solaris1
what i was trying to say was if you've demonstrated leadership at work, leadership in your community as well as excelled in activities outside the classroom, you already have what it takes to have a successful career. and what do you know, these are the same folks that get into b-school!
That's a hypothesis. You are saying that leadership ability equals success in a business environment. I doubt that. I believe in order to succeed as a leader you DO need the skill set to convince people you know what you're talking about (I know, there are leaders out there who have little knowledge of their field but still succeed, I say those are exceptions to the rule).
solaris1
while there are several schools of thought that question the actual educational utility of an MBA, most people (myself included) are looking to accomplish very different aims by going through 1 or 2 years of business school - get into banking or consulting, switch careers, enhance international mobility, get stamped as being 'CEO' material etc. - an MBA facilitates a lot of this, but i'm a little skeptical about it unlocking some inherent potential within you or something like that.
most successful business leaders haven't needed an MBA to be successful in what they do.
Maybe I am naiive, but I actually do think that an MBA can unlock unfulfilled potential within me.
Soft skills:
First, because of the environment and teaching style that will foster soft skills I know I can be even better on, such as working in international teams, becoming more patient with other people from different backgrounds, speaking in public, analytical skills (this could be seen as a hard skill)
hard:
I actually have quite high expectations as to what I can learn in an MBA (although I have a business degree): Especially in the areas of finance , strategy and technology I expect the MBA to give me knowledge that I lack and would have trouble acquiring in any other way. I will make sure I will get that knowledge and will judge the value of my MBA by the degree that it will fulfill these expectations.
Of course, apart from these expectations I also want to the added value of having an internationally acclaimed degree and make a career change, but to get there, I want to acquire the above mentioned skills.
As to the H/S/W discussion: I severely doubt that H/S/W can deliver better on these parameters than other top10/15 schools. I actually doubt that a school with competitive feel such as H would be better at all.