School is in full swing....

School is in full swing and I love it. I knew that going back to school this time around would be fun, but I never imagined that I’d become so comfortable with it so soon. I guess the difference this time around is that I actually want to learn, in comparison to my undergrad studies when I had no choice but to be there.

What do I love about this program: 1.The people are really awesome and easy to bond with; we learn so much from each other’s experiences, 2. The Professors are as passionate and energetic as they come, and 3. The keynote speakers offer an incredibly diverse set of experiences and pieces of advice. Did I mention that the city is starting to feel like home? I never thought that I would adapt to another city so quickly, but I am. I’m really starting to feel the itch to go international when I’m done with my studies here in London.

Last week, we were really lucky to have a caste of incredible key note speakers. We had Don Mcdougal, former President of Labatt Breweries, and one of the members that brought the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team to Toronto in the 70’s. Did I mention that he also helped start Brian Mulroney’s (Former Canadian PM) career! One thing that he mentioned that really stuck with me was the fact that good leaders often have a knack of being able to “skilfully manipulate the emotions of others to achieve objectives.” Very true in my opinion!
We also had the pleasure of hosting Bell Mobility President, Wade Oosterman, and Ron Wolf, CEO of ICORR Properties. The two of them delivered a very interesting debate on why corporations shouldn’t be responsible for donating to charities, and how that the onus should be on the shareholder instead. To make a long story short; the idea is that a corporation should focus on delivering increased cash flows and bottom line (i.e. profitability), and hence contribute to a higher stock price which in turn allows the stock holder to decide on how they spend their return on investment. This would be in opposition to the company spending $$ from their bottom line and taking away a portion of these profits from shareholder returns as a result of that money being donated. I’m not sure that I agree with the philosophy, but it was a very interesting class debate that got very emotional for some. One student, who felt very passionately about giving to African Aid organizations, told the Bell Mobility CEO that he should perhaps get rid of the “beaver” commercials and all the money they spend on those advertisements and give it charity. The CEO actually received that well and then took a poll to see how many in the class liked the “beaver” character on the t.v. commercials. Other takeaways: “don’t’ kid yourself, company’s are all about making profit. When they do good things, its likely because they have self-interest from a $$ perspective.” The two speakers also spent a significant amount of time on the importance of integrity and ethics.

Later in the week we heard from Paul Atkinson of Casero. I don’t remember too much from his talk except for one quote: “Don’t be a PITA; pain in the ass.” We had Nadir Mohammad, COO of Rogers Wireless. He talked to us about the successes and growth at Rogers, where the company is going, and how it’s like to work for Ted Rogers (one of Canada’s richest). He told some great stories on how Ted Rogers hired him and had him over to his house to pressure him into signing the contract to join Rogers.

That brings me to the final two speakers. I saved the best for last. We had the head of one of NASA’s prominent divisions (can’t remember his name), and Mike “Pinball” Clemens (former Canadian Football League legend and current CEO of the Toronto Argonauts sports franchise). Both were incredible speakers that have so much passion for what they do. I realize how important it is to be passionate about what you do; money isn’t everything. Where your passions and strengths intersect is where you hit the “sweet spot” and get your career best, as Mike Clemens mentioned. “Genius comes from adversity,” another great quote from the CFL legend. He was probably amongst the top three speakers I’ve ever seen….unbelievable energy that he seems to turn on at the flick of a switch. What I found very interesting about Clemnens was the fact that he was psyching himself out before his talk and during his introduction to get himself going. It was almost like he was preparing for game day. The head of NASA took us through the Columbia shuttle disaster and walked us through the roles, responsibilities, and functionality of a shuttle launch….really awesome stuff for the techno geeks in the class including myself!

Did I mention that I had a career meltdown early last week? Yup…I temporarily lost sight of my goals and why I came to business school (i.e. to be a Product Manager in a Telecom company). Thank god I have an amazing wife that keeps me grounded. She got me focussed again after a 2 hour walk. I found myself jumping on the management consulting, and Investment banking bandwagon like 90% of the students….all I could see was $$ as I talk to all the other students about these typical post-MBA career paths. There seems to be this perception in business schools that the students that fail to land a prominent iBanking (investment banking) or management consulting job are failures….i.e. weren’t good enough to get in. I’m pretty sure I’m not interested in either career paths…I love telecom too much. I’ll guarantee you that I won’t be a failure though. …remember Sacha…where your passions and strengths intersect you will achieve your career best and $$ will follow! I had to put that down in writing for me to look at time to time.

Geeta (my wife) is back in Ottawa this week. We drove up last Friday for the long weekend. She’s been teleworking (working from home here in London) and has been quite lonely with the lack of interaction (i.e. people deprived). I think Ottawa will be a refreshing change for her since she’ll be going into work….. although there seems to be another round of layoffs happening in IT at Nortel this week….not sure if she’ll make it through this time and I’m a bit stressed about our financials. I do know that it if the worst does happen….I really want her to find a job or career that she is passionate about….so important!

Until next time…