The academic year has ended. First-year MBA students are sighing with relief before starting summer jobs. Second-year students are off for a week at the Atlantic shore (“beach week”) with friends—for them, too, there is a sigh and some nervousness about starting the career this summer. Not a little of the sighing reflects the work of gaining their MBA degrees. Honestly, I doubt that the content is much harder than other b-schools. But what is different is the pace of work: learning teams in the evenings; three cases a day; preparation at a high enough level to talk about the case; the expectation that you will talk and contribute usefully in front of some 60 peers; and above all, anticipation of cold-calls. In that sense, Darden may indeed be harder.
What does all that hard work get you? First, there is very good mastery. You learn best that which you teach yourself. Case studies are basically organized self-teaching. Second, it exercises all the attributes of outstanding business leaders: the capacity to recognize problems and opportunities, to frame a vision and plan; to enlist others; to communicate ideas; to be socially aware; and to take action. Third, this hard work simply strengthens your capacity and character for such work—these are hugely valuable gifts. Life gets harder, not easier, as you progress. Therefore, you must prepare for longer future, not merely the next job. I have not met a business manager who doubted that attributes like these become more important as one progresses in the business career. The great American poet, Langston Hughes, conveyed this in his immortal poem, “Mother to Son”:
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So, boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps.
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
Posted by Robert Bruner at 05/09/2008 09:50:38 PM