Defining Your Passion

Defining Your Passion

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  Your Passion, YourMBA, Your Career Defining and Proving Your Passion MBAP 2011 Kick-Off Seminar Jones Graduate School of Business Rice University March 26-28, 2010
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  JR’s Keys toRealizing Your Career Potential Realize the game is much bigger and longer term than just business school It is about YOU..you will determine where you end up, not the schools you are linked to Commit to being good or great - A Sense of Entitlement will catch up to you Hard work is the great equalizer Reputation is everything When someone asks about you, the answer must be either “she/he is impressive” or “I don’t know her/him well enough to say.” Never give anyone the chance to say you are a slacker, you don’t get it, or can’t be trusted Bad impressions last for a long long time Impress a few key people enough so that they will take an interest in you Who believes in/trusts you will ultimately determine where you end up Not just senior folks…focus on peers and junior folks as well Trust the MLT System - don’t waste this opportunity What does happen is…. You never know what can happen when you do Trust that you will achieve your career goals if you make the commitment Absolutely No Way a 4-hour test can stand between you and your aspirations But you have to know what you want to achieve and what tradeoffs are required
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  What Is DefiningYour Passion? Exercise : : Work Book PASSION What are you most passionate about? Where have you committed yourself, how have you demonstrated that you are serious about your goals? Why? SOURCE/FUEL What specific life experiences have shaped your passion? GOALS What are the implications of your passion? Specifically, what does it look like? IMPACT How do your goals connect to your passion? Why should we care? JUICE What have you done that say you can achieve these goals? Examples/actual experience/ evidence of your potential to achieve your goals. GOALS 1. Short term 2. Long term Paint a picture of what this looks like. DEVELOPMENT What do you need to work on to get to your goals? How critical is it to get your MBA now in order to achieve your short-term goals?
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  How to GetStarted Starting Point: What you are MOST passionate about AND what are the implications for your LONG-TERM career goals? Relevance/importance of career goals to your having positive impact in the world (i.e. not just that I want to be a top portfolio manager, corporate executive/CEO, entrepreneur or start a non-profit, but also what will my getting there mean in the broader context? (“second order impact”). For example: Entrepreneur: More jobs/education for those who need them? (not just $) Portfolio Manager : More responsible management of college endowments’ funds, so tuition can be accessible to lower income students Corporate Executive/CEO : Be in position to help other minorities get there or create stronger corporate/community linkages (not just drive corporate results) Non-Profit : Bring best practices of corporate sector to address social issues more effectively
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  How to GetStarted Starting Point : : Part A Why are you passionate about this? What experiences/perspectives have shaped/fueled that passion? Personal or family experiences Early professional exposure (i.e. high school/college internships/mentors)  Undergraduate studies/committed extracurricular activities  Work experiences to date (projects, managers you learned from, etc.)  Active and quality involvement  Answer should not be “just because I want to …”
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  How to GetStarted Starting Point : : Part B Why should your audience think that you have what it takes (the “juice”) to achieve your lofty long-term goals? What have you done TO DATE that demonstrates your leadership potential? Drawing upon accomplishments that demonstrate impact (NOT experiences/projects that demonstrate perspective/exposure) AND categorizing accomplishments in 1 of 4 potential buckets from which to draw for essays: Core job competency and intellectual ability : an analysis that drove impact at your firm or client, a project (or component of) that you managed that moved the organization forward meaningfully; a sale that you made that helped your organization meet its objectives Ability to drive impact through influencing people/interpersonal skills/team skills . Examples where you built consensus, were persuasive, resolved conflict, managed people effectively (especially w/o formal reporting relationships) Great initiative, gumption, entrepreneurial flair, get-up-and-go : when have you started and/or led an initiative that made impact that went beyond what was required of you at some stage? At school, outside your core work roles, etc. - Great work ethic & determination : will do whatever it takes to accomplish your goals (i.e. examples that show you can multi-task and juggle more than one responsibility or project; or worked really hard on a project and it made impact)
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  How to GetStarted Second Part : : How Does the MBA & My Career Choice Fit In? The MBA is the ideal next step in my journey to my short and long term goals because it will help me…  Address my development needs/weaknesses, which are… (be very specific with your answer)  Build upon/leverage my experiences and strengths to continue to grow AND to enhance the learning of my peers  Broaden my business perspectives/skills and relationship set  Ask yourself, why can’t I get there without an MBA? … .All of which are critical to the transition during/after the MBA into my desired near-term career, which is … (be specific to show focus) 1. goal #1 (i.e. strategy consulting, brand management, early stage high-tech marketing, corporate finance, etc.) … .which, in turn, will position me for my medium-term career objectives… might be a little less specific and possibly one of two options, for example: 1. marketing director working in international markets 2. portfolio manager in leading asset management firm My near & medium-term objectives are closely aligned and consistent with:  what I will get out of the MBA (for ex., strategy consulting with an emphasis on technology sector combines my analytical/technical background as a systems engineer with the broader biz fundamentals I will get in b-school)  my long-term goals (for ex., I want to become a successful entrepreneur in the high tech sector and provide career and educational opportunities for less privileged folks in my community)
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  Who is the“you?” Is it the group or is it the individual? Excellence and professional behavior Incredible Results Positive media Extremely strong brand More partners, $$$, sustained growth Continued guidance throughout career Most valuable network Most prestigious organization Under-representation problem Solved When “you” represents the collective MLT… Passionate, wealthy, high impact leaders
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  If “you” meansonly you Stereotypical behavior Top-tier partners leave Results deteriorate Funding dries up Participant quality drops Fewer opportunities, less support to senior levels MLT network not valuable Another mediocre minority org Problem persists Negative media coverage You fail to reach your full potential