Hello from Toronto! It’s the start of the Ivey industry week; a week where Ivey MBA students are exempt from school work and are brought down to Toronto to visit various corporations, network, and feel out potential post-MBA industries. I’ve come down a few days early to attend one my best friend’s stag party. What a weekend it has been. It was really refreshing to see my Ottawa friends again and have a good old fashioned boys-only party weekend.
I’m a bit tired from two days of little sleep, but I’m excited to be here for Industry week with my classmates. Hanging out with my classmates is a lot of fun and has really made the MBA experience really enjoyable thus far. On the other hand, I am without my wife this week; Geeta headed back home to Ottawa and will be picking me up when we wrap up in Toronto this week. We will be celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary (July 31st) a few days early this Saturday to accommodate my busy schooling schedule (yes those are the unfortunate sacrifices you make in this program). I feel bad that we haven’t had a lot of time together lately; it’s been tough on us and I miss our time together. A one year condensed MBA program is definitely tough on those that have partners/spouses. It takes a really supportive partner to get through the year with high spirits, and I’m really lucky to have that support. Spouses of those in the MBA program should get a pseudo-MBA degree when we graduate for putting up with our moodiness, crazy schedule, selfishness, and having to hear about our MBA stories 24/7.
Speaking of selfishness, I feel that I’ve become more selfish lately and have been testing my limits in all fashions including those with my spouse which hasn’t been easy on her. Yes; men always seem to pull that leash as far as possible before their intelligent spouses yank back at the right moment. I am no different and I was getting a bit too carried away with the partying/socializing and the whole MBA environment. I’ve made a decision that I will tone down the MBA outings and spend more quality time at home, while also trying to help out a bit more with household chores.
Geeta (my wife) recently assumed the Presidency role for the Ivey Circle (the spouses club); they’re club stands at 20 and that number is growing weekly! The club provides a social group to all the spouses here in London and elsewhere who’s partners are in the MBA program. I’m happy that she stepped up for it and I know she’ll do a great job.
Life has changed drastically for Geeta and me on a financial perspective since we’ve moved to London. For one, we’ve gone from two steady incomes to zero which has really put a lot of things into perspective for us and makes us appreciate the little things that we became so accustomed to. We both got used to living a very high standard of life over the last 4 years of marriage with a ton of travelling, and fine dining. We now look back at the good old days and are so thankful that we enjoyed life now that we are ‘poor’ students again ;)
In my last blog entry, I wrote about how I was pursuing Lauren Flaherty (CMO of Nortel) to come to Ivey to deliver a key note presentation to the MBA class and help raise the profile of the company on campus (Nortel’s reputation on campus is lacking here at Ivey in my opinion; and I want to change this). I haven’t a clue on who reads this blog but it seems like its reaching out to people and I was pleasantly surprised to here from one of Lauren’s reports (who read my blog entry) and has offered to help my cause…talk about the power of blogging!
Module 1 marks came back and I’m very pleased with my performance and transition back into the academic setting. I worked hard in the first term and it paid off. I must admit that my primary purpose here in the MBA program is not to score the highest marks possible, but to learn the most I can and network and socialize with my peers the most I can; if the marks come then it’s a bonus. For those coming into the program I thought it would be interesting to share that the Ivey marking scheme is bell-curved. Essentially the highest overall module mark you can get is in the 83-84% range and the lowest being in the lower 70’s%; this is a bit disappointing for those that work really hard since the payback in comparison to those that don’t work as hard is not very substantial. My advice to anyone coming in would be to get the best of all worlds; don’t kill yourself for marks, remember to socialize/network and most importantly remember to understand and learn (this will pay off far more in the long term when you draw on your MBA knowledge as an executive).
One of my key learning objectives this year is to learn to lead effectively without necessarily being the leader (i.e. having the leader title). One of the most difficult things for type A’s is to be able to sit back and strategically lead without getting the public recognition that they crave. I’ve learned through my years at Nortel that it’s the subtle leaders within high performance teams that make a world of difference. We recently had our class elections, and as much I really wanted to run for a VP position I decided not to in order to keep in line with this objective.
Speaking of the class elections….there were some stellar candidates running. What surprised me the most was that every single person who ran blew the class away with some incredible speeches, and campaigns. You don’t always get to see everyone’s individual presentation skills when they are presenting with their teams during day to day class life. Seeing the candidates individually present on a topic that they felt passionate about confirmed to me that every person in this class is gifted in some way or another when it comes to presenting.
I’ve been feeling a lot of anxiety lately over the last few weeks both personally and professionally which is making it really difficult to concentrate. I’m having feelings that I generally don’t typically experience very often and it’s taking me through a lot of ups and downs (sometimes on a daily basis). Generally, I always feel very self-confident, very in-control, and very focussed. Lately, I feel like I’m a bit of a mess and I’m a bit worried that I’m losing my ‘mojo’ with some of my key strengths and familiar personality traits. In some of my previous blog entries I discussed how this program was rapidly changing my personality. Who knew that a MBA schooling program could put you face to face with your insecurities, could test your boundaries, and could make you think in ways that once made you uncomfortable? Well I really believe that the program is doing this and I’m optimistic that it will be for the good in the end. I feel like I’m an onion being stripped layer by layer and then being slowly put back together; being taught to act and think differently. I just hope that I’m able to keep enough of my traditional traits so that my friends, family, and spouse still recognize me when I’m done ;) On a brighter note, my rental property officially closed a couple of weeks back, which takes off a bunch of stress and provides some much needed resources for this very expensive year!
My brother, sister-in-law, three kids, and mother-in-law came up to visit us here in London last weekend. My sister-in-law and 40 day old niece, Sanya, stayed the whole week. It’s amazing how a little baby can just light your day up. Seeing/holding her throughout the week was the highlight of my days and seemed to lift my spirits up.
Until next time….
Sacha
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Module 2 In Like a Lion
It’s been a few weeks since my last entry and I feel like I have a lot to say; I’ll save some of my talk for my next entry. It’s pretty late now and I’m tired so excuse my typos and grammatical errors. My brother and his family are coming up tonight from Ottawa. I’m looking forward to their visit. My newborn baby niece Sanya is coming and I look forward to seeing her and holding her (I haven’t seen her since the day she was born). When I left Ottawa, I realized that having a bit of distance between the family and myself was somewhat of a relief. Don’t get me wrong; I love my family and am very family-oriented but I just needed some space. I’m now getting to the point where I miss them and look forward to seeing them.
On Canada Day long weekend, Geeta and I got a bit more of a chance to spend time together. We went for a 5km run in the pouring rain. What an experience! If you’ve never run in the rain before, it’s definitely an experience I recommend; how exhilarating, liberating, and refreshening! Mind you, I almost got hit by a car but it was still fun….yes a car skidded toward me on the slick roads while we were crossing. I narrowly missed having two broken legs by jumping out of the way in the last second.
Module 2 of school came in with a bang. We just finished module 2 midterms, which is weird because it feels like I just finished Module 1 finals yesterday. I think the exams went well and I’m feeling good about them. My new philosophy is all about KISS; ” keep it simple stupid.” I tend to over-complicate things (based on my engineering background), and this philosophy seems to be better-suited in the business management world. So far so good with module 2’s accounting, finance, and strategy course load. I’m enjoying the courses and the content. I find accounting and finance have a fair amount of overlap especially in the areas of Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement analysis; definitely aspects you need to understand in any leadership/management position. I had a good chat with my eldest brother about these courses and he gave me some good advice; “you’re not going to be an accountant or a financial controller; just learn the basics and don’t worry about the details.” I couldn’t agree more and I’m doing my best to stay at a higher level of learning. Strategy seems to be somewhat like the Leading People and Organization course from module 1; more on the soft-skill side. I tend to enjoy debates and high level, non-quantitative discussions, so I think I’ll like this class quite a bit. The professors all seem very interesting; Professor Hatch (teacher for Finance) served on the board of directors for Royal Bank, which I think is quite neat and prestigious.
With 2.5 months passed in the program, I’m starting to get a good feel about the advantages and disadvantages of a 1 year full-time MBA program. First the advantages: 1. You are out of the workforce for ½ the time of a regular 2 year program which is definitely cheaper from a opportunity cost, salary, and living cost perspective, 2. There isn’t any concrete evidence in my opinion that a 1 year program from a reputable school jeopardizes your employment opportunities, 3. The increased intensity of a condensed program takes your work ethic and endurance up a notch which puts those interested in iBanking and Management Consulting in the right mode of operation. In terms of disadvantages: 1. Sometime I wish I could slow down and take more time with some of the cases and learn them in more depth, but time doesn’t always permit this, 2. For those unsure about their post-MBA path, one has to quickly come to a decision on where they are going to get the most out of the industry specific recruiting cycles which doesn't come quickly for everyone, 3. The pressure and intensity of the program is stressful and one has to become that much more careful to ensure that they stay healthy.
I finally heard back from Mike Zafirovski’s office (CEO of Nortel) on my attempt to get him to speak at Ivey. Unfortunately, he won’t be making it. I’m a bit disappointed but have decided to focus my efforts on getting one of his cabinet members to come in. I was thinking of asking Lauren Flaherty, Chief Marketing Officer, and one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women (Business Week survey). Update to follow.
After 9 long weeks, my bronchitis is almost beat. I decided to force myself to get more sleep over the last few weeks and its working. I’m keeping up with the exercise and I’m a full 10 pounds lighter then when I started the program. I feel good, and my appetite is starting to pick up again. Of course it helps when you’ve got a supportive wife that cooks so well ;)
I started writing a speech for one of my best friend’s upcoming wedding. I’ve known this person since Grade 4, and am honoured to be one of his two best men. Writing a speech for someone you’ve known so long is often tougher then one would think. I’ve been having a tough time thinking of humorous stories; although I know we have so many. Hopefully it will come to me soon.
On a final note, my eleven year old niece in Dallas got her first email address and I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from her. I can’t believe how quickly she is growing up. I still remember holding her as a new born, and now emailing! How cool is that.
Until next time…
Sacha
On Canada Day long weekend, Geeta and I got a bit more of a chance to spend time together. We went for a 5km run in the pouring rain. What an experience! If you’ve never run in the rain before, it’s definitely an experience I recommend; how exhilarating, liberating, and refreshening! Mind you, I almost got hit by a car but it was still fun….yes a car skidded toward me on the slick roads while we were crossing. I narrowly missed having two broken legs by jumping out of the way in the last second.
Module 2 of school came in with a bang. We just finished module 2 midterms, which is weird because it feels like I just finished Module 1 finals yesterday. I think the exams went well and I’m feeling good about them. My new philosophy is all about KISS; ” keep it simple stupid.” I tend to over-complicate things (based on my engineering background), and this philosophy seems to be better-suited in the business management world. So far so good with module 2’s accounting, finance, and strategy course load. I’m enjoying the courses and the content. I find accounting and finance have a fair amount of overlap especially in the areas of Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement analysis; definitely aspects you need to understand in any leadership/management position. I had a good chat with my eldest brother about these courses and he gave me some good advice; “you’re not going to be an accountant or a financial controller; just learn the basics and don’t worry about the details.” I couldn’t agree more and I’m doing my best to stay at a higher level of learning. Strategy seems to be somewhat like the Leading People and Organization course from module 1; more on the soft-skill side. I tend to enjoy debates and high level, non-quantitative discussions, so I think I’ll like this class quite a bit. The professors all seem very interesting; Professor Hatch (teacher for Finance) served on the board of directors for Royal Bank, which I think is quite neat and prestigious.
With 2.5 months passed in the program, I’m starting to get a good feel about the advantages and disadvantages of a 1 year full-time MBA program. First the advantages: 1. You are out of the workforce for ½ the time of a regular 2 year program which is definitely cheaper from a opportunity cost, salary, and living cost perspective, 2. There isn’t any concrete evidence in my opinion that a 1 year program from a reputable school jeopardizes your employment opportunities, 3. The increased intensity of a condensed program takes your work ethic and endurance up a notch which puts those interested in iBanking and Management Consulting in the right mode of operation. In terms of disadvantages: 1. Sometime I wish I could slow down and take more time with some of the cases and learn them in more depth, but time doesn’t always permit this, 2. For those unsure about their post-MBA path, one has to quickly come to a decision on where they are going to get the most out of the industry specific recruiting cycles which doesn't come quickly for everyone, 3. The pressure and intensity of the program is stressful and one has to become that much more careful to ensure that they stay healthy.
I finally heard back from Mike Zafirovski’s office (CEO of Nortel) on my attempt to get him to speak at Ivey. Unfortunately, he won’t be making it. I’m a bit disappointed but have decided to focus my efforts on getting one of his cabinet members to come in. I was thinking of asking Lauren Flaherty, Chief Marketing Officer, and one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women (Business Week survey). Update to follow.
After 9 long weeks, my bronchitis is almost beat. I decided to force myself to get more sleep over the last few weeks and its working. I’m keeping up with the exercise and I’m a full 10 pounds lighter then when I started the program. I feel good, and my appetite is starting to pick up again. Of course it helps when you’ve got a supportive wife that cooks so well ;)
I started writing a speech for one of my best friend’s upcoming wedding. I’ve known this person since Grade 4, and am honoured to be one of his two best men. Writing a speech for someone you’ve known so long is often tougher then one would think. I’ve been having a tough time thinking of humorous stories; although I know we have so many. Hopefully it will come to me soon.
On a final note, my eleven year old niece in Dallas got her first email address and I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from her. I can’t believe how quickly she is growing up. I still remember holding her as a new born, and now emailing! How cool is that.
Until next time…
Sacha
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