【Loyola MBA Capstone Personal Reflection】¶
As I sit down, reflect and write this last paper for my MBA program, I feel a sense of relief. The long and arduous journey has finally come to an end.
I started this part-time MBA program over five years ago in the Fall of 2008. I was a senior software engineer and technical lead at that time and was aiming to grow my career to become a project manager and eventually to move up in the corporate ladder at Lockheed Martin. MBA program was a natural choice especially one from an accredited institution like Loyola. This would provide me with business knowledge, leadership skills， and the credentials necessary to get ahead in a large corporation.
The first few courses went by rather fast and painlessly thanks to the quantitative nature of the courses and the excitement I had at the very beginning. As time went by, courses were getting more and more complex. Some are both qualitative and quantitative, some require case studies, projects， and presentations. With the initial excitement subsiding, it has become more and more challenging to keep up. At the same time, I also came to realize that the corporate ladder is not as straightforward as I thought. I observed cronyism and bureaucracy at my workplace and started having doubts about my original career development plan. It became apparent to me that a MBA degree wouldn’t be of much help. From time to time, I was thinking of giving up my MBA program.
Thanks to the interesting courses and engaging professors, I was able to keep going despite the setback. Loyola courses offer the right balance of theory and practical application which make them so much approachable to full-time professionals like me. Loyola professors are professionals themselves with years of real-life experiences. They respect and nurture students and encourage class participation which makes the classes lively and fun. I was often able to relate the course materials and discussion topics to my work situations and used what I learned from the classroom to improve my performance at work.
I entered the program with the goal of obtaining a MBA degree and the plan of using it as a shining credential to enhance my career advancement. Over the past five years, I have learned, experienced. and gained so much from this program that my initial goal and plan have become much less relevant.
Today, I am a better leader and manager because of my Loyola business education. I learned management theory and leadership skills from a management & leadership course a couple of years ago. The knowledge and skills were reinforced in the business ethics course later when we examined the ethical dilemma of businesses and the moral obligations of leaders. Near the end of the business strategy course, professor Everett really hit the homerun when he discussed personal effectiveness and its importance in the successful implementation of business strategies. Professor Everett used materials and ideas from Stephen R. Covey’s best-selling book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. Coincidentally, I bought and read the book over two decades ago when it first came out and the book still sat in my bookshelf with dust since then. Of course, I went home that night after the class and immediately took the book out of the shelf, shook off the dust and started refreshing my memories.
An effective leader is first an effective person. Personal effectiveness is driven by who you are rather than by what you do or what you say. To be effective, we have to start with building trust with our character ethics and internal strength rather than charisma ethics and external strength. I examined the leaders in my workplace and could hardly find good examples. Some leaders don’t engage themselves in the daily work, show very little concern for the employees. You rarely see them on the floor and interact with employees. The rare time you hear from them is likely from emails which most often than not were written to urge people to work harder, evenings or weekends, in order to hit the deadline. This kind of apathetic top-down bureaucratic management structure and leadership style have plagued everywhere in corporate America.
Loyola puts the right amount of emphasis on ethics and leadership development throughout the course of its business curriculums. In addition, the professors interject into their courses with ethics and leadership issues.This prepares the students to become better leaders. I was able to apply the principles and techniques I learned from the program to my daily work over the past several years and see myself improve and grow.
As a technical lead and project manager, I led a cross functional team of about a dozen members including business analysts, software developers, and testers. We are very productive and effective as a team. But at the same time, we enjoy strong personal relationships and have fun working together. While corporations, especially larger ones, put process and profit over people, I do exactly the opposite. I am more like a small business owner running a small shop. I take ownership and responsibility. I am on the ground day in and day out with my team members. They are more of my peers than subordinates. I don’t give orders, rather I provide support and directions. I respect everyone and treat them fairly and equally. At the same time, I have high standards and hold everyone accountable. For high performers, I recognize and reward them. But everyone is not performing at the same level in a team. For those lacking behind, I provide timely feedback and constructive criticism so that they realize the problem and make improvements. People are different. They all have different strengths and weaknesses in addition to different interests and dislikes. I try to downplay their weakness and focus on their strength. I also find out what their interests are and try to align assignments with their interests. When team members compliment and cover for each other, a team becomes most effective and thriving.
Caring for employees is not just about paying them and providing them with employment benefits. Care has to be given to employees in their daily work. The software lead of my team has a long commute. I provided him with a laptop so that he can work from home once per week. Several occasions, when he was supposed to come on site but the road condition was bad due to inclement weather, I sent him text messages early in the morning and asked him to stay and work from home. What goes around comes around. Care for and trust in your employees are not just the right things to do, they come back to help the team and the business bottom line. My team members go extra miles without hesitation when we have tight schedules. They also are more proactive in their work and require little supervision. I know of some leaders who micromanage their employees and the team ends up with low morale and low productivity.
In his famous Gettysburg address in 1863, Lincoln spoke of “Government of the people, for the people, by the people”. This should apply to business as well. Any business, small or large, profit or not, is human endeavour and should be of the people, for the people and by the people. People are the beginning, the end and the core of any business. Business leaders talk frequently about customers, employees, suppliers,and partners and how important they are. But in fact, they only see them as tools for corporate profits and shareholder returns. Profits and returns always triumph people. This is a very sad reality of corporate America. Today, as I look forward to entering the finish line of the program, I see beyond the degree certificate and its perceived face value. The past five years have already been transformative for me at both personal and professional level. I am more knowledgeable in the business environment and business operations. I am more skillful in critical analysis and decision making. But most importantly, I am a better person and a better leader coming out of this program. Better yet, Loyola and its dedicated professors and staff have equipped me with tools and skills to continue to grow better and stronger as a future leader with a higher and broader impact on my family, community, workplace and the society as a whole.
Despite the busy work schedule and MBA courses, I also was able to squeeze in two Marathon races, Baltimore Marathon in 2011 and Marine Corp Marathon in 2012. I consider my Loyola MBA program a Marathon MBA since it takes me more than 5 years to complete and both require dedication, discipline and perseverance. Crossing the Marathon finish line is just the beginning of a healthy lifestyle as I continue to run on a regular basis. By the same token, Completing the Marathon MBA is certainly not the end of the story. It is only the beginning of a new chapter in my life long learning, personal and professional development.
