Why did you get into this business?
Think back to your MBA program. Obviously, a career path that led you into the financial sector must have been motivated by promises of vast riches.
But, was money a reason you went to business school?
Or, was it the reason you opened this door and stepped through?
If your entire professional life has been predicated on the pursuit of money and power, your life plan has a fundamental flaw.
Sure, business school can better equip you to be a successful business professional. But, you need to look deep within yourself to uncover what will truly make you happy—or at least keep you from being totally miserable.
ENROLLING STUDENTS UNDAUNTED BY DOWNTURN
MBA programs were bracing for the worst in the fall of 2009, as the US struggled out of recession. According to an article in Business Week magazine#: “A damaged brand, a shortage of jobs, and questions about return on investment all threatened to send admitted students away from business school and into the relative stability of the workforce.”
As Business Week reported, though, much to the relief of many an admissions officer, fears of mass student defection was never realized. “Far from it. Flying in the face of many predictions, 2009 enrollment actually soared at top schools. Students accepted their offers of admission in unprecedented numbers, leading many programs to enroll more MBAs than ever in this year’s entering classes.”
The reasons for the higher-than-expected yields are unclear. The economic forces that boosted enrollments in recent years have clearly not abated.
These statistics demonstrate that in the wake of the most dramatic economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, business schools are seemingly bullet-proof. The fact that top schools saw the biggest gains suggests that prospective students may be opting for B-schools they believe will provide the best ROI in a tough economy.
What they also subtly indicate is that many applicants may have opted to wait out a jobless recovery in B-school. In a sense, this is counterintuitive to the hard reality of the industry, because many of the real lessons that need to be learned — or, at least impossible choices that need be navigated — are not accessible through the oft-antiseptic filter of the business school.
THE LIMITATIONS OF AN EDUCATION IN THE ABSTRACT
Business school doesn’t teach you how to have courage and imagination. It does not teach you how to assess and trust people. It does not teach you to be aware of, and how to utilize your instincts. It does not teach you how to survive and prosper in a world riddled with money madness, severe stress, emotional abuse, betrayal, deception and fear. Once you finish B-School, you need to build your own Gyroscope to insure your emotional and professional balance.
Mentally, while any MBA graduate can attest to the severe rigors demanded in obtaining a degree, it is nothing compared to the pragmatism and compromise sometimes required to not just be successful, but to survive on the Street.
For instance, I recently counseled a young man in his late 20s, a recent graduate from a prestigious MBA program, who had very successful academically but who now admits he really was not prepared for the level of intense pressure and the nearly impossible situations he faced on a daily basis with an elite Wall Street firm.
An MBA is not a cash card, contrary to popular opinion. If you are lucky, it is more like an admission ticket. It will get you into the party, but that is it. The world will challenge what you are truly made of. Some can hide for a time, but it all comes out in the wash.
After a relatively successful stint selling whole life and annuity products for the insurance division of a major bank, my patient was lucky enough to land a much more lucrative position selling specialized financial products, which was his intended goal when he entered his MBA program. This seemed like a natural progression along his career trajectory, until he ran into one of the many nuances of the Street they usually do not prepare you to deal with – his boss was a complete nightmare.
He was ‘required’ to work six 14 hour days per week, late into the evening most nights. To boot, he did not receive the bonus he felt he was promised, and entitled to, based on his performance.
Many people who hear such accounts, from the outside looking in, may just wonder why he did not just quit and seek employment elsewhere. In some situations, for a myriad of factors, it is not that easy.
Despite the lack of bonus, he was receiving a compensation level probably well in excess of what he could command elsewhere and he knew that. With his financial commitments, he could not take a step down. Due to a family situation, he could not relocate. And, Wall Street is a very insular place; your history follows you.
In short, he was trapped and slowly began to deteriorate. His stories of psychological trauma intensified and claims of deep depression and emotional abuse mounted.
Increasingly desperate, he even started soliciting advice from me as to how he could defraud his employer on disability, unemployment insurance, and/or severance, expecting me to co-conspire with him.
This is an extreme example in an extreme climate that B-School does not address.
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22 Business Week – October 8, 2009, 1:14PM EST – Business School Gets Crowded