You can only ever be as great as you aspire to be, the big questions are:
- What do you aspire to be?
- How do you get there?
The MBA journey that I have only recently undertaken has made me think about these 2 questions in great detail and it has already given me a lot of clarity in waters which until recently were rather murky.
What do I aspire to be?
I’ve thought about many different things that I aspire, or at one stage aspired to be, from a pilot (as you can tell, I love travelling), to someone involved in sports or more generally, a head of marketing for a large company. That was not enough, I went deeper and engaged with work colleagues, friends and family (my wife in particular), in terms of what I wanted to be one day. The way I ended up seeing it was not about what job I want to have, but rather what life I want to end up with. I won’t bore you with the details of what my conclusion to that is, but the first big thing I have learnt is that the question is not what I aspire to be, but rather how do I aspire to live.
How do I get there?
This is where the MBA comes in. If I want to get to the places I want to be in order to live the life I want to live, then I need not only to attain the credentials that one gets from an MBA, but I need to grow into a better person. Better not only in terms of how I work, but also in terms of who I am and how I treat others. The orientation week of our MBA has already started this work in me. Thus far we have done physical activities as well as group activities that were based on thoughts and processes required in order to complete the task. I have not worked this closely with a team outside of a sporting arena, and I have loved it. Yes, frustrations creep in, and I doubt I am the easiest person to be in a team with, but I have already learnt more about how to engage with people and take their feelings into account that I have in my whole life. I am typically the kind of person who in the past would have said that that is all non-sense, just get the job done, but the light bulb has been switched on and is slowly getting brighter. As far as I am aware, this is the start of the journey of me getting to the place where I want to be in life. Yes, the subjects course work is going to be important and hopefully enjoyable, but for me this is where the real difference will be made to my life.
My MBA Group for 2012
Will I get there?
Only time will tell if I will get to the places I want to be in life in order to live the life that I want to live. For now, it’s going to be about keeping my head in the books for the next 2 years (okay, the books, laptop and iPad), reflecting on my learnings and ensuring that I don’t jeopardise the relationships that I hold dear along the way.
Soli Deo Gloria