The only way to make an impact is to go to Wall Street.
As you can see below, more HBS graduates are heading out to the West
Coast to make a difference, taking positions in product management, marketing,
sales, and general management. In a dramatic shift versus a decade ago,
technology jobs are more sought out than roles in finance. MBA’s are
proving their skills are far more valuable than for merely crunching
spreadsheets and building financial models.
Money matters more than people.
Prior to attending business school, I was warned that HBS was
filled with people willing to do anything to make inordinate amounts of money
and that it is not the place to meet or build true friendships. Having
kept an open mind, I will graduate from Harvard Business School in a few days
with many authentic relationships that have already been incredibly rewarding
and made me a better version of myself. These amazing bonds are priceless
and define my experience here, helping me learn that people matter far more
than money.
Experiences are expendable.
The MBA critic will say that most of what you learn in the class
can be obtained more cheaply and more effectively by buying the books, studying
on your own, and watching classes online. In reality, no case study,
framework, or amazing guest speaker can match the experience of learning from
your peers, both inside and outside of the classroom. You can learn material
many ways, but the most meaningful learning opportunities require in-person
experiences and shared time together. The full-time in-class HBS MBA experience
provides both.
More is better.
HBS teaches us that we can’t have everything. From day one,
we are inundated with endless mixers, social gatherings, and recruiting events.
We are also exposed to hundreds of classmates who each have an incredible
story to tell and would be incredible additions to our network. However,
we can’t pretend to really get to know them all, just like we can’t prepare
well for every single interview. We have to make tough decisions.
We have to invest - fully and deeply - in the few people and things that
make us the happiest. Only then can we make a truly meaningful impact as
future business leaders.
Seeking out and receiving feedback is a waste.
No one is perfect, regardless of how impressive their resume.
Everyone can improve if they put effort in and use their friends and
peers in the process. After a semester of cases and guest lectures one theme
became clear: success post business school depends less on your IQ and more on
your ability to work with others. Can you motivate a team and accomplish a common
task that is impossible to achieve alone? I would say no if you cannot accept
and give the honest feedback that allows a team to function at an optimal
level. As uncomfortable as it is to give and receive feedback, the MBA
class contains people who have a vested interest in your success and want to
see you “Be all that you can be”. Seeking out these people and letting them
play a direct role in your development creates the potential for amazing
growth.
Learning stops when class ends.
While the classroom was incredibly valuable to my development and
education (both here and as an undergrad), I found my experience outside the
classroom to be equally, if not more, valuable. Ranging from debates over
equity investments, deep conversations on business models, or discussions
around how to create a sustainable competitive advantage, outside the classroom
learning never stopped. My interactions with professors, peers, and mentors
beyond the teaching halls contributed the most to my personal and professional
growth.
Try everything.
Focus on your strategy, on your goals, and on what you are
uniquely good at and love. The rest is noise. If you are terrible at modeling
financials or hate using Excel, learn the basic competency, and then follow
your passions. There will be something that makes your eyes sparkle and your
face light up. Find out what that is - you have two years to do just that - and
then run after it without looking back.
A special thanks to Harvard Business
School for providing data on placement locations for recent graduates, and to
friends at a local start-up for helping us build out a unique infographic to
help tell this story in a creative manner.
To Ajmal Sheikh, Heidi Kim, Julia Yoo,
Momchil Filev, and Walter Haas: You have each been wonderful co-authors and
co-editors in this writing process and more importantly dear friends, thanks
for making an idea become reality. To the Professors, staff, and faculty of
Harvard Business School, thanks for making this an experience unlike any other
– one chapter ends, the pages turn, and another begins!
Benjamin T. Faw is
currently a student at Harvard Business School about to graduate with the class
of 2014. Private sector experience includes: Work experience with UBS
Investment Bank, Tesla Motors, and two start-ups. Recent Strategy Projects with LinkedIn, Nest
Labs (Acquired by Google), Rally Point Networks, Smith-Rowe, and various
start-ups. Co-founder of three start-ups, leading efforts resulting in almost
$10,000 in grant / scholarship funding, filing of a patent, and design /
invention of physical prototypes.
Captain Faw's last military assignment was as aide-de-camp and special assistant to the division commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (South Pacific). Prior to this, he was an Infantry Platoon Leader in the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, and spent a year in Northern Iraq. Captain Faw is a graduate of US Army Ranger and Airborne School, and was selected as an officer of the United States Army Special Forces at the age of 20. He holds a B.S. degree in economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he received the Superintendent's Award and the Distinguished Cadet Award, among others. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Captain Faw's last military assignment was as aide-de-camp and special assistant to the division commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (South Pacific). Prior to this, he was an Infantry Platoon Leader in the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, and spent a year in Northern Iraq. Captain Faw is a graduate of US Army Ranger and Airborne School, and was selected as an officer of the United States Army Special Forces at the age of 20. He holds a B.S. degree in economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he received the Superintendent's Award and the Distinguished Cadet Award, among others. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
@btfaw
http://btfaw.tumblr.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/benfaw
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