: Using the popular Find Your Why framework by Simon Sinek and his colleagues, this week helps readers look backward at their proudest moments to identify the themes that define their purpose.
- Design Your Next Chapter: The final week, inspired by podcaster and best-selling author Mel Robbins, integrates these insights to help you identify a realistic and meaningful direction for the next six months.
Why We Recommend It for MBA Students
An MBA is more than a degree; it is a pivotal transition in your life. The Summer Growth Guide 2026 acts as a bridge for that transition.
It forces you to ask the hard questions. Questions like, “What motivates me?” “What impact do I want to have?” before you ever set foot on campus. By engaging with these reflection questions and practical exercises, MBA students can enter their program with a clearer sense of purpose and a more resilient, experimental mindset.
Furthermore, the guide is a testament to the philosophy of lifelong learning. Nyenrode Business University has developed these original exercises to reflect the values of their Impact MBA. Designed to broaden horizons and deepen the understanding of the intersection between business and society.
Give a Gift to Your Future Self: Get the Summer Growth Guide
Whether you are already enrolled or just starting to consider your options, this free guide is a gift to your future self. For those who prefer a physical copy, Nyenrode even offers to ship the printed booklets free of charge directly to your address, often accompanied by a personal note to encourage you on your journey.
Stop rushing from one task to the next and give your best ideas a chance to arrive. Start designing your next chapter today.
Request your free physical copy here.
