September is here.

In my last posting I mentioned that I would talk about my key learning’s thus far; I’ve decided to delay that blog entry for a couple of weeks. We have a week off in September for recruiting activities and I think I’ll have more time to think through what I want to say for that entry.

I’ve just started my first elective cycle here at Ivey. I am taking negotiations and competition. It’s really refreshing taking electives. I definitely needed a break from the quantitative stuff, especially after taking accounting and finance. I’m particularly enjoying negotiations. Who knew that negotiation was part art and part science? Each class involves a one on one negotiation with a colleague from the class. The idea is to try out new negotiation tactics and strategies from the night’s assigned readings + the class discussions. There always is a winner and a loser in each of these negotiation sessions. In my last session, a colleague of mine (who happens to be part of my learning team), ripped me pretty good. The funny thing is that I walked out of that negotiation thinking that I did well. I guess he got the best of me and made feel good about it too; a true negotiation master. I guess the fact that he has a background in sales and marketing doesn’t hurt either ;) As part of the course we had to write a reflection paper on that particular negotiation. You can imagine how much fun I had writing about how I got ripped off. I tend to be a competitive person in general, but I realized that I have a harder time being shrewd when I happen to be friends or like the person I’m dealing with… Kudos to my negotiating mate!

Today was a really tough day and I find myself at a low point. This program and this experience have brought many new challenges and learning’s; some as a direct result of the program, some as a result of moving to a new location, some as a result of unexpected changes on the home front, and some because I let myself wander a bit too far. Today was yet another day in my march toward getting a grip on things and I find myself continually forcing myself to make the tough decisions that are right for me professionally and personally. I guess some days are better then others and today wasn’t a good one. I’m a bit down at the moment; probably a bit tired, and feeling a bit vulnerable. I went for a long run/walk today…the perfect cure for a shitty day. I think I need a break and some time for myself; I’m looking forward to the week off in September. I plan to go home and spend some time with my wife, my family and friends, while also using the time to catch up with colleagues at Nortel. I’ve scheduled a number of meetings with former mentors, colleagues, and peers. A very prominent Nortel executive has agreed to meet with me to discuss my post-MBA plans…keep you posted.

On a side note, I recently decided to entertain the idea of interviewing for jobs outside of Nortel. I recently had an interview with a prominent company for a product management position; a dream job and one that was totally in line with my post-MBA goals. I didn’t make it through to the next round of interviews for that job and I was a bit surprised. More then anything I was disappointed and it hit me harder then I thought it would. I’m sure that’s contributing to the downer day I’m having. Never fear; tomorrow is a new day and I won’t let myself stay down very long.

The new U2 album is delayed! It was supposed to be out on Nov 18th but has been pushed to early 2009. Why am I mentioning this?....because I’m a U2 fanatic of course. These days I’ve been listening to a fair amount of U2, as well as the new Cold Play album, and Arcade Fire…it gets me through those tough and busy days!