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When it came time for Jen Herdler to get back into the workforce, she signed up for a refresher course in financial modeling through a weeklong classroom experience in lower Manhattan.

There she would become reacquainted with an old friend: Excel. However, her fellow classmates were another matter.

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget that first day when I walked into the classroom and discovered that everyone was at least 20 years younger than me\u2014I felt so uncomfortable and out of my element,\u201d recalls Herdler, a seasoned finance leader who had put her career on hold roughly a decade earlier to raise a family.

Herdler says that her weeklong immersion among 20-somethings grew only more unsettling when the class was asked to individually tackle different modeling tasks, an exercise designed to stress-test the spreadsheet\u2019s latest functionalities.

Says Herdler: \u201cTheir speed always surpassed mine.\u201d

However, the discussions that routinely followed the Excel exercises began to expose something different to Herdler.

\u201cI realized that the communication skills that leaders need to explain their ideas were as critical as they ever had been,\u201d comments Herdler, who notes that the discussions also made her realize how her past experiences in both business and life had enhanced her judgment and enabled an enviable advantage in making business decisions.

Looking back at her classroom experience, Herdler says that her biggest takeaway perhaps had little to do with business modeling.

\u201cThe technology is always changing,\u201d she observes, \u201cbut business and leadership fundamentals do not.\u201d\xa0\u2013Jack Sweeney\xa0