Does a MBA make you a better business leader?

I’ve encountered this question many times and therefore it made me reflect on it. For those of you who are not aware of what MBA stands for, it is a business administration master’s for graduates. It is desgined to be a 360 degrees process that involves learning skills including: entrepreneurship, communication, innovation, market and business strategies, and so on. 

With the growing competition in the business market, we need, indeed, highly skilled leaders in  firms to act in this VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world. If you’re looking  for a program that will change your life, an MBA is the place to do it. 

But in fact, an MBA per se, does not mean that will you become a better business leader. You will, for sure, become a more informed and more self-disciplined individual and a better manager for sure, but that it’s not the same. 

A research from the Development Dimensions International (DDI), a global leadership  development consultancy, examined how educational degrees translate into leadership skills in  a report, High-Resolution Leadership. DDI’s research compared the performance of  undergraduate business degrees and MBA degree holders against eight leader skills: financial acumen, business savvy, compelling communication, driving execution, driving for results, entrepreneurship, influence and inspiring excellence. 

Educational degrees are usually linked to leadership capabilities and higher compensation levels. However, there should be a balance between technical expertise and interpersonal skills. Many degree programs put a lot of focus on developing graduate’s technical skills, and almost no emphasis on interpersonal and leaderships skills. Although some programs fill this gap with group projects and workshops on leadership capabilities, it’s up to the student to seek these opportunities. 

An MBA and decision to start one, it is not something that you just add to your CV. An MBA is a personal decision of self-improvement, it’s a way of consciously try and improve your management skills. And, for me, this is the key for what stands for to be a better business leader.  Leadership and communication skills are traits which cannot be explained and instilled in anybody’s process of thinking. Such skills cannot by taught by teachers in classrooms, they are intrinsic to each person. 

It is the will, the spirit of sacrifice, the deep desire to be a better individual that will turn you or anyone else in a better business leader. It is the capacity to recognize the deepest fears and sensibilities within the human nature that will take you to next step of the ladder of success.