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08 Oct 2015, 16:01
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: What I’ve learned from my first few LEAD cases at Harvard Business School |
 Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School professor, at TED Not all leadership looks the same; there is no prescribed formula for what makes a good leader. Rudi Gassner believed that there are many pathways to success, so a leader is best served by being him or herself. As I think about what that means for me, I believe I am a person that values impact on individual lives and honesty. I strive to maximize my impact on people by taking time to coach and mentor and listening, truly listening. I will create room for others to coach and mentor me as well. If Paul Nasr had been more proactive in coaching Rob Parson, the damage done to their relationship could have been avoided and Parson may have been able to be promoted earlier. In addition, I want to be honest always. I want to demonstrate vulnerability by demonstrating my true feelings when asked and encouraging others to do the same. I hope not to sacrifice this for tact, pride, or fear.  
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09 Oct 2015, 05:01
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: What’s Next After Submitting the MIT Sloan MBA Application? |
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Our Admissions Committee is busy reviewing Round 1 applications. We will begin sending out interview invitations in mid-October and continue until the week of November 9th, at which point each applicant will receive an updated status. The interview period will last approximately six weeks, from October 26th through December 4th. We will give applicants as […] https://mitsloanadmissions.com/2015/10/08/whats-next-after-submitting-the-mit-sloan-mba-application/  
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09 Oct 2015, 12:01
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: Saffron and Networking – One Example of Interconnection @ HBS |
There is one comment that stands out; one conversation having made a great impression on me in these first two weeks. My Field professor told a story about a former student who had boldly followed her passion to start a social enterprise in Afghanistan, selling saffron grown by former opium farmers. Professor Ghosh used this example to emphasize a point that we, HBS graduates, have a tremendous safety net to fall back on. This safety net is strong enough that even an epic failure would not result in any real consequence. “I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t start a war.” He quoted a failed athlete. His point being, with such a small downside of failure and such a tremendous upside of success, we might as well follow our passions. My sectionmate, interjected, offering some information about the former student. He had served with her in Afghanistan. After class, He posted the link to the company’s website. This exchange really sticks in my mind for two reasons. First, the point that Professor Ghosh was making about failure really resonated with me and something I have been reflecting about a lot recently (see my earlier reflection for evidence). Second, my sectionmate’s experience with founder demonstrated how connected this place is. It seems now more than ever that HBS is a small network of some pretty amazing people. Saffron farmers Haji Zarghon (left) and Haji Ebrahim speak with Abdul Shakhoor Ehrarri, a water applications specialist for Rumi Spice, in Herat Province, Afghanistan during the harvest on Nov. 22, 2014. From Rumispice via NPR.org  
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10 Oct 2015, 05:01
| FROM mybjourney: Launched, and ready to go. |
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Today was the last day of our three-week Launch, that ended on a high note with a drinks and dance reception. The class decided to shift the party outside of the school, while I excused myself to some quiet time in my room. As I reflect on the three weeks gone, my mind is getting overwhelmed trying to register all that I have experienced so far – met 350 future friends from 57 countries on the first day; interacted with an Olympic silver medalist (Said alumni); spent an evening with Dinosaurs; attended live Oxford Union debate (bucketlist item checked off); mastered an African hymn (also shamelessly sang the same outside the Oxford Union at midnight yesterday!); discussed the complexity of Brazilian indirect taxes with a stranger over dinner; pitched a business idea to the American Ambassador to UK; learnt punting from a high school student at Oxford; pondered over how a group of business students can help make a significant social impact– and many more. My motivation behind joining an MBA program was much beyond the academics and recruitment. The idea was to spend a year on introspection and self-development, to push my boundaries to learn something new each day and to get a broader perspective of life. Three weeks of the Launch, apart from acclimatising us to the course, staff and the place also taught us to introspect and reflect. A few activities during the Launch made us sit back and think about why we do what we do, why are we here and what we hope to achieve. These are questions my mind often wonders about, or rather, wanders around. It would be unfair to say that I have found my answers already (as a classmate rightly joked about at the end of one such session “ I find it hard to talk to myself!”), but I did find the sessions extremely useful in identifying and understanding my personality to be able to leverage my strengths and work on my weaknesses going forward. If the Launch is any bit an indication of how the coming year is going to shape up, I am excited to be here. Dean Tufano on the first day mentioned that joining Oxford was a choice we made for ourselves, and I am glad I came here. But I also strongly agree with what Dr. Kurt April pointed out to us during discussion on Leading from own Diverse Narrative – that it is a privilege to be here among the brightest and most talented minds from all across the world. Coming from a developing economy with an experience level below average in the class, I find it intellectually exciting to look through the narratives of others from the other end of the telescope that I am accustomed to. What strikes me the most about my batch is, regardless of the personal accomplishments, the humility and enthusiasm with which each one of them comes with to learn and share. Before coming to Oxford, there was one thing every body I spoke to from the school had to say to me, which is that time runs at lightening speed here and before you know it is over. It has been three weeks since I came here, which essentially means that about 6% of the year is over. That really does hit hard, doesn’t it?  
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11 Oct 2015, 15:01
| FROM Yudanashi: National Coming Out Day & Oxford |
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Today, October 11th is National Coming Out day. It is an annual event designed to encourage people to tell their families, friends and coworkers that they are gay. Coming out is the most impactful thing to advance LGBT rights globally and I wanted to take time with today’s post to call attention to this. When I applied and during my interview I was concerned about being Out during my Oxford MBA. Oxford is filled with high-church transitions including wearing formal-wear to take exams, eat certain dinners, and it trends more conservative. It also is home to Oscar Wilde and many other LGBT writers, embraced Rachel Maddow, and has a college known as the Queer College (Wadham) that flies the rainbow flag each February. Personally I was concerned that with 40-50% of the class coming from countries where homosexuality is illegal there would be tension with my classmates and that I might be the only one. I am proud to say that that couldn’t be further from the truth. In the past month I have had a dozen people from India and various countries in the Middle East and Africa send me a quick message or pull me aside to let me know that they are supportive. About 2-3% of the class is LGB and so far this year has destroyed my concerns about being out. This weekend I was in Chicago for an LGBT MBA conference and when people heard I was from Oxford they echoed my original fears. I am glad that I was able to picture my classmates and their support and let them know that the students are strong allies across the board. I am grateful to be in an environment where I don’t have to worry about being authentically David and if any prospective students are reading this and want to know more, please reach out to me. I’m happy to chat. David.Baker@mba2015.sbs.oxford.edu |
12 Oct 2015, 05:01
| FROM j2insead: Updates!!! |
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Tick, tock, tick…the countdown to January 7, 2016 when orientation week kicks off. Been a tiring but rewarding journey so far and I really can’t wait to start off at INSEAD. I’ve been able to tick some things off my B-school checklist but there is still a whole lot to be done. What has been done:
But looking at the cost implications (higher housing/living cost in Philly, travel costs to the US), I would rather spend P4&P5 in Singy. I also do not have a keen interest in working in the US after my MBA, so I would save my bidding points for a P4/P5 blast in Singapore. So the picture is clearer now. Back to work…  
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12 Oct 2015, 15:01
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: My “Touchy-Feely” Field 1 Experience – What I Learned and Why it Matters |
Although I have taken many lessons from Field Foundations that can be leveraged later, the lessons that will stick with me the strongest have been the emotional intelligence lessons. Prior to arriving at HBS, I asked my staff, customers, boss, and peers to complete the emotional and social intelligence survey. Also during the emotional intelligence session, we completed two impactful exercises. First, I wrote down characteristics of a supervisor I admired. Then, we completed an emotional intelligence developmental worksheet. Emotional Intelligence Survey Results (Red Arrow = Strength) Fearing the worst, I had been anxiously awaiting the results of the emotional and social intelligence survey since I had sent them out early last summer. I had rated myself also. I judged myself as having poor self and organizational awareness and mediocre cognitive abilities. I was hoping for the best, but still worried that others may have assessed me worse than I had assessed myself. The truth was quite the opposite. The average responses of others had indicated on 86% of the criteria the survey group had rated me higher than I had myself, with only one criterion that I had rated myself higher by a small margin. In fact, 12 of the 14 of the criteria were listed as “a strength.” Clearly, I am my own worse critic. I have wasted a lot of energy concerned about how others experience me. Professor Ghosh had told us that we are our own worst critics, but having data to prove that point really drives it home. Of course compliancy isn’t appropriate, but frequent fear of how I am being experienced isn’t justified either. During our emotional intelligence session, Professor Ghosh asked us to write down attributes of a supervisor we admired. After making the list, he asked us to quantify what percentage of the attributes were related to EQ vs. IQ. My percentage was 95-5. My classmates percentages were not quite so extreme but still were greater than 50% EQ. There is a simple lesson here, when it comes to leadership, EQ is more important than IQ. I would assume our global partners during Field 2 will have high IQ expectations of us, but what will really determine our success will be our team’s ability to demonstrate high emotional intelligence when working together. In the same class, we completed an emotional intelligence developmental worksheet. The worksheet provided a useful framework to build goals on how to become a more emotionally intelligent leader. I hoped to inspire others to perform at their personal best by making them feel empowered and valued. Using the framework, I identified behaviors (interrupting others and dismissing the emotional aspects of business situations) I hoped to reduce and behaviors (actively listening with both my eyes and ears, etc.) I hoped to start or do more. Most importantly, I identified three practical steps to take immediately. After reflecting on these steps, I am disappointed in my progress in achieving these. Hopefully, this reflection is the refocusing I need to complete these steps. After completing Field Foundations, I have been given many tools and skills to help me understand how people experience me and how teams function. These tools, especially self-awareness and emotional intelligence, I believe will tremendously improve my likelihood of success in Field 2 and all teams I work on in the future.  
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13 Oct 2015, 13:02
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: Work, Life, and Accounting Homework |
Work/Life Balance. We’ve all heard of it, and some of us are better at actually finding that balance than others. Work/School/Life Balance? No one really prepared me for that one. Indiana University Indianapolis Campus Center Seven weeks ago, I began my three-year journey as a part-time MBA student. I chose an evening program for several reasons, but largely because of the financial repercussions of no longer having an income and trying to juggle student loans and a mortgage. I also was aware that I want to build my network and learn from others with different backgrounds and who may be on similar career paths, so I didn’t care for a purely online program (not that there’s anything wrong with them, just a personal preference). So, that pretty much left part-time programs and I am fortunate enough to have had several options to choose from. I decided to attend Kelley School of Business and to do the evening MBA program through Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis which is catered towards full-time, working adults. At the beginning of the semester, it didn’t seem like a huge change. My program has a hybrid approach, one class on campus and one class online per week. The first week, the online class was pre-recorded so I didn’t have to be at my computer during our scheduled class time and I could attend my weekly girls’ night as usual; nothing had really changed except adding some reading and homework. However, as time goes on and the more into the subject matter we get, the more and more I’ve been wondering how I’m ever going to be able to complete everything that I need to get done. Work is a given. I am in the office Monday-Friday, 8:00 – 5:00 (or 8:30 – 5:30, depending on when I get there). Class on campus is Tuesday night 6:00 – 9:00 and online Thursday night. So that leaves Monday and Wednesday evenings to prepare and do homework for the next class. Perfect. But then we have a paper due and a group project that requires research and group meetings. You may be thinking that weekends sound like a great time for that, and you would normally be right. But two of my best friends are getting married this Fall, so that means several weekends out-of-town for bachelorette parties and weddings. You know, the “Life” part. So around week 5, I was falling behind in my homework, my house was a disaster, laundry was piling up, work was stressful, and I just wanted to sit down, cry, and give up. It’s a good thing I’m stubborn. I quickly realized that I can’t have it all no matter how much I want it to work. I’ve had to apologize to friends for staying home and not going to social activities, sacrifice sleep some nights (as scary as that may make me the next day), and prioritize my schedule to spend more nights with my laptop and books and less nights out and about. Is it easy? No. I didn’t expect going back for an MBA to be, but having an idea of how time-consuming it will be and then having the reality of it actually shoved into your face are two totally different things. I wish I had some magical solution that I could share with you, some nugget of knowledge that I can turn into a cheat sheet for how to prepare for and get through this next step in your career and life. But I don’t. I do have a couple of small pieces of advice, though, that I’m slowly starting to implement and feeling better about my decision to go back to school.
Courtney Fleck  is a Digital Operations Manager at Indy Star Media, where she supports news media advertising account executives with analytics and sales data. She holds a BS in Marketing and International Business from the Kelley School of Business in Bloomington and is pursuing her MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship part-time at the Kelley School in Indianapolis. When she isn’t working, studying, or writing for HBSAccept.com, she enjoys reading, traveling, watching Indiana University basketball, Colts football, and spending time with friends and family.  
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13 Oct 2015, 14:02
| FROM gmat4IMD: Pre-Program Prep!!! |
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A week ago we were informed of our pre program preparation for Entrepreneurship and Finance… 2.5 months to go and we are already busy with our studies… Where is my Texas Instruments BA 2 plus calculator? Oops, have to brush up on excel too! MBA life just started!!! Let’s get going… |
13 Oct 2015, 14:02
| FROM gmat4IMD: A site for the partners of MBA candidates |
| A site for the partners of MBA candidates: A website we are creating for the better halves of the MBA candidates and the candidates themselves to know “the everything else” of an MBA. Please join and spread the word. Write a blog or start a topic in the forum. Help the others make a smooth transition… |
13 Oct 2015, 22:01
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: IndieGoGo Campaign is Almost Over! |
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HBS Accept’s campaign ends on Friday. Help us meet our goal and grab low introductory prices now for Round 2! https://igg.me/at/HBSAccept/x/10963399   
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14 Oct 2015, 09:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: What the leaders say |
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Brenden Sheehan shares his top 10 quotes on leadership Read more |
16 Oct 2015, 06:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Tips from a McKinsey director |
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The end of orientation is marked with some sound advice, says Stephen Morse Read more |
17 Oct 2015, 19:01
| FROM uwengdori - Current Student: The day my creativity died |
 I think it was December 2006. Two years since I finished highschool, I was on my second Co-op (basically an internship except your work performance is graded by school) as a web developer. One day, we had a nice Christmas tree set up in the office. Excited, one of my senior coworkers said to me, “hey josh, we need to start decorating. can you start putting these glass balls on the tree?” Sure, it was an easy task. I grabbed one of the balls and stood in front of the tree, preparing to hang one. Except, that’s when my longest struggle started and I still remember how it felt like an eternity. Where should I hang it? For some reason, I just couldn’t move my muscle and put that glass ornament ball. The Christmas tree was right there with nothing, but a shining, yellow star on top of the tree. I recall that feeling, what I remember still, as ‘fear.’ I feared that wherever I put that ball on the tree would be a wrong location and I might be blamed for doing it wrong. It was as if, you have this pure, very plain, white blank paper waiting for me to be drawn on. Yet, I had no idea where to put my pen and start moving. In the end, I had to turn my head towards that senior and ask, “so, where do you want me to hang it?” I still am not sure what exactly caused that pause, but at least I thought I was one of the most creative people back then (while the word ‘creative’ and ‘innovative’ are used so much these days without context), winning highschool design competitions and this and that. Higher education taught me how to think logistically and bring functional values to everyday problems in the efficient way as possible and I was trained to become how to apply solutions as fast as possible. My work was considered an ‘improvement’ as I was playing with existing resources.  Eventually as I progressed through undergrad engineering, I often felt lack of motivation. I started to look for tangible, visible proofs over values and experiences. Maxwell’s equation didn’t feel any more than bunch of symbols I need to memorize to get my degree. You start looking for practical applications and what they will do, but perhaps recollecting senses and identify the core of surroundings could be as important. The day I tried to put that glass ball was the day when my creativity died, or perhaps when I started to become more obsessed with mediums over meanings. Long story short, I want you to struggle and I want you to feel pain (owkay not physically but like agony and suffering from trying to overcome your current existential limit) as that is when your capacity and potential to bring subconscious value that couldn’t be found will be revealed at a higher chance.  
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18 Oct 2015, 10:01
| FROM gmat4IMD: Prep!!! |
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CVs, Finance, entrepreneurship, and many more. Days are passing by so fast. Before I could realise, we are almost at the end of October. Just got hold of a TI BA 2 plus calculator for my finance preparation. Though, we may use excel for most part of the Finance classes, the calculator would be helpful during the exams. If you are an aspiring MBA candidate, get hold of one and start getting used to it. Though its an easy one for most of the candidates who have a finance background, someone like me who have never had to deal with finance in his/her life could very well get familiarised with one. A short course on excel would do a world of good as well. Getting all warmed up for the real studies at Lausanne… ☺️ |
18 Oct 2015, 10:01
| FROM gmat4IMD: The ship and I are both getting ready to propel ahead!!! The... |
 The ship and I are both getting ready to propel ahead!!! The ship shall, with its propeller and I shall, with IMD. Another day at the Enavi dry dock for ship repairs at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. |
19 Oct 2015, 05:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Live Q&A: EMBA 2015 |
 Planning to study for an Executive MBA? Ask our panel of experts for advice on Wednesday, 21 October 2015, from 2-3pm BST. Register now to participate and submit your questions on the right-hand side of this post, or email ask@ft.com. On the panel are:  Yingyi Qian is dean of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, China. The joint EMBA delivered by Tsinghua and Insead University (Tiemba) is ranked number one in the FT 2015 global executive MBA ranking.  Sunil Kumar is dean of Chicago Booth School of Business, US. He is an expert in operations research and was a professor at Stanford GSB.  Frank Bournois is dean of ESCP Europe. He has strong links with European business and is a specialist in leadership training.  Della Bradshaw is the FT business education editor. She manages all our business education coverage online, in the newspaper and our magazines. Read more |
20 Oct 2015, 15:02
| FROM Yudanashi: A Day In The Life at Oxford MBA |
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AHHHHHH I didn’t write a post for this week! As you might imagine life has been a little crazy now that term has started. One thing I can say for certain is that this program is intense. If you worry about FOMO (that’s Fear of Missing Out for the uninitiated) then maybe Oxford isn’t the place for you. There is SO much going on each day that it makes deciding on classwork, networking, recruiting, and personal development look like a cake-walk. Let me walk you through my week. This past week I had the chance to go fencing again and signed up for the club with my eye on making the team. I met one of my heroes John Amaechi, the first openly gay NBA player to come out. I met with the administration on improving LGBT efforts at the school and had a 1:1 session with an industry advisor who helped me structure my interview answers better. I met with my fellow student council to talk through key issues and how to work together to help make the school a better place and I got the chance to hear Eric Cantor speak to the university about the 2016 elections. All of this was just Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. On Thursday my classes doubled-down and after a 9-hour day at the school I met with a prospective employer for a coffee chat, worked with the administration to fix a pressing issue for my section, and went fencing again. Friday was just as bad with IT issues, double rounds of classes again, a phone screen with a recruiter and then drinks with my section and then the broader MBA class at the Oxford Union.  Its no surprise that I almost missed the formal Matriculation ceremony at 8am the next morning. Had I slept through it I would have had a tough time attending classes and graduating! After the ceremony we had two major parties I had to choose from. Naturally I chose both! Sunday was more relaxing with services at Christ Church Cathedral (Its beautiful, go when you get the chance!) and brunch with a few friends before heading to the library and trying to get ahead of my reading for the week. If reading that exhausted you, then I suggest working on some stamina because that was my week last week with this one looking to be just as amazing, fun, exhilarating and exhausting. This week isn’t inspirational but I hope I was able to give you a glance behind what a week in the life of an Oxford MBA is like. And I hope you forgive me for being so late! |
21 Oct 2015, 21:01
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: 2015 Most Desired Employers by U.S. Business Students |
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Universum is the global leader in employer branding. Annually, it conducts student surveys to determine their ideal employers. In Part 1 of our two posts on these surveys, U.S. undergraduate and MBA business student surveys are highlighted. In Part 2, global/foreign students will be highlighted. The 2015 Universum U.S. Undergraduate Student Survey results are based […] https://zarbmeansbusiness.com/2015/09/30/2015-most-desired-employers-by-u-s-business-students/  
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22 Oct 2015, 07:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Wrapping up the first term |
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Sunny Sheng sums up her first few weeks Read more |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tuck at Dartmouth
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
 GMAT Club REWARDS
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