Choosing a university and the right programme whether it is delivered online or in a traditional way, is one of the most important financial decisions a person makes influencing their future.
My cousin with more than 15 years of work experience in one of the largest financial companies, with a successful career span, decided to do another MBA so he can further accelerate his career in executive leadership.
He is about to complete this 2-year executive MBA with a prestigious university and is he now armed with a bag of tricks to help him move further to be a more successful leader?
By choosing a master's in Business Administration one wishes to focus on creating business strategies and developing leadership skills, an MBA is not a pill with an instant reaction but certainly is a means to a successful career.
There might be 100’s of reasons to study for an MBA, but here are the top 5, that you need to consider for doing an MBA:
- Networking - this is a no-brainer- the idea of connecting with new people broadening the network becomes more and more pivotal as one moves up in their career. The opportunity of getting exposed to new working styles, cultural influence on decision making is an enormous part of one’s career growth. Most universities promote their alumni network giving you an opportunity to connect with graduates from before and not just limiting yourself to your own classmates.
- Turbocharge your career – while an MBA is not an instant makeover but certainly is a turbocharger for your career as it broadens horizons to do things in new, effective ways. You can almost instantly apply what you learn either as a part of the programme or from your class.
- Gaining knowledge - an MBA helps in creating processes instead of relying on trial and error, it helps in creating unique leadership styles most suited for you with tried and tested methods. It helps you align your ambition with your strengths to get the best out of you. As an experienced executive, you are wired to do things the same way over and over again as that has worked for you all your corporate life, but with an MBA you will be pushed out of your own comfort zone allowing to you work in an effective and tried way.
- New opportunities - when we think of an MBA, we think of excelling vertically, but armed with an MBA allows you to look at your strengths and re-evaluate how best you can create new opportunities for yourself. While an MBA equips you with all the new knowledge it also enables you to deep dive into the verticals that you are keen to learn helping you specialize in one topic creating more options for you.
- Academic degree - a friend with more than 15 years of managerial experience had no formal management degree, so an MBA for him was an opportunity to use his business experience and combine it with the academic knowledge to being successful. Most executive programmes consider a business experience as a pre-requisite for enrollment.
There can be many more reasons why one does an MBA, but choosing to invest in an MBA degree is not a matter of following people who decided that by studying a master they will be able to fulfil their ambitions or just because you have inherited a fortune and decided to spend a bit of it on a trendy master that will look great framed on the wall. Choosing to study for an MBA is a financial and time commitment.
There are plenty of universities across the world offering MBA’s and you need to pick the one which is most suited to your needs. Before you pick a university make a list of the WHY’s -you want to study and then start your search. With our enriched comparison tool, you can make the best decision and not just limit your choice to information about university location, program cost, or delivery method.
Knowing where you are going helps you get there, so take the first step and get closer to your dream.