Recipe for a Management student

An MBA student has to apply all the faculties to blot from all around the Mega Trends, listen to the doyens in the field, veterans and mentors, see the global macros and micros and nanos to understand what is business, industry. In that context, place Management, link all in one string.

MBA programs have nowadays become mere fancy titles, unless one takes the "experiential learning" route from the Day-1 to Day-720. MBA is not yet another postgraduate course. It is a professional course.

An MBA student these days, is not professionally groomed to become a Manager. At the end of the 720 days of "immersive learning" he is tipped to become a Business Leader.

Few of the personal traits he has to acquire and master are listed herein:

Physical-mental-social-emotional-intellectual wellness. Possible only by regular workouts, yoga and meditation every day. An equi-balanced person can only be fit person to take a sound decision on firm and fair footing.

Quest for knowledge. Library, extensive reading, debates, colloquia, seminars, discussions etc might deliver this, depending upon the sincerity and depth of involvement/penance.

Acquisition of skills (how-to-do) from seniors, Study Missions to industries, Capstone projects, internships, case studies etc.

Forming an "Opinion" on anything, anytime, anywhere.

Language to express the "opinion" and defend. English being a foreign language has to be mastered with dedication and determination: Listening, writing, speaking, talking etc, graduate from ordinary to polished and refined accent, modulation, paucing etc., etc. Vocabulary counts a lot. Grammar at the end.

Self Learning. Learning is the process and knowledge is the intake and input. If inputs are mentally and intellectually processed with one's 'signature inputs', it is the broad-base and deep anchor/moorings from which one flies his flag high.

Culture: Values, Beliefs and Philosophies form the baseline rearing inputs from family, peers, schools and college. One has to choose what he believes right, wants to shape his identity.

What all constitutes a profession? How to become a professional? What is profesionalisation? The essentials: Starts with Principles. Knowledge, Skills, Tools, Techniques, Processes, Methods. Code of Ethics, membership in professional associations. Attending all meetings, interactions with heart and soul into it. Updating every day. Alwyn Tofler (1970s): "Knowledge quadruples every four hours"

Professional Networking and Relationship Management. These are both science and more, art, essential for 21st century.

Few other additional stuff, these days:

1. Know about Web 3.0
2. Emerging technologies
3. Acquisition, assimilating, adoption, in the context of larger horizons of businesses and governments
4. Some essentials technologies are: are: AI, 3D printing, robotics, IoT, Big data, Blockchain, VR, AR, Cloud, Quantum Computing
5. Learn about Platform Models (most organisations today that hire MBAs are just not FMCG, Automobile companies; top employers that hire are #platform based, examples: Amazon, Uber, Oyo, Spotify, and Nykaa. A good appreciation of the platform model is a must.
6. Revenue streams and growth; one will get a 360° view of an organisation when solves revenue problems
7. Certain issues might be invisible bottlenecks in sales, marketing, and supply chain, who knows!
8. Start peeping first, working on strategy not as a passion, but as an obsession!
9. Excel at Microsoft Excel, Tableau, etc; Excel should be a way of life. Analytics is the pipeline of opportunities. Be not settled with VLookup, Pivots, and Modeling, Data visualisation, journey through Decision Support Systems (DSS)

None of my Professors taught me all these!

Lot of time, energy, money, effort will be saved if these are piously practised.

Life Skills

• Work with and through teams

Management studies is all about peer-to-peer learning and assignments. I have never be a lone warrior in the campus

• Acquire, build, learn to have your signature Work Ethics
• Crisp Communication
• 1-minute summary
• Start working on front-end roles; will sharpen your negotiation and communication skills. Will give you an edge over others, and help you get hired.  

On top of everything, never miss Simple Common Sense, which most do

Live a complete human being, which people forget when they hear Busines Partner roles!!!

All the very best!!!.