Greetings From FLORIDA

I spoke to a friend of mine last night, he just started his MBA at a brick and mortar school in Florida (will remain unnamed) and we chatted about his experiences vs. mine’s. After some casual conversation about adjusting schedules and things of that sort, I barreled down to the bottom line, what are you getting that I am not getting in the classroom?

He pointed out “personal interaction” and I furthered, well what is this personal interaction that you speak of? He then said “man, this professor is just funny!? We then discussed some of the cocky antics of his professor in class to create humor and I got off the phone.

[SO I WONDERD]

Where is the personality of my professors, I never meet them, I never see a picture of them and most of them I never heard speak. I was able to convince most of them to have a conversation with me over the phone but most were initially reluctant. What is it about a professor’s personality that makes B&M learning advantageous?

In my team discussion (UPOX Online MBA Team) my group members pointed out that this professor was quite particular, he had certain traits about him that were identified and hence these discoveries should be included in our strategy when we write a paper that warrants and A+. I generally focus on the requirements of the weekly rubric (a tale the shows what the expectation are and how the grade will be decided) and the syllabus which got me in trouble for MBA530 receiving a B+ for ignoring special “guidelines”. In the end we ignored the professor’s personality and powered on.

As I ponder on a flight to Florida (small vacation with girlfriend) whether my Floridian friend is getting more than me or not from his MBA it takes me back to my early years as a student. There were two professors that shaped my personality today, Mahendra Evans in primary school and “Rocky” from high school. I completely forget Rocky’s name but he was a math professor and looked frighteningly like Sylvester Stallone. These two professors have contributed to my personality, professional acumen and academic persona. I was young and being a sponge and they were wet and dripping (bad euphemism but I am thinking pools, beaches and cocktails, forgive me).

They contributed simple traits, today I am a 30 year old (that’s hard to say much less type) grown man and I wonder, what influences can I really get from personal interaction with a professor? I have my mentors, I learn from my bosses at work and I choose friends that I can learn from. Is there any m ore personality enhancements (whether personal or professional) that I can get in a classroom? And if I am even susceptible to this is the MBA classroom the right way to get this?

[MY ANSWER]

NO! Absolutely not, I can’t tolerate and don’t need statesmanship from an MBA professor, what I need are leaders that are role models, mentors that have proven track records and friends that can see through my insecurities and help me become a better man.

Grad school should be a place to validate your career experiences by discovering that the things you did for the last 10 years were for the most part correct and all you have to do is tie it into the academic teachings and clean it up a bit with some process management and focus and kaboom! You are a testified professional.

[GRAD SCHOOL]


Yeah I may be a bit biased, but circling back to my Floridian friend he also pointed out, and I concurred that had we not both have some road experiences with large organizations, entrepreneurship and general business knowledge the MBA teachings would have been moot for us both and inapplicable. Meaning, if we had gone right after undergrad (a time when you may still be susceptible to professor’s influences to you personal and professional fabric) we would have both found this to be a waste (I did, I started a few times right after undergrad and dropped out – because I found no context for the topics in class).

This is why its called a “masters”. A Masters Degree, you would have learned all of you professional and personal traits by the time you got here, and a professor’s personality or personal influences will be duck on a water’s back. Inside joke.

Bring on the professors with no personalities! Bring ‘em on!

Richie