This is a question that I struggled with before beginning an MBA program. I decided on the Executive MBA program at West Virginia University, and have now completed 3 semesters of the 5 semester program. I'm excited to graduate this coming December (2010).
When I finished my undergrad degree, I was ready to be done with school. I graduated with a BBA with dual majors in Management and Management Information Systems. I was offered a job at the university in a graduate assistant position that would have allowed me to complete an MBA for free. But, after four years in school, I was ready to start making some money and really applying my education and experience I'd gained in internships. So, I declined the offer to stay and left the university.
I had always thought that at some point I wanted to go back and get an MBA. Although I felt I had learned a great deal in actually working within the business world, I knew those credentials after my name could help to open some doors, and that there was certainly more I could learn on the theoretical front to apply to my real world experiences. For a long time, I toyed with the idea of leaving the work world for a while to go to school full time in an MBA program. I figured if I was going to do this, I wanted to go big and try to go to an ivy league school (bring on the debt!). I greatly struggled with the practicality of this notion, though. Would it really be worthwhile to loose a year or two's income, go into debt, and loose the additional experiences I would gain from working? From a financial perspective, did it really make any sense. From a personal perspective, did I really want to give up my lifestyle and go back to that of a poor college student?
These ideas stayed in the back of my mind, and the concept of actually going forward with this was more resigned to my plans after winning the lottery or making a fortune with some new project. I hadn't given serious consideration to any executive MBA programs. One of the first reasons was that, living in West Virginia, there aren't any ivy league schools within a reasonable distance. Next, the concept of working my 40+ hour work weeks, and then going to class a few evenings a week, and studying the other nights for the next few years didn't sound too appealing - it seemed like I would basically have to put my life on hold for this extended period.
Ultimately, opportunities availed themselves to make the decision a bit easier. My employer offered to support me in the Executive MBA program at West Virginia University. Initially, I wasn't too excited about the idea of WVU - not that I had anything against the university, it is a fine place, and their business school is fully accredited, but, it wasn't the Wharton, Harvard, or Yale of which I had dreamt. With the company offering to pay for the education, though, it certainly had huge financial benefits - I would continue making my salary, gaining professional and leadership experience, and not go into any debt to attain the degree. So, the only direct cost to me would be in the loss of my evenings and weekends for 2 and a half years. After some deliberation, I decided to go for it, and started the program.
Now that I'm over half way through the program, I still question at times if the right decision were made. From a financial perspective, I think there is no question this was the right move to make. Also, I realize that the chances of my ever really abandoning my work life to move off to a bigger school was probably slim, so, this was much more realistic. I've found that although it does take a significant amount of time between class and studying, I can still maintain a good personal life.
So, what are the cons to the program? Well, first off, you don't have a full immersion into the education process. If in a full time program, your primary efforts involve focusing on your school work. In this format, you are balancing constraints between work, personal, and school life, so, clearly don't spend as much "thought" time with studying. Next, worth mentioning in my case is that I'm not attending an ivy league school, which I may have otherwise done. Another big drawback is the perception of the executive programs. I've heard that some employers don't give the same level of weight to candidates with EMBA programs as they do traditional students. It's somewhat disheartening to think that I'm doing all this work just for potential future employers to disregard the degree because of the format.
There are certainly benefits of the program as well. Obviously, being able to not lose your income and experience while you are obtaining the degree is a huge plus. In my case, having it fully paid for is another huge benefit. Also, although I listed the level of immersion as a drawback above, a benefit to this is that you are able to instantly apply what you are learning to real life business situations. In a traditional MBA program, you might learn something, apply it to some business study cases, but, not really directly apply it for a couple years. In my case, what I'm learning in the evening may have direct application the very next day, so, I can put it to use and see the immediate results.
There are certainly benefits and cons to both formats. In my case, although I still question it occasionally, I think I made the right practical decision that was in my best interest.
A couple other comments are that the program I am going through is still an actual physical classroom setting. Although we do have some distance learning sites in other cities, everyone is actually sitting in a classroom, listening live to a professor, and interacting with the classroom. It is not an online program where you work at your own pace and just read notes from professors. I'll admit that there is a bit of hypocrisy here - while I don't want anyone to judge my degree because of the format, I do think less of online degrees. In hiring decisions, I've actually considered people with online degrees to essentially not have the degrees. I've always felt that the in class interaction and learning process is very important, and that would be missed in an online program. Also, unfortunately a few fly by night online degree places that give degrees in exchange for a payment have given the whole concept a bad name.
I began by talking about an opportunity to get an MBA right after my bachelors degree. I'm glad I made the decision to get work experience first. I think the MBA education has a much greater impact after you've had true work experience. By having years of experience before going, you have a lot more real world application to draw upon. Further, by having this experience, you better understand the importance and value of what you are studying.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Religion and Business
The topic of religion and business is one that interests me. First, so there is no misunderstanding, I think that the two are best not mixed - religion and business are very separate things. By combining the two, you run the risk of alienating your employees and your customers. Further, assuming your business isn't directly related to a religion, there is not direct cross over between the two.
At times, however, this can be taken too far. For example, always having Holiday or X-Mas parties instead of a Christmas party, etc. When planning my company's end of the year festivities, I still called it a Christmas party. To be fair, as the company is primarily located in a very homogeneous area, there, unfortunately, isn't much diversity so nearly everyone in the company celebrates Christmas, making this easier. I actually had employees tell me that they felt it was refreshing that we didn't try to hide or disguise it and actually called it a Christmas party.
But, I'm getting off topic - what I wanted to discuss is the application of religion in business. I'm very clear that I don't think the two should mix, yet, I also believe that my religion makes me a better business leader. The core fundamentals of nearly all religions teach traits such as honesty, compassion, trust, high morality, and other "higher level" type personality traits. These same traits are those of a strong leader. For someone to truly be able to lead an organization, a team, a project, etc., they have to have integrity and earn the respect of those they lead. The best way to earn this respect is to genuinely care about your teams and those you work with, conduct yourself truthfully, and to not look for ways to take advantage of nor cheat people.
Unfortunately, many business people don't seem to grasp this concept. Greed for the almighty dollar all to often overwhelms people so they lose site of these ideals. We see this regularly on the news, and I'm sure everyone has seen it where they work.
So, despite the separation of religion and business, if your looking for a good way to get centered as a leader, try going to church. So much of the ideals taught in the study of faith can be directly applied to your professional work life in how you choose to conduct yourself and present yourself to the world.
At times, however, this can be taken too far. For example, always having Holiday or X-Mas parties instead of a Christmas party, etc. When planning my company's end of the year festivities, I still called it a Christmas party. To be fair, as the company is primarily located in a very homogeneous area, there, unfortunately, isn't much diversity so nearly everyone in the company celebrates Christmas, making this easier. I actually had employees tell me that they felt it was refreshing that we didn't try to hide or disguise it and actually called it a Christmas party.
But, I'm getting off topic - what I wanted to discuss is the application of religion in business. I'm very clear that I don't think the two should mix, yet, I also believe that my religion makes me a better business leader. The core fundamentals of nearly all religions teach traits such as honesty, compassion, trust, high morality, and other "higher level" type personality traits. These same traits are those of a strong leader. For someone to truly be able to lead an organization, a team, a project, etc., they have to have integrity and earn the respect of those they lead. The best way to earn this respect is to genuinely care about your teams and those you work with, conduct yourself truthfully, and to not look for ways to take advantage of nor cheat people.
Unfortunately, many business people don't seem to grasp this concept. Greed for the almighty dollar all to often overwhelms people so they lose site of these ideals. We see this regularly on the news, and I'm sure everyone has seen it where they work.
So, despite the separation of religion and business, if your looking for a good way to get centered as a leader, try going to church. So much of the ideals taught in the study of faith can be directly applied to your professional work life in how you choose to conduct yourself and present yourself to the world.
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Team Member Win-Win
First, I have to give credit where credit is due - the idea of a "Win-Win" agreement actually came from the Steven Covey's 7 Habits training course. I'm a huge fan of these works and they have dramatically impacted my management style. I've took the concept of a "Win-Win" agreement and made it my own with great success. It is something I wish I'd started using a long time ago.
The idea of the "win-win" agreement for employees is that you want to find the ideal relationship between the employee and the company where both parties "win" - they get what they want and need. Early in my career as a manager, I used to think this was simple - the company wanted/needed the employee to produce work in whatever capacity they were assigned, the employee wanted a paycheck and some occassional recognition, and both were happy and productive. This is a very shallow approach though, and only barely touches the concept of a true "win-win" relationship.
Of course the employee wants a paycheck. Unless you are finding a cure for cancer or petting baby kittens, most people probably aren't going to come to work if they stop getting a paycheck. But, there is a lot more than this that motivates employees. We could certainly get into the expectancy theory, X and Y motivational theories, pyramid of needs, and all those, but, those aren't too important for now. At the end of the day, I believe all people want to feel good about themselves, feel they are valued, and feel they are progressing. So, I combined the idea of a "win-win" agreement with progression planning. Another mistake I made earlier in my career was assuming that all employees desired the same progression path that I had, but, this simply isn't true.
I would hold one on one monthly "win-win" meetings with each of my direct report staff. This took a good bit of time and was a commitment, but, I feel it was very worthwhile. I would talk to each employee about what they wanted to do, what types of projects they enjoyed, and what areas of the company were the most attractive to them. Once we defined what their "win" was, we next openly discussed how that would benefit the company. This allowed them to take an active role in their progression and help determine ways that the business could be improved by allowing them to do what they wanted to do. Once this was determined, we could lay out a roadmap of how to get there. Perhaps they needed more training, more exposure to certain types of projects, a better working network with certain other teams, etc. We could lay out goals and have a clear understanding of what hurdles may be in the way.
I'm sure you can imagine the impact this has on employees - to feel that they have a say in their progression and are valued enough by their employer to control their own destiny. I've heard people say before that the way you progress and move forward is by jumping between companies getting progressively higher roles - and with many companies this does seem like the best method. Why loose your greatest talents, though. By giving them opportunities to progress internally and feel that they are progressing with each passing month, you greatly increase loyalty and decrease turnover.
This program did have a few downfalls, however. First, things may not move at the pace some team members might like. A team member might have felt that if they did X, Y, and Z, they would instantly get what they wanted, and forget that the business need still has to exist. Also, what happens when multiple employees are working towards the same goal. Obviously, good incentive programs recognize all employees who achieve certain levels, but, within a hierarchial organization structure, only one person can get that next level. So, if multiple employees are working towards the same goal, both are doing everything in their goals to progress, you must pick the best, and have to play careful damage control to avoid demotivating the one(s) that didn't get the promotion. The best defense for this is simply to be upfront with expectations.
Despite some potential liabilities from the program, all in all it is a great way to motivate and retain employees. It opens up communication and keeps employees engaged. This is definitely a program that I will continue to use in future teams.
The idea of the "win-win" agreement for employees is that you want to find the ideal relationship between the employee and the company where both parties "win" - they get what they want and need. Early in my career as a manager, I used to think this was simple - the company wanted/needed the employee to produce work in whatever capacity they were assigned, the employee wanted a paycheck and some occassional recognition, and both were happy and productive. This is a very shallow approach though, and only barely touches the concept of a true "win-win" relationship.
Of course the employee wants a paycheck. Unless you are finding a cure for cancer or petting baby kittens, most people probably aren't going to come to work if they stop getting a paycheck. But, there is a lot more than this that motivates employees. We could certainly get into the expectancy theory, X and Y motivational theories, pyramid of needs, and all those, but, those aren't too important for now. At the end of the day, I believe all people want to feel good about themselves, feel they are valued, and feel they are progressing. So, I combined the idea of a "win-win" agreement with progression planning. Another mistake I made earlier in my career was assuming that all employees desired the same progression path that I had, but, this simply isn't true.
I would hold one on one monthly "win-win" meetings with each of my direct report staff. This took a good bit of time and was a commitment, but, I feel it was very worthwhile. I would talk to each employee about what they wanted to do, what types of projects they enjoyed, and what areas of the company were the most attractive to them. Once we defined what their "win" was, we next openly discussed how that would benefit the company. This allowed them to take an active role in their progression and help determine ways that the business could be improved by allowing them to do what they wanted to do. Once this was determined, we could lay out a roadmap of how to get there. Perhaps they needed more training, more exposure to certain types of projects, a better working network with certain other teams, etc. We could lay out goals and have a clear understanding of what hurdles may be in the way.
I'm sure you can imagine the impact this has on employees - to feel that they have a say in their progression and are valued enough by their employer to control their own destiny. I've heard people say before that the way you progress and move forward is by jumping between companies getting progressively higher roles - and with many companies this does seem like the best method. Why loose your greatest talents, though. By giving them opportunities to progress internally and feel that they are progressing with each passing month, you greatly increase loyalty and decrease turnover.
This program did have a few downfalls, however. First, things may not move at the pace some team members might like. A team member might have felt that if they did X, Y, and Z, they would instantly get what they wanted, and forget that the business need still has to exist. Also, what happens when multiple employees are working towards the same goal. Obviously, good incentive programs recognize all employees who achieve certain levels, but, within a hierarchial organization structure, only one person can get that next level. So, if multiple employees are working towards the same goal, both are doing everything in their goals to progress, you must pick the best, and have to play careful damage control to avoid demotivating the one(s) that didn't get the promotion. The best defense for this is simply to be upfront with expectations.
Despite some potential liabilities from the program, all in all it is a great way to motivate and retain employees. It opens up communication and keeps employees engaged. This is definitely a program that I will continue to use in future teams.
Business Community Involvement
More and more businesses are realizing the benefits of community involvement. While many business still ignore the importance of this, it is crucially important and can greatly improve a business in a number of ways.
First, through community involvement many businesses can realize direct increased sales. Whether a business sells to residential or business customers, being seen as a part of the community directly results in revenue. Businesses tend to like to do business with local businesses, and by seeing an organization playing an active role in the community, they see that they are local and vested in the community. Many chamber of commerce organizations have evidence to show that chamber members do business with other chamber members - because they feel a part of the same community. For residential customers, this may hold even more true. Individuals inherently want to trust those they purchase services or products from, and by being a part of that individuals community, you can establish this trust.
Another reason why businesses benefit from direct community involvement is that the business gains a personal face to its potential constituents. Whether this face is that of a salesman, executive, manager, or just a positive team member, it enables customers to see that it isn't simply a business wanting their money, it is real people behind the business. Local people who attend the same sporting events as them, attend the same churchs, go to the same shopping malls - in other words - people just like them they can trust. Essentially, you turn your team members into corporate champions within the environment. Finally, as every team member is, at some degree, a salesman for the company, this helps to improve networking
Beyond the most direct benefits that come from community involvement of increased revenues, are the benefits to the employees of the organization. The same psychological effects for potential customers also apply to the companies team members. Employees want to feel that they work for a great company. Although this might not rank up there as high as other interests and motivating factors, employees still enjoy feeling that work for an upstanding and socially responsible organization. By connecting the company to the community where employees live, they in turn feel more connected to their community. This results in directly increased employee morale. Increased employee morale directly equals increased productivity, and decreased employee turnover - leading to lowered operational costs. Those employees who choose or are selected to represent the company through its community involvement also feel increased levels of loyalty to the company and the community - making offers to go to work for other organizations or other geographic locations less appealing. Finally, by being connected in with the community, the company gains a better reputation and better access to local talent, improving their ability to attract and retain the best talent around.
There are a wide variety of types of community involvement for a business to choose to participate. This can range from traditional levels of involvement such as through the chamber of commerce or other local industry associations, to sponsorship of local events, participation in charitable organizations, sponsoring childrens teams, etc.
Although perhaps the simplest way for a business to get involved is with the checkbook, this doesn't yield the best dividends. By simply sponsoring events or teams to get your name out, you gain the benefit of name recognition and being local, but, you don't engage your employees in the community. Involvement by the corporate checkbook is still very important, as it enables many great community activities that desperately need funding. As they say, to understand what is important to a business, look at their budget - if a business doesn't allocate any funds to local support, it probably doesn't really care that much for the local community.
One of the absolute best methods for community involvement is a structured and supported volunteer program. This has the benefit of costing very little, can have a large impact on the community, and can get a large number of employees active and involved. Volunteerism is even considered to be "in fashion" now, so, getting employees involved may not take much prompting. By choosing projects that allow employees to get involved with a project with a defined and accomplishable boundary, employees will feel good about themselves, feel good about the company, and feel good about the community - a definite win all the way around.
First, through community involvement many businesses can realize direct increased sales. Whether a business sells to residential or business customers, being seen as a part of the community directly results in revenue. Businesses tend to like to do business with local businesses, and by seeing an organization playing an active role in the community, they see that they are local and vested in the community. Many chamber of commerce organizations have evidence to show that chamber members do business with other chamber members - because they feel a part of the same community. For residential customers, this may hold even more true. Individuals inherently want to trust those they purchase services or products from, and by being a part of that individuals community, you can establish this trust.
Another reason why businesses benefit from direct community involvement is that the business gains a personal face to its potential constituents. Whether this face is that of a salesman, executive, manager, or just a positive team member, it enables customers to see that it isn't simply a business wanting their money, it is real people behind the business. Local people who attend the same sporting events as them, attend the same churchs, go to the same shopping malls - in other words - people just like them they can trust. Essentially, you turn your team members into corporate champions within the environment. Finally, as every team member is, at some degree, a salesman for the company, this helps to improve networking
Beyond the most direct benefits that come from community involvement of increased revenues, are the benefits to the employees of the organization. The same psychological effects for potential customers also apply to the companies team members. Employees want to feel that they work for a great company. Although this might not rank up there as high as other interests and motivating factors, employees still enjoy feeling that work for an upstanding and socially responsible organization. By connecting the company to the community where employees live, they in turn feel more connected to their community. This results in directly increased employee morale. Increased employee morale directly equals increased productivity, and decreased employee turnover - leading to lowered operational costs. Those employees who choose or are selected to represent the company through its community involvement also feel increased levels of loyalty to the company and the community - making offers to go to work for other organizations or other geographic locations less appealing. Finally, by being connected in with the community, the company gains a better reputation and better access to local talent, improving their ability to attract and retain the best talent around.
There are a wide variety of types of community involvement for a business to choose to participate. This can range from traditional levels of involvement such as through the chamber of commerce or other local industry associations, to sponsorship of local events, participation in charitable organizations, sponsoring childrens teams, etc.
Although perhaps the simplest way for a business to get involved is with the checkbook, this doesn't yield the best dividends. By simply sponsoring events or teams to get your name out, you gain the benefit of name recognition and being local, but, you don't engage your employees in the community. Involvement by the corporate checkbook is still very important, as it enables many great community activities that desperately need funding. As they say, to understand what is important to a business, look at their budget - if a business doesn't allocate any funds to local support, it probably doesn't really care that much for the local community.
One of the absolute best methods for community involvement is a structured and supported volunteer program. This has the benefit of costing very little, can have a large impact on the community, and can get a large number of employees active and involved. Volunteerism is even considered to be "in fashion" now, so, getting employees involved may not take much prompting. By choosing projects that allow employees to get involved with a project with a defined and accomplishable boundary, employees will feel good about themselves, feel good about the company, and feel good about the community - a definite win all the way around.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Welcome!
Welcome to my new blog! I've thought about starting a blog to share ideas for a while, but, it is one of those things that is easily put on the ever growing "to do" list. So, I'm going to get started now and make and periodically post new blog topics. I listed the topic of this blog as "IT Leadership" - I struggled with the title a bit when I set this up. I plan to share my thoughts on business, management, and leadership, however since much of my experience has been in the IT world, most topics may have a definite bias towards leadership as it relates to the IT arena.
To introduce myself, I have around a decade of experience in the Information Technology and Information Systems world. Throughout this time, I've held progressively larger roles encompassing greater levels of responsibility. My career began as a software developer, focusing on web based business applications. I utilized this expertise to help grow a small telecommunications and IT services company (around 100 employees), serving in the role of Sr. Vice President of Systems, Development, and Provisioning. My primary responsibilities were in the areas of managing our internal operational and financial systems, which were all developed internally. I led the software development team and the provisioning team. I also served as the business unit manager for the company's customer software development operations. I was also responsible for a number of other strategic initiatives for the company. As far as my credential background, I have a bachelors degree in Management and Management Information Systems, am currently a little over half way through an MBA degree, and am a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
So, welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy reading my experiences and view points on various topics. Of course, everything I write about represents my opinions and view only and does not necessarily represent the view point of any organization or business that I may currently or previously have been affiliated. I welcome feedback so encourage people to share your ideas on the topics posted, and would welcome any suggestions on new blog topics.
To introduce myself, I have around a decade of experience in the Information Technology and Information Systems world. Throughout this time, I've held progressively larger roles encompassing greater levels of responsibility. My career began as a software developer, focusing on web based business applications. I utilized this expertise to help grow a small telecommunications and IT services company (around 100 employees), serving in the role of Sr. Vice President of Systems, Development, and Provisioning. My primary responsibilities were in the areas of managing our internal operational and financial systems, which were all developed internally. I led the software development team and the provisioning team. I also served as the business unit manager for the company's customer software development operations. I was also responsible for a number of other strategic initiatives for the company. As far as my credential background, I have a bachelors degree in Management and Management Information Systems, am currently a little over half way through an MBA degree, and am a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
So, welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy reading my experiences and view points on various topics. Of course, everything I write about represents my opinions and view only and does not necessarily represent the view point of any organization or business that I may currently or previously have been affiliated. I welcome feedback so encourage people to share your ideas on the topics posted, and would welcome any suggestions on new blog topics.
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