The Maraia Minutes

""

Getting Your "Applied MBA"

Vol. 15, Issue 1

 

I've never been to business school but I'm very conversant on topics important to most business people and entrepreneurs.  To make matters worse, my major at Villanova University was in Philosophy!!  In spite of my lack of formal schooling, I can comfortably carry on a conversation with the CEO of any Fortune 500 company.  How'd I get there?  Two things helped me get to this point:  First I've always been a voracious reader.  Second, I approach every meeting with people in my network as a learning opportunity.  
 
One of the strategies I used when I launched my coaching business (and a strategy which I still share with my clients) over 20 years ago is to view every meeting with someone in my network as a mini MBA class.  In the early years, I assumed EVERYONE had something to teach me.  Even now, although my knowledge base is much greater, I STILL assume every person I meet has something to teach me.  Very few people disappoint me and my already considerable knowledge base continues to expand.
 
The voracious reader has always been a part of my makeup.  During the first two months of my career change from lawyer to coach I read 50 business books.  You read that right: I inhaled 50 books in 60 days.  The more I read, the more excited and confident I became.  It also reinforced an early business habit that serves me well to this day.  
 
This extensive reading also compliments the meetings you are having with people in your network.  If I was captured by an idea from what I was reading I would always ask my lunch guest what he or she thought of the idea.  Doing so almost always led to high energy conversations and enjoyable meetings that left both parties longing for more.  I developed a reputation with people in my network as someone who was intensely interested and curious about how stuff worked.  
 
If you're reading this and wondering what YOU can do to get your MBA without going back to school consider this:  Meet with at least one C level executive (CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, CTO, CLO etc)  every business day for the next two years.  Go in armed with thoughtful questions before EVERY meeting.  I can confidently predict you will be conversant with top level executives in record time.  
 
I'm guessing several of you have done something similar to get the equivalent of your mini MBA.  Drop me a line and let me know how you got there…
 
Mark

Comments

The Classroom of Life

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 01/22/2012 - 09:48.
Hey Mark, I couldn't agree more! I remember those days of self-educating when I swapped-out into what is now my fourth career. Moreover, my business partner in my third career has no formal education beyond high school. Yet, he and I build a multi-million dollar business together with him contributing at least 51% of the elements for success. In fact, my lasting lesson is to draw from your own experience and the things you learn from others to address the issue at hand. Most of the problems I've faced have been faced before either by me or someone I know. Nothing beats finding a "short cut" solution, versus always having to learn by taking the long route. As Mick Jagger said years ago (paraphrasing), "All the cords on the guitar have been played, now it's just a matter of arrangement." Paul H. Burton Creator of QuietSpacing

Applied MBA

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 11:45.
Good points, Mark. When I joined the marketing staff at Price Waterhouse 25 years ago, it became clear to me that I needed to shore up my understanding of business. The starting point was a weeklong outside course on the topic of understanding financial statements. That was an amazing start, and today, before approaching a prospective client, I closely examine the balance sheet and income statement and run the ratios to compare and contrast the succcess of the target company and its competitors. Armed with my understanding-financial-statements primer, I began attending CLE with the accountants -- CLE on a wide variety of incredible topics ranging from comparable uncontrolled transactions to new FASB pronouncements. Some of it was incredibly boring, of course, but somehow all the hours in the classroom eventually got me educated in business. That speaks to the "outside the walls" understanding of business. Later, I became a partner at a large accounting firm, where I continued to absorb firm CLE, but also -- from the first-hand experience of living on a draw, paying quarterly estimated taxes, filing taxes in 35 states, and knowing about the real-word risks confronting the firm -- I developed a deep understanding of professional-services-firm economics. I came to understand that the dollars that finance firm marketing and sales are not from a pool of money, but rather straight from partners' wallets. The realization was a game-changer for me, and has caused me to be an exceptionally fastidious steward of the sales and marketing budget. Together, these experiences have better prepared me to do conduct the business of a law firm. It's only a pale imitation of the knowledge held by real MBAs on the front lines of commerce and finance, of course, but certainly I am able to hold my own in a C-level business conversation. As you are hinting, it would be great if more lawyers would supplement their terrific legal knowledge with deeper understanding of business. Steve Bell Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP .
""