Members of Darden’s MBA for Executives program and Alumni Career Services recently shared their experience and skills at Women on The Move, a Career Coaching Workshop hosted by Academy Women.
The event found synergy between Darden’s mission of “developing principled leaders for the world of practical affairs” and the purpose of Academy Women, a nonprofit organization supporting the professional and personal growth of women from the nation’s premier military academies and officer development programs.
Emily McMahan, CFO at Halfaker and Associates and Darden MBAE 2010 shared her experiences at the Service Academy Women Career Workshop.
The workshop was attended by nearly 100 service academy alumnae ranging in experience in from cadets seeking initial professional specialization to senior officers approaching retirement. For all, the common theme was transition.
“An MBA for Executives class is made up of managers and leaders who are not standing still,” notes Barbara Millar, Executive Director of Darden’s MBA for Executives Program. “These students come to us precisely because they are successful but do not want their career to plateau. The MBA Exec curriculum, leadership training, and professional coaching are all designed to support students as they evolve as leaders. And in each MBA Exec class, it’s no surprise that we always have both active and transitioning military.”
Darden’s workshop session was led by Connie Dato English (Darden MBA ’91), Director of Alumni Career Services. English is a recognized career coaching expert who has presented worldwide, but she was particularly excited to address this audience: she herself is a service academy grad.
“When you’re in the military,” English observes, “you work hard but you also have your career path more or less laid out for you. It’s often when men and women first seek to transition out of the military that they are unsure of which career options provide the best fit.”
For Emily McMahan, a West Point graduate and a student in Darden’s MBA for Executives Class of 2010, questions of “finding the right fit” occurred and were answered as she’s built an impressive career that balances fulltime work as a successful Chief Financial Officer with studies toward her Darden MBA.
“There were many options when I transitioned from the military,” McMahan explains, “but the most obvious choices were not necessarily the right ones. Finding a job that provided a mission and service as well as the ability to impact change was most important to me.”
Structuring the session with a nod toward Darden’s high engagement case method approach, English invited McMahan to describe her own career path while workshop attendees were given a sampling of the self-assessment tools required to guide successful choices of their own.
McMahan described how she was ultimately delighted to become the CFO at Halfaker and Associates, LLC., a service-disabled veteran-owned and woman-owned small business founded by a fellow West Point alumna Dawn Halfaker.
“When I came to Halfaker, I knew I found the right fit, but I also knew I could be most effective if I went back to school earned my MBA.”
Today, McMahan is a several months away from graduating Darden’s Executive MBA program, and is a part owner of Halfaker and Associates. Students in Darden’s MBA for Executives and fulltime MBA programs receive Darden Career Services while studying at Darden and as alumni, for the lifetime of their careers.
