In my previous post, I had spoken about 4 things I wish I knew at the start of my MBA journey.
On this piece, I continue the conversation about 4 additional items to take note of when starting out your MBA program.
Read wide a range of business books and biographies: I had been advised earlier to read business books such as Jack Welch – Winning, and so on. Because I never saw myself as an entrepreneur without an MBA degree, I never saw the need to buy such books. When I commenced the EMBA (Executive Master of Business Administration) program, I was told again (by another senior colleague of mine) that I should do this. This comes in handy as facilitators of each EMBA course program structure relevant and significant life contributions as part of class participation. It also shows how sound you are in connecting the dots from classroom to real life examples which reduces the load on the facilitator to spoon feed the entire class.
A good business book can also supply one with the necessary knowledge, inspiration, and technical know-how in business management as you remain on your journey of personal development and being a better manager.
You are a student again: being a student again comes with several benefits and opens doors for assistance you may never have thought of. Should you ask questions from industry leaders and eventually follow with ‘’I am an MBA student’’ most persons will instantly let their guard loose and greatly answer any questions you throw at them. Once school is over, you become a full member of the corporate world all over again (as you once were before commencing the MBA program) – causing people to keep their guard up as they may perceive you want to take something from them. Ride on the advantages and joys that come with being a student. It is the only way to keep one’s mind fresh, alive, and excited as you get exposed to new knowledge for business, career, and personal excellence.
Alumni are super-helpful and approachable: it is commonly said that ‘’If I have made any progress, It is because I have stood on the shoulders of them that went ahead of me’. Alumni of your MBA program play a significant role in assisting you to navigate the challenges of the MBA program and may also be willing (most times they are willing) to assist you with non-MBA affairs i.e., business opportunities, industry insights, collaborations for venturing, and so on. It is good practice to be in touch with the alumni office of your school, as they also provide help. Past MBA students of my current program assisted greatly with this area and we are encouraged to participate in alumni activities (as applicable).
Expect to learn a lot in a short time: For a first-time business student like me with over 10 years work experience, I was not happy with the fact that the MBA program had so much knowledge value just within 2 years for us to absorb and apply as we went along the journey. I enjoyed all the courses we have taken thus far such as management communication (including the Harvard Business School course), corporate financial accounting, analysis of business problems and data analytics, including business ethics and others. I would wish we could complete the program in 3 years at most, so that we can chew shared knowledge in bits and pieces, have sufficient time to reflect on learnings, absorb the knowledge as we practice and then maintain the pace. When we were told that the MBA would be intense, we did not know it would be fast paced as well.
Having listed the 4 items above, I hope this has made it easier for you in knowing what to expect versus the excitement of starting out in MBA school.
If you keep these points above close to you, then you should have little challenges overcoming them.
Stay tuned for part 3 of this series.
#MEMBA 12
