My MBA Experience So Far

I started my business school experience cynical. I perceived business school as a two-year vacation that at best accelerated the climb up the corporate ladder and at worst proved very expensive. I was determined to make the most of my experience by searching out specific industry insights and experiences that would let me do anything I want. A bit bashfully, I think I wanted to be an uber-person, because who doesn’t want to control their own destiny regardless of circumstances?

I’ve been blessed to find many of those answers and experiences, but if anything, my business school experience at MIT has taught me that “the secret” to the fulfillment and impact I seek is not locked behind any one industry, company, title, idea, or power for that matter. I have come to view a business school education as a way to learn how to be part of society in all its mess and to find ways to improve it, and that requires the ability to make connections to the people, structures, and forces that make up our world. I am grateful for my time in b-school so far, because it has helped me learn some of the lessons I need to connect with that world and I wanted to share a few of them here:

1) Approach the work in front of me with humility. Possibly my favorite class at MIT has been “Leadership in Real Estate” with Gloria Schuck. For the first half of this semester, fourteen of us would arrange ourselves in a semicircle and pepper successful real estate leaders (e.g. founders and CEOs of Prologis, AEW, Avalon Bay, etc) about their career path. My questions often focused on how they knew to choose the opportunity that made them so successful and how they balanced it with all their other ambitions. The insight that emerged was that purpose and intelligence are important but do not trump approaching what was in front of them with compassion and humility. For them, it was not so much about finding the perfect opportunity as much as it was about recognizing the opportunities available to them and doing the best job they could. Success and impact did not come from being the loudest, hard charging leader, but about approaching the people they collaborated and served with compassion. I am not planning on a career in real estate, but I am so grateful for this class because it helped me envision a successful career built on humility and compassion for the opportunities and communities around me.

2) Strive to take everything as an opportunity to learn and connect. When I stepped out of undergrad into my first and then second jobs, I learned to prioritize what I encountered making snap judgments about what was important to focus on so I could get the job to keep my job. It is a valuable skill as numerous PowerPoint slides will point out. That said, to a certain extent, we go to business school to recognize opportunities to make impacts beyond the scope of our past jobs and organizations, and I think that requires being more open and patient with new ideas and perspectives. Business school provides a good challenge here, because many people come to school to become more assertive or find ways to “win friends and influence people,” but I’ve found that there will always be a tension between keeping my own beliefs and listening to other people’s views. And as I have confronted that fear of having my own thoughts compromised by “kool-aid,” I’ve been surprised by how often now that conversations I thought were going to be a pain and a waste of time end up being so rewarding and productive. And empowered by that, I can only wish to have more time to continue to enjoy the benefits of having my worldview cross-pollinated by interactions with people and projects across MIT (especially the Media Lab) as well as Harvard Kennedy School (I think our solutions to address world problems will firmly depend on our ability to bridge the interspace between public and private).

3) Just as important as how we lead others is how we lead ourselves. I think I’ve searched my whole life for mentors to help me lead people the way I know I can. And I’ve always wished I could correct mistakes I make faster. What Gloria Schuck’s course and just every experience at MIT has driven home is that we cannot wait for others to give us feedback or wait for opportunities to give feedback; everyone and anyone can provide mentorship and so I must value their voice even if I decide not to take their advice. I’ve come to believe that more than anything, leadership is a craft that requires conscious, concerted practice. That means seeing every piece of feedback as a gift, but also treasuring interactions with people as an opportunity to connect. People are not a means to an end but ends in of themselves worthy of value, and when we approach people with that mentality we open up opportunities not just to give or seek difficult feedback, but also more effectively collaborate and do right by them. The best leaders seem to strive to improve themselves so they can be better for those that depend on them.

An MBA can mean many things for many people and that is the beauty of it. It can be a time to transition into a career that was difficult to make inroads into before, it can be a time to incubate a new venture, it can be a time to make friends that will provide relevant career perspective and support down the road, but the beauty of an MBA is that it is an open space to make experiment, explore, and engage with our vulnerabilities, curiosities, and ambitions. It allows us to make mistakes in ways we could never imagine setting us up for success we never thought possible, and that is why I wish these two years didn’t go by as quickly as they seem to be.