At business school, students are typically taught business leadership methods and maximizing shareholder value, but few courses teach them how to balance work and personal life with the pressures of the job.
Glenn Leibowitz, Head of Communications at the global management consulting firm McKinsey (Mainland China branch), said that his two years studying for an MBA at the Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania) were a great time that helped him better understand the business world. However, knowledge of company valuation, production process optimization, or statistical modeling, etc., was not enough to help Leibowitz maintain and advance in a real-world work environment.
According to Leibowitz's experience, here are six skills that are absent and should never be included in the curriculum of any business school.
1. Working with people who don't like you.
How do you persuade, or even lead, people who don't want to work under you, don't report on their work, don't publicly support you, or don't cooperate with you?
For Leibowitz, this was one of the biggest challenges he faced in his leadership career, and generally, most leaders encounter at least one such situation during their work. No one warns you about this in school.
Everyone has a different way of handling things, and with specific situations, you have to find your own way to overcome them.
2. Inspire others.
"The best leaders I know always find ways to inspire people through personal stories, and the lessons they learned from those experiences are incredibly impactful," Leibowitz said.
The ability to inspire others can be demonstrated in many forms, whether it's a lively speech, community-oriented sharing, or even small but useful anecdotes for a few employees... This skill isn't taught in school curricula but is gradually accumulated and improved through life experience and each person's keen insight.
3. Building and protecting your personal reputation
“When I was a college student, one day I attended a talk by a successful alumnus. After graduating, he went on to work for a leading investment bank at the time, and I’ll never forget what he told us: spending a lot of time and money cultivating your reputation doesn’t mean you’re immune to the risk of losing everything in an instant. Protect your reputation well,” Leibowitz recalled.
Knowing how to build and protect one's/company's professional reputation is both an art and a science. However, many schools today focus on calculating the value of a company rather than teaching how to broadly measure its reputation.
4. Focus on technology.
Twenty years ago, the internet was still something distant and uncommon in the business world. However, with the current technological boom and the rapid spread of information, the internet has helped many companies thrive.
However, according to Leibowitz, not many business schools currently focus on teaching the basic or common applications of technology in companies. The prospect of MBA students starting their own businesses or working at technology companies, leveraging technology in their professional work, remains quite distant.
5. Lifelong learning
Despite having a bachelor's degree and two postgraduate degrees (including an MBA), Leibowitz stated that his academic pursuits are still ongoing and will continue until the end of his life, rather than being limited to academic knowledge as he once considered.
"After leaving school, I quickly realized that to advance in my career, I needed to continue learning and honing new skills to keep up with the ever-changing world. This made it easier to adjust my priorities to suit the circumstances and assess the impact of these changes on myself," he said.
6. Focus on things other than work.
It took Leibowitz a while to realize this. No matter how much you love or are attached to your work, there will come a time when you want to set it aside and live for yourself. You can find meaning in life through family, friends, pursuing your passions, or turning to religion…
In business school, MBA students are typically taught business leadership methods and maximizing shareholder value, but rarely are there any courses that discuss the factors that help them balance their lives with the pressures of a demanding job.
Source: According to Inc.
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