Dr. Mikah Sellers earned a BS in Marketing from Capella University and has gone on to build a distinguished career as a faculty member, executive coach and author. His new book, Forging Emotionally Intelligent Leaders in the Age of AI, reflects his passion for helping others lead with purpose in a tech-driven world.
1. What inspired you to pursue your B.S. in Marketing at Capella, and how did that experience lay the foundation for your academic and professional journey?
Dr. Mikah Sellers: I chose Capella because it offered the flexibility I needed as a working professional, while also providing a rigorous and relevant curriculum. The program provided me with the tools to think critically about markets, strategy, and human behavior—skills that became the cornerstone of my leadership career. More importantly, Capella instilled in me the belief that lifelong learning is essential, a principle that has guided my pursuit of advanced degrees and ongoing executive education.
2. Looking back, what was the most valuable skill or lesson you gained from your time at Capella that still influences your work today?
Dr. Mikah Sellers: The most valuable lesson I gained was how to balance competing priorities. At Capella, I developed the time management skills necessary to pursue my education while working full-time—without compromising my work-life balance. That discipline proved invaluable later in my career, especially as I pursued multiple advanced degrees while continuing to lead organizations and teams through complex transformations.
3. You’ve earned multiple advanced degrees and taught for more than a decade at Georgetown. How did your Capella education support you in reaching these milestones?
Dr. Mikah Sellers: Capella prepared me to succeed in diverse academic and professional settings by fostering self-motivation, self-direction, and intellectual curiosity. Those qualities enabled me to thrive at NYIT, where I earned an M.B.A. and M.A. in Communication Arts, and at the University of Pennsylvania, where I earned my Ed.D. The experiences I had early on at Capella also shaped how I developed my coaching skills, making me a more effective educator and leading to several recognitions during my decade as a faculty member at Georgetown University.
4. What advice would you give to current Capella students or alumni who aspire to leadership roles in today’s rapidly evolving, tech-driven world?
Dr. Mikah Sellers: Focus on building what I call “power skills” and “generative skills”—emotional intelligence, empathy, adaptability, ethical decision-making, and the capacity to create new ideas and solutions. These skills are what make you valuable in the AI-enabled workforce of the future. Technical expertise will always matter, but it’s the human-centered capabilities that will allow you to lead effectively, inspire trust, and stay resilient in the face of disruption.
5. How does your recent book connect to your broader mission of shaping emotionally intelligent leaders, and what do you hope fellow alumni take away from it?
Dr. Mikah Sellers: Forging Emotionally Intelligent Leaders in the Age of AI builds upon the research I initiated during my doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a full year of subsequent independent research work. The book argues that emotional intelligence is not a “soft skill” but a strategic capability in the age of AI. I hope that Capella students and alumni see in it both a challenge and an invitation: to lead with empathy, resilience, and integrity, and to recognize that our humanity is our most significant advantage in a tech-driven world.
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