When you give back, do you find you ultimately receive more than you give? It’s a common theme for regular volunteers. They often describe the personal impact of each volunteer experience. Kelley alumna Jaime Lira (2010 MBA) says giving back helps her to learn more about herself.
Last weekend, Jaime participated in mock interviews with Evening MBA students. In each 30 minute session, she sharpened her own interview and coaching skills but also met some outstanding MBA students with great stories. Learn more about Jaime’s experience and how volunteering for the Evening MBA program is helping her become a more effective coach.
Most organizations have them, and the names by which they call themselves vary. Their purpose, however, is the same—to advise the chief administrator. The Kelley Evening MBA Student Advisory Board (SAB), formerly known as the Evening MBA Association, is a direct link to the faculty, providing MBA students an opportunity to contribute to the growth of the program.
Zach Wills (@zwills93) serves as the Evening MBA SAB president. He says the group’s primary goals are 1) to provide student feedback to the Kelley Indianapolis administration and 2) to build community among Evening MBA students and faculty.
Just weeks into his time as president, Wills has organized opportunities for both. The SAB is coordinating regular meetings and discussions with Associate Dean Phil Cochran and Evening MBA Faculty Chair Steve Jones. Last weekend, the board hosted a work-day with Second Helpings and prepared 60 pounds of food for the Indianapolis community.
Evening MBA students, faculty and alumni may connect with the SAB via the group’s LinkedIn page.
As I flipped channels during halftime of the IU/Kentucky basketball game on Friday night, I was overwhelmed by a barrage of fitness infomercials. Each featured real people achieving real results in just 90 days or as little as 20 minutes a day. I’m not sure why, but I started thinking about the real people who graduate from Kelley Indianapolis and the real successes they find in central Indiana and, frankly, any place they want to be.
Jaime Lira, a 2010 alumna of the Kelley Evening MBA program, recently shared her own self-improvement journey. Hers took considerably more than 90 days (actually, 2-1/2 years) and resulted in a career change and a new attitude to “fill the bucket.” Discover why Jaime says filling the bucket is vital for real people seeking real results.
While in South Africa, we have arranged business meetings with several multinational companies to discuss what it takes to do business in South Africa. Among the companies that we met with were Cummings, Eli Lilly, and SAB Miller. The first two are familiar Indianapolis headquarter companies and the other is a South African beer maker who acquired the American firm Miller Beer. We met with director of the South African business unit of Eli Lilly and Cumming and met with the CEO of SAB Miller. Having the opportunity to met and gain knowledge from the management of these companies was priceless.
It was interesting to hear how the businesses had to adjust when developing a presence in a foreign country. A company has to worry about understanding the culture and consumers of each country that they serve. They must understand the population, government regulations, and environment that they are going into. For example South Africa has a large population of undereducated people due to the education system during Apartheid. Many companies stated that they were experiencing a shortage of skilled people to choose from in terms of employment. There are many unemployed people in the country, but they are unable to perform the tasks needed. Also South Africa has regulations that companies must adhere to within the country even though the companies are not headquartered in the company. In order to do business in the country they must be in compliance with these regulations in addition to the ones in the US. Being social responsible was also a key of each multinational company.
All of the meetings were interesting, but the meeting with SAB Miller’s CEO, Norman Adami, was my favorites. He took the Miller brand and nursed it back to life. The company is one of South Africa’s outstanding companies. They take pride in developing their employees with training. They also empower employees within the companies as well. SAB Miller allows their drivers to own their trucks. Not only did it serve as a way to gain wealth for the employees but also made them more productive adding to the efficiency of the business. He also gave some nuggets of wisdom to us:
- Make reality your friend: Look at all the facts
- Strategy is situational: sometimes your strategy will have to change depending on the situation. Don’t be so ridged.
- Strategy must be bold.
- Find the genius in simplicity
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Leadership requires the both the head and the heart.
I attended a party with a coworker who works in the Career Planning Office. He stated that there are over 100 employment opportunities, both internships and permanent positions, that were yet unfilled. I was taken aback. I said, "None of those positions are in accounting, are they?" To which he smiled and said, "Oh, no. With the accounting students, all I had to do was sit back and watch."
Am I proud of the accounting students? You bet! The MSA and MST students hear it from the beginning at orientation—go to the Meet the Accounting Recruiter event. Meet with your professors. Stay involved. Why? Competition. With over 400 accounting students on this campus alone, you have to distinguish yourself. And how can you do that? Instead of staying in for a 5 year undergraduate degree, pursue your master degree in either accounting or taxation. You should be taking the courses that will help you not only pass the CPA exam, but also help you not only secure a job, but help you in your chosen career path.
The MSA and MST programs feature classes that are only offered at the graduate level. In addition, you will have some access to classes offered through the MBA program and the law school. Employers are becoming more discerning. Some recruiters will even review your transcripts, looking for specific classes.
Interested in tax? Both the MSA and the MST program offer classes in S-Corp Taxation, Partnership Taxation and fiduciary taxation. Is auditing a better fit? We offer classes in Corporate Financial Reporting and Financial Statement Analysis.
The job market seems to be improving. That means even more competition for coveted positions at prestigious firms. Now is the time to go the extra mile and get your graduate accounting degree!
Our trip started in Johannesburg, the business capital of South Africa. First we reinforced the history of the country that we studied by visiting a couple of the city’s historical sites like the Hector Peterson Memorial, Vilakazi Street(home of two Nobel Peace Winners), and the Apartheid Museum. It amazes me the parallels of the South African Apartheid to the Civil Rights Movement in the US. Most citizens just gained their independence in 1990. Previously the country had been divided by race in everything from where you were allowed to live to what type of job you were allowed to have.
The museums and memorial were very insightful into the history of South Africa. Hector Peterson was a young child who was shot during youth protest. This event helped to start the beginning of the end of apartheid in South Africa. We also saw the Apartheid Museum which gave a detailed account of the separation created by the Apartheid period and the events that ended them. International pressure such as sanctions from the US and other countries due to the unjust treatment of the black African people was a major factor in the end of apartheid. Both of these museums were very moving and caused you to think about how many people gave their lives for the things that they believed in. We also saw the home of the first president after Apartheid was ended, Nelson Mandela.
This portion of history must be understood when trying to understand the business and economic environment South Africa. There are huge disparities in education and economic wealth within the country. When we arrived at the airport, you immediately noticed large communities of shacks with tin roofs alongside the road. In other places you see large houses surrounded by gated fences and armed guards. The unemployment rates are officially around 25%, but are probably even more than that figure. It was sad to see the huge gap in economic status. While some lived in complete poverty others lived in absolute wealth. There is a large population of the black African population who are uneducated and unskilled as well.
After a 17 hour flight to South Africa, I was happy to get off of the plane. I smiled to myself. I was finally in South Africa. I took a deep breath and tried to take in all the around me. The weather was beautiful and so was the scenery. I would be joining my other 7 classmates and Professor Lyles for 10 days in the country of South Africa. After months of reading, discussing, and researching the country, I was finally there. I could not wait to experience all the country had to offer.
Before I give you my experiences in South Africa, please allow me to introduce why I'm here. My name is Yvonne Gilbert and I am a current Evening MBA at the Kelley School of Business. I have a concentration of Marketing and Supply Chain Management. This is my last semester at Kelley because I will be graduating in May. When I first started at Kelley I only knew that I wanted to hone my marketing skills. Since then I have gained so much valuable experience from Kelley through different enterprises and consulting projects. These experiences will make me more valuables as a potential job candidate and stand above other applicants. I currently have my sights set on international experience, which brings me to the reason for this blog.
In the spring, I started taking the Emerging Economy class taught by Professor Marjorie Lyles. This semester the class focuses on South Africa. As the name implies, the course focuses on the emerging economies around the world. Previous classes have focused on Russia and Brazil. The first half of the class consists of studying the emerging economy of a country. We read different books and articles, watch documentaries, and produce papers about the economy. To supplement our learning, we have different speakers to talk to us on different aspects of the emerging economy. The second half of the class consists of seeing the country first hand. We will be visiting various businesses and government offices in the country to see how they operate in the country. The culmination of the class is a group paper centered on a specific issue relevant to the country.
I chose to take this class for various reasons. Here are a few:
- Companies are looking outside of the US for growth opportunities. Most of these opportunities come from emerging markets. Learning about different aspects of the emerging economy will allow you to be more marketable a potential employee.
- Getting international experience. We are able to learn about and from several international companies in South Africa. Being able to ask these companies about their strategies in different countries is priceless.
- Learning about different Cultures. I have traveled internationally before and I enjoy learning about other ways of doing things. You can always learn a thing or two from other people.
- Getting to visit South Africa. It's a beautiful country. I jumped at the chance to visit it.
Now that we have gotten all the introductions of myself and the class out of the way, the next blog entry you will see from me will be about my experiences in South Africa. Until next time....
Out of all of the skills that I have developed as an MBA student, I think the most important has been my ability to analyze situations much more effectively. I have found that I am able to take a more practical, business-minded approach to topics that might not be business related.
While there is still an emotional element to most decisions that I make, I feel more confident that I am now able to see more sides of a situation than I did before. The most recent example of this came with the “Kony 2012” film that seems to have taken over Facebook and other social networking sites. In short, the Kony 2012 film is a viral video that was released by an organization that is devoted to spreading the message about war crimes in Africa. The film specifically focuses on Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, who has reportedly abducted tens of thousands of African children. Surviving males are forced to fight for the movement and the females are forced into slavery. It is not my intention to discuss the video itself or the situation in Africa that is referenced, but rather to show how my mindset and approach has changed during my time in the Kelley School of Business.
This video has spread like wildfire across the internet and with it, quite a bit of skepticism, mostly aimed at the organization responsible for its release. The arguments that I have seen about the video mention that the organization that created and released the video, Invisible Children, Inc., has only given about 30% of the money it has raised to projects in Africa. Many people also have issues with the transparency of the financials of the organization and the way that it spends the money that it has raised. I believe that three years ago, I would have taken the same approach as many of these skeptics. I would have probably dismissed this video because I had an issue with the organization behind it and they way they spent the money they had raised. Now, my mindset has changed considerably and there were two thoughts that came to my mind as I read the critiques of the video.
My first thought is: You don’t need to support the organization to support the message or the cause. Before even researching the spending practices of Invisible Children, Inc., I already had some issues with the organization. Specifically, with the tactics they mention in the video for spreading their message and the recommendations for their supporters to help spread the word. However, more importantly is the fact that I do agree with their message and I believe in the power of social networking to inform the masses. This led me to even share the video on my own Facebook account. My decision to post the video was strictly based on the fact that I supported the message of raising awareness of the situation in Africa, not in support of the organization that created the video.
My second thought (which is where my business mindset really kicked in) was regarding the mission of Invisible Children, Inc. Critics have stated that the organization has only given one-third of the money it has raised to projects in Africa, however, at no point in time while I watched the video did I see this organization as one that is working to rebuild war torn communities. Even after a little research, it is clear that the mission of this organization is to spread the word about the crimes being committed in central Africa and make people (mainly younger people) in developed countries aware of the situation. Therefore, I would assume any money that the organization raised would be going specifically toward that mission. Raising awareness, NOT rebuilding communities. However, it has become evident that many people fail to see the difference and as a result the message gets diluted, which is very unfortunate.
The ability to separate my own issues with a specific organization or medium with the overall message it is trying to send is something that I developed in the Kelley MBA program. It is something that is going to be very valuable in my personal and professional life. Admittedly, I still find myself dismissing or ignoring a message because I might not like the person that is delivering it, but I have become better at recognizing this, and will continue to improve. It is easy to find fault or reasons to disagree with something or somebody, but many times the overall goal is more important. Successful leaders are able to make this distinction and look at the message rather than the messenger.
Edward De Bono is a business management consultant whose primary focus is in fostering creativity in businesses and indivduals. To anyone interested in creative thinking (and everyone should be), I would highly recommend both "Lateral Thinking" and "Six Thinking Hats" as seminal works on purposefully creative thinking.
De Bono would appreciate the transformation going on in the Kelley Evening MBA program. In order to foster creativity, one of the techniques that he suggests is to examine a process, but purposefully omit a key part of it. That is, as a thought experiment, he would we look at the educational process and ask, "How could we have college courses without textbooks?" Then you would spend time coming up with alternative ways to accomplish the educational mission without something that is considered central to the current process. This creative pursuit may lead to a better and more creative way of teaching.
While we are not abolishing textbooks, the MBA program has begun a transformation of its core classes by reducing the number of classroom hours in half. A 1.5 credit hour course meets only 4 nights over an 8 week period. As a professor of these courses, I have had to make some major adjustments to how I teach.
For the last six months, I have asked myself, "Why do I teach in this way?" and "Why do students need to be in the same room with me to learn this material?" This self-reflection and analysis has led to an adjustment in every part of the curriculum of my courses. I now rely on videos, podcasts, and exercises to engage my students much more strongly outside of class. While the number of hours we meet has decreased, the content and learning have remained strong.
Creativity doesn't just come from sitting around and trying to think up great ideas. Rather, there is a process, and one technique is to restrict what we already do. By restricting one aspect of my class (the number of times we meet), I have been forced to creatively come up with a different way of teaching.
And it is one that I believe will improve the educational experience of our Kelley Indianapolis MBAs. When all of the faculty have gone through this process, we will have dramatically improved the overall curriculum of one of the top part-time MBA programs in the country.
De Bono would have predicted it.
De Bono would appreciate the transformation going on in the Kelley Evening MBA program. In order to foster creativity, one of the techniques that he suggests is to examine a process, but purposefully omit a key part of it. That is, as a thought experiment, he would we look at the educational process and ask, "How could we have college courses without textbooks?" Then you would spend time coming up with alternative ways to accomplish the educational mission without something that is considered central to the current process. This creative pursuit may lead to a better and more creative way of teaching.
While we are not abolishing textbooks, the MBA program has begun a transformation of its core classes by reducing the number of classroom hours in half. A 1.5 credit hour course meets only 4 nights over an 8 week period. As a professor of these courses, I have had to make some major adjustments to how I teach.
For the last six months, I have asked myself, "Why do I teach in this way?" and "Why do students need to be in the same room with me to learn this material?" This self-reflection and analysis has led to an adjustment in every part of the curriculum of my courses. I now rely on videos, podcasts, and exercises to engage my students much more strongly outside of class. While the number of hours we meet has decreased, the content and learning have remained strong.
Creativity doesn't just come from sitting around and trying to think up great ideas. Rather, there is a process, and one technique is to restrict what we already do. By restricting one aspect of my class (the number of times we meet), I have been forced to creatively come up with a different way of teaching.
And it is one that I believe will improve the educational experience of our Kelley Indianapolis MBAs. When all of the faculty have gone through this process, we will have dramatically improved the overall curriculum of one of the top part-time MBA programs in the country.
De Bono would have predicted it.
From Kelley Indianapolis' Marc Lane, JD/MBA studentAs the turn of the year presents me with new resolutions, career ambitions, and life challenges, I look ahead to the mountainous range of lofty ambitions I’ve set with promise, vigor, and even a bit of reserved apprehension. My journey these first few weeks begins, as past year’s journeys have, seemingly productive and positive, with the freshness of youthful purpose. But, each step towards a mountain presents a new perspective, a closer look; each goal becomes a bit more daunting and the mountain a bit taller. I’ve faced this realization in the past, and have come to know it well. Each year, its passion meets with demoralizing demise where reachable hill tops have become the Himalayan Summit.
While this illustration might seem embellished, I ask you to consider carefully the expectations and goals you’ve set for yourself, your significant others, and those within your reach at work. Personally, I’ve gained much through carefully considering my own abilities and managing expectations. However, I do not wish to quell the human spirit, to tread on the dreams of those passionate enough to challenge the mountains, the lofty goals we dream of achieving. My goal is only to provide an alternative perspective.
In my youth, my career goals often emulated the depiction presented above. Through experience I’ve gained a great appreciation for the value of meeting small goals, and an understanding that lofty ambitions always require a thousand steps in between departure and reaching the summit. Why do we so often overlook the small successes we achieve? These successes are like footholds in the mountainside; they are the foundations upon which we stand to take the next step towards the peak, towards our ultimate ends. Without recognizing and appreciating these small gains and the realization of progress in the midst of various struggles and minor defeats we lose perspective of where we’ve come from. We focus only on the distance between our current position and the lofty goals we’ve set. And, in time the negatives begin to weigh upon us; breaking us down.
Whether your goal is to become a CEO, president, the top sales person on your team, a better husband/wife, a better father/mother, a better friend, or even a better you, this practice remains equally invaluable. Dismantle lofty goals into logical, rational and reachable stepping stones. Develop an understanding of why each step is important, and celebrate the successes of reaching smaller mountain tops. I promise, you’ll come to find the road less daunting and in the end you’ll look back upon your journey with a greater appreciation for what you’ve accomplished.
Recommended reading: The Progress Principle; Leadership and Self-Deception; The Leadership Challenge; Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.
The other night I walked into my kitchen and hadn’t turned on the lights yet. I ended up tripping on some toys my kids left on the floor and it reminded me of setting goals in my life. You might be asking what tripping on my way to the fridge has to do with goals (and I’m about to explain).
Walking through life without goals is like walking with the lights off. You may have an idea of where you’re going, but you can’t really see how to get there. When you set your focus on where you want to go, it is like the lights coming on. Setting goals helps you navigate around the obstacles standing in the way of you and your future.
When I was a kid, I loved to play football. Like most aspiring football stars, I had a dream to play in the NFL (we will call that a long-term goal). To reach that ultimate dream, I had to start by setting and filling some short-term goals. I made all my practices on time; I spent extra time in the gym so I could be in the best possible shape. I also set a goal to study hard so I could get into a good college to maximize my exposure to NFL scouts. By the time I graduated high school I had met or exceeded all of those goals and I ended up being accepted to the University of Kentucky with a scholarship to play football.
As my college years passed, I realized my dream of playing in the NFL might not be a goal I could realize. Circumstance and chance happen to us all, but whenever one dream fades another one is usually right behind it. I graduated from UK and went on to become a successful financial advisor, but behind all of that was a dream to help others. In 2005 I set a goal to make a not-for-profit company to help people find their best strategy to pay for college by 2006 that goal was fulfilled with the creation of Indy College Funding. But the buck didn’t stop there. To best serve people, I had to have the most knowledge, so I set out to become a Certified College Planning Specialist (CCPS) and achieved that in 2007. I became a CPA in 2011 and Lord willing I’ll complete my Master’s Degree in Accounting at the Kelly School of Business in 2012.
This is a long way of telling you the importance of setting goals. Every goal I achieve has another one tied to the tail end. In life I have found you never really arrive, you just keep moving ahead. This statement is true for college planning as well. Begin by setting some goals early. What does you student want to do for a career? What schools are best suited to the degree your student wants? How are you going to pay for it? Answering these questions will give you a good idea of what direction to go. Some students want a small liberal arts college, some want Harvard, and some are still up in the air, but if you begin today with tomorrow’s end in mind your chances of success will greatly increase.
Here are some quick pointers for setting goals in all areas of life:
· Take some time to find out what you want to accomplish
· Set a timeline for reaching that ultimate goal
· Set some smaller goals in the middle so you can see your progression
· Review your goals often (this helps keep you focused)
· Don’t get discouraged and stay flexible (Sometimes our desires change and so should our goals)
· Read about people who set/accomplished their goals (Inspiration)
Thanks for reading,
Kurt
www.indycollegefunding.org
although not affiliated with Indy College Funding, Kurt Supe offers securities and advisory services through cfd Investments, Inc. and Creative Financial Designs, Inc, respectively. Member FINRA/SIPC
When I started the Kelley MBA program two and a half years ago, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t repeat the same mistakes I made when I graduated from undergraduate school when it was almost impossible for me to find a job. As I enter into my final semester as an MBA student, I find myself in a much better position than I was when I was entering my final semester as an undergrad. For starters, I actually have a job, but even more important, I used the experience that I gained from all those failed interviews to structure my MBA experience. While the degree is essential, it is important to have substance to bring with it, which is something that I lacked as a new college graduate. All of the internships, volunteer experience, and extracurricular activities that I had during my undergraduate career gave me the opportunity to interview, but I didn’t have what it took to close the deal. I was more focused on adding to the list of things I have done, than taking the time to really think about and express what those experiences taught me and how they can relate to the job market.
While this was a tough lesson to learn at the time, it was something that stayed in my mind even after I found a job. That is why, throughout my time in the MBA program, I have continually asked myself “what can I talk about in a job interview?” Potential employers are going to look at my resume and see an MBA from the Kelley School of Business, one of the best business schools in the country, and be impressed enough to take the time to interview me. However, what am I going to say in the interview that will give me an upper hand? What can I say about my time at Kelley that will close the deal? An interviewer is not going to want to hear about what specifically I learned in class, or the formulas that I have memorized, they are going to want to hear about my experiences and, more importantly, how I can apply these to the job. Simply following the class schedule required to get the MBA credential and completing the degree as quickly as possible really wasn’t going to provide me with the story I want to tell. Instead I looked for opportunities to give me something I could talk about…”interview fodder”, if you will.
For instance, I took the opportunity to participate in DIVE, the entrepreneurship enterprise. DIVE was a valuable learning experience, and the type of “outside of the classroom” learning I was looking for. In addition, my DIVE project is a perfect example of something I did in business school that would be interesting to talk about in a job interview, something that a potential employer would like to hear about. The same can be said about why I joined the Student Advisory Board (formerly the Evening MBA Association). Not only do these things add to the list, but they will be what will lead my conversation about getting an MBA.
The Kelley School of Business provides countless opportunities to enhance a students experience in the program, from the enterprises, to overseas study opportunities, to mentoring and facilitation sessions. It is important to take advantage of these and begin to create interesting stories to tell in a job interview. Simply following the schedule to get the degree will only provide a credential that opens a door; it is the experiences you create and can relate that will give you the ability to land the job.
While this was a tough lesson to learn at the time, it was something that stayed in my mind even after I found a job. That is why, throughout my time in the MBA program, I have continually asked myself “what can I talk about in a job interview?” Potential employers are going to look at my resume and see an MBA from the Kelley School of Business, one of the best business schools in the country, and be impressed enough to take the time to interview me. However, what am I going to say in the interview that will give me an upper hand? What can I say about my time at Kelley that will close the deal? An interviewer is not going to want to hear about what specifically I learned in class, or the formulas that I have memorized, they are going to want to hear about my experiences and, more importantly, how I can apply these to the job. Simply following the class schedule required to get the MBA credential and completing the degree as quickly as possible really wasn’t going to provide me with the story I want to tell. Instead I looked for opportunities to give me something I could talk about…”interview fodder”, if you will. For instance, I took the opportunity to participate in DIVE, the entrepreneurship enterprise. DIVE was a valuable learning experience, and the type of “outside of the classroom” learning I was looking for. In addition, my DIVE project is a perfect example of something I did in business school that would be interesting to talk about in a job interview, something that a potential employer would like to hear about. The same can be said about why I joined the Student Advisory Board (formerly the Evening MBA Association). Not only do these things add to the list, but they will be what will lead my conversation about getting an MBA.
The Kelley School of Business provides countless opportunities to enhance a students experience in the program, from the enterprises, to overseas study opportunities, to mentoring and facilitation sessions. It is important to take advantage of these and begin to create interesting stories to tell in a job interview. Simply following the schedule to get the degree will only provide a credential that opens a door; it is the experiences you create and can relate that will give you the ability to land the job.
I have not been posting blogs for quite a bit now.....my life has been a bit of a rollercoaster over the last two years and I will tell you all about it- but for now here's a snipet of whats going on at the moment....I've been working for the same company since I graduated Kelley in mid-2007. Some of my friends are on their 3rd or 4th company, but I have been fortunate enough to have significant changes (both geographically and workwise) over the last few years.
I've been back in Indianapolis since January of this year, after spending nearly three years overseas working on different assignments with the company. And now, I have taken a job in our London office working for our capital assett JV and looking after the Americas. - perfect combination for me as I will get to live in London, but will travel back and forth to the US and Latin America.
More to come in the next few weeks.....
I've been back in Indianapolis since January of this year, after spending nearly three years overseas working on different assignments with the company. And now, I have taken a job in our London office working for our capital assett JV and looking after the Americas. - perfect combination for me as I will get to live in London, but will travel back and forth to the US and Latin America.
More to come in the next few weeks.....
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