Salini Madiraju
This is that time of the year when every MBA aspirant gets restive. The year long preparation, evidently fake excuses at office for extra leaves (Ranging from death of a distant relative to jaundice/malaria), major sacrifices like weekend parties/trips, etc. are all part of the long and hard journey towards MBA.
Though people from various backgrounds sign up for this hardship, the most common category is that of an average-engineer-stuck-in-a-monotonous-job at an MNC.
What follows the hardship is the saga of nerve-wracking results, obligatory group discussions (where only the one closely resembling Arnab Goswami survives) and pretentious interviews.
If one endures all this pain, he/she is surely a fighter.
MBA: A Rough Life
However, if you believe that the war ends there, here’s an eye-opener: No! In fact, you’ve just entered the battle field and what you’ve gone through was more or less a preparatory rehearsal.
Depending on the individual, the war can take different courses but what remains common are the learnings from the journey and here are a few of them.
The art of making stunning presentations
Even if you’re someone who should be graded negative marks on creativity, by the end of your MBA you’ll be in a position to make tolerable presentations.
Thanks to the tons of presentations you give throughout the year!
The skill to identify true friends
You know you have found a true friend if he/she doesn’t add a split wise bill for the meal he/she has bought for you at the canteen.
After all, everybody has an insurmountable loan on their head and despite that if they offer you something out of their pockets, let me remind you friend, it’s true love.
Getting out of your comfort zone
There’s always a trade-off between comfort and growth and the sooner you realize this, the better.
In an extremely competitive environment like MBA, you’ll learn very soon that nobody comes to save you’re a** and you need to pull yourself up and get going.
Ability to generate Bull Sh**
No matter what the topic/exam is, from the few business jargons you will anyway learn in the first few days, you can fill any number of pages- be it an exam or a class assignment.
The same “gyaan” comes handy in forced class discussions as well.
Not giving up
MBA is the perfect place to understand that it’s okay to fail sometimes. If truth be told, these failures are the only ways through which you emerge as a better person.
Being the abode for some of the best minds in the country, every opportunity to perform here is just a learning experience and the outcome barely matters.
Connections and teamwork
People matter the most. In any business scenario, it’s impossible that you work alone.
Beyond all the cribbing about the lack of rapport, one should realize that every individual brings an unique quality to the table and it is upon you as the leader to effectively utilize that.
How to tame the free rider and assuage the burden of the hard worker is a manager’s job and as a future manager, you better master this skill.
So all you future-MBAs, keep a note of all this points as no book or website mentions these off-the-track perks but very important takeaways.
Salini is an MBA student at NMIMS, living in Mumbai. She wants to bridge the gap between ‘wanting to write’ and ‘has written’.
Read On:
http://edtimes.in/2016/10/reliance-jio-has-tweaked-its-plans/
