Post China Study Trip Thoughts…Part 1/4

It’s almost a week since I got back from China and I’m still jet-lagged (I think). I don’t know what’s up with me these days. I can’t sleep during normal EST night hours and I’m sleeping until 4:30 PM in the afternoon pretty much everyday. My family is starting to wonder what is wrong with me ;) I’ve never gone more then a couple of days like this following a trip to Asia, but I guess the late Christmas family gatherings and partying coupled with the jet lag are playing a part. I’m really tempted to take a sleeping pill to get back on track, but I guess that will be a last resort if things don’t remedy themselves. I guess we’ll give it a couple of more days. All in all, the entire trip was very memorable but I am very glad to be home with my wife and family in Ottawa. I’m now at the point where I’m ready to head back to London and get back to school. I can’t believe I’m saying that but it’s true. Family time is great, but I tend to like it in small doses and I think I’m ready to head home (yes… London feels like home now). I’m ready to jump back into the fire and meet up with my classmates that I already seem to be missing after only a week apart. I feel recharged and I’m ready to put in 110% again.

So how was China? Incredible! It changed my entire perspective on the region, and gave me lots to think about with respect to China’s prosperity, governance, and future role on the world stage. It was also an incredible journey with a bunch of great friends and colleagues. It was the type of trip that had a bit of everything: adventure, spontaneity, fun, sightseeing, sickness, excess partying, ups and downs, and drama. But it was also the type of trip that brought us closer together as a group and I think that this was the single greatest benefit of it.

Picture: My Classmates and I explore Beijing's Historical Sights:

So I figure I would write a series of blog entries to recap the trip. I’ll publish these entries in sequence as I get more time to write. This first entry is a general perspective on the trip and highlights my overall perspective on the China Study Trip. I’ll follow up with detailed blog entries on the specifics of days 1 through 11 spread over two or three blog entries…stay tuned.

It’s probably worthwhile to highlight the purpose of the trip before I go any further. The China Study Trip is an MBA elective course offered at Ivey (yes we get credit for it). The purpose of the trip is to visit China (Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong) and learn about how business is conducted in China, how it’s growing, what the business climate is like, what the culture is like, and perhaps its an opportunity to strengthen your bonds with your classmates (your network for life post-MBA).

So after almost two weeks in China, what are my immediate thoughts and perspectives on the country we hear so much about but know so little about?

-You’ve got to visit it to understand it. We hear a lot about China on the news and in the classroom; communism, human rights, growth to name a few of the dominant topics. I think that the western nations paint a fairly dismal picture on a country that is booming and is sure to have a prominent role on the world stage. Sure China has its problems, but things are changing rapidly and a visit to China is the best way to make up your own mind on how you feel about it rather then agree blindly with what the mainstream media is conveying. My perspective on China is completely changed after my visit. In fact, I almost wander if North America will be left behind in terms of infrastructure, and innovation in 20 years at the rate that China is developing and accumulating wealth and ownership of foreign debt (especially U.S. foreign debt).

Picture: Hong Kong at night (left), Maglev train in Shanghai (centre), Shanghai World Financial building - 101 stories; third tallest in world, and Grand Hyatt - 87 stories (right)

-China is absolutely a force to contend with and will pose serious competition and threat to the continued dominance of western nations. One visit to Shanghai and Beijing will surely demonstrate the economic might and future prosperity of this emerging market. Take a look at the 101 stories World Financial Centre or ride the Maglev train in Shanghai, or the metro in Beijing, and you’ll start to wander how they are doing it and whether North America is falling behind. Their economy is shifting from one that is dependant on U.S. exports to one that is dependant on its own consumption. In fact China’s economy is roughly 25% dependant on its own consumption versus about 65% for the U.S (so they depend heavily on the U.S. as does the U.S depend on them for debt funding). China’s dependence on the U.S. will likely diminish with time as Chinese incomes rise. Take a look around Beijing and Shanghai and the roads are littered with high-end Audi’s, Volkswagen’s, and Buick’s (Shanghai/General Motors ~Joint Venture). People have money in the big cities and with a small credit market it’s mind-boggling when one thinks of where the money is coming from or how families have saved so much to make such lucrative expenditures?

Picture: World Financial Centre in Shanghai at night (left), Hong Kong skyline (right)

-China’s major cities paint a bright façade for visitors, and offer the latest and greatest in infrastructure, architecture, and culture. Visitors are surely going to be blown away when the visit, but the question I kept asking myself was what were the rural areas like where 80% of the Chinese population lives? Do the big cities paint a false picture of what most of China is really like? I’m guessing that the rural areas/tier 2-3 cities are pretty third world. We had a chance to visit a pseudo-rural area one day and sure enough it was quite a different picture than their tier 1 cities. But China continues its cultural revolution and there is much talk of a trend taking shape whereby a mass migration of rural inhabitants will populate large cities, and new master-planned cities that will give Dubai a run for its money. The government is agile and can surely make things happen quickly without having to work their way through a House of Commons or Senate. After a visit to a new master-planned city near Souzhou (a city 2 hours outside of Beijing) I was blown away of how this new high tech master-planned city was becoming reality. I was also blown away of how they were able to preserve their cultural heritage.

Picture: Picturesque Souzhou (left), and Forbidden City in Beijing (right)

-The Chinese government is agile; a perfect quality in today’s world. Just look at their bailout package. Almost $600B U.S. in infrastructure projects announced and immediately approved, and that money has already spawned construction projects within weeks of the announcement. Compare that to the U.S. bailout that falters once, twice in Senate, and will likely take 12 to 18 months before infrastructure projects are kicked off the ground. Are we agile enough in North America? Is China’s socialist republican ways the reason of why they are able to control their 1.3 billion people and set the stage for economic prosperity while India (the world’s largest democracy) struggles to get control over its population and is easily 20 years behind China in development? Did India do it backwards? Should capitalism and democratic ways come after the government gains control and develops the infrastructure it needs (as it appears to be happening in China)? What can India learn from China?

Well that’s a taste of my learning’s and questions from China. Stay tuned for detailed accounts on the trip as I follow-up with additional postings over the coming days and weeks.

Happy New Year’s….Until next time.

Sacha

China…Here I Come!

I’m done with my exams for 2008 and I’m off to China next week! I’m participating in the China Study Trip along with 50 of my Ivey friends and I’m starting to get really excited. Geeta is heading to Ottawa for a month and I’ll be joining her and my family post-China.

Oh my god, life is passing by way too quickly. I’ve been having way too much fun this year, and I’m already starting to worry that life in the “Ivey bubble” is going to end soon. I know all too well that when I’m back to work, life will get routine again and that I’ll be submerged in my career. I know that this year will go do down in my books as the most memorable one, and perhaps the most influential one in my path towards ‘elderly wisdom’.

I know I’ve had an incredible experience here at Ivey, and perhaps my experience is not totally reflective of everyone else’s. I know I’ve been lucky to get a job six months ahead of graduation. I know that I’ve been lucky to make so many incredible friends. I know I’ve taken an easier path with respect to my course selection and extracurricular activities. I know that I’ve allowed this year to become a game changing one. I know I’ve grown in so many ways. I know that I don’t regret any of my decisions this year. BUT, I also know that not all of my Ivey colleagues have had the same wonderful year as I have had. Perhaps I paint a rosier picture of life at Ivey than that of the one that many of my other classmates would paint. What can I say; I’m a positive guy, an eternal optimist, and a believer in forceful optimism. My positive experience at Ivey may not be the same as yours, but I promise that you’ll learn a lot and that the chances of you regretting it are slim. That said; don’t always take my positivity in these blog entries as proof that you will have the same great experience. Honestly, your experience in this program is largely based off what you make it to be and will vary student to student.

Last week, I had the opportunity to see both Bill Clinton and Paul Martin in one day! What an inspiring set of speakers. I wrote a blog for the Financial Post on my key takeaways from these two leaders. Have a read if you get a chance. Feedback is always welcome and appreciated!

When you enter the MBA program, you’re told that you’ll depart as a more effective decision maker. Of course one would think that this skill set is more applicable in the business world, but it’s amazing to see how it’s very applicable in your personal life as well. For example, in my family we have an inherent problem whereby we have a tough time departing with useless articles and clothing that we’ve accumulated over the years. One visit to my parent’s house and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. My wife is a believer in a non-clutter environment, and departing with all things that are not used within the last year. That said, I was told/forced (sorry honey) to clean out my closet a few weekends ago. I used my newly acquired MBA decision making abilities (that allow me to make quick/effective decisions based on facts) to get rid of all the clothing that I had not worn in the last year. I ended up with a garbage bag full of clothing that will be donated to a good cause, and an organized closet that would even make our resident fashion expert proud. A year ago I would not have been willing to let go of these clothes, but I am now able to effectively make the decisions to do so and I attribute that to my $62k MBA education. See…its money well spent ;)

As one of my key goals this year, I’ve decided to become a less stubborn person. I’ve lost good friends in the past because of my stubbornness, and I don’t want to continue on that path. In the last couple of weeks, I feel really good about some of the changes I’ve made. My wife always tells me that I need to be less sensitive and less stubborn. I couldn’t agree more and I’m going to continue working on that through 2009.

What an incredibly crazy political time in Canada? My classmate wrote a really interesting blog on it that really makes you think about whether the Coalition Government is the way to go. Check it out.

Since I’ll be in China until late December, this will likely be my last posting until then. I promise a full report on my experiences in China; Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. Have a great holiday and I wish you a Happy New Year. I promise to keep posting through 2009.

Until next time…

Sacha

From an Ivey MBA Candidate’s Wife

My wife (Geeta) recently wrote up a blog entry for the Ivey MBA Student Blogging website on a what it's like for a partner supporting an MBA candidate. I thought she did a fantastic job in portraying a realistic picture of what's its been like for her. Here it is.

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I was so excited when I found out my husband (Sacha) got into the Richard Ivey School of Business to do his MBA. More than anything I think I was excited knowing that we were going to be moving to London for a year. Both my husband and I were born and raised in Ottawa and never lived anywhere else. This was going to be a great opportunity to move somewhere different and expand upon our horizons. I was also thinking that being away from our family would bring us closer to each other.

I think I was more excited than my husband was about the prospect of meeting new people. As soon as we moved to London I got to work making new friends. I tried to find about the Ivey Circle – a group built by the partners (of the MBA students) for the partners. I couldn’t find anyone that knew anything about it (all the people that used to run it had left in the past cohorts), so I decided to start it up again. It was a really great opportunity to meet new people in a new city. It’s nice to have a group of people to hang out with when your partner has a 24 hour report due or when they have exams to study for. I hope that the Ivey Circle continues when we all leave with our partners since it’s been a really fun, and interactive way to get closer to people in the same situation.

When we first got to London I was a working woman. My job was one that you could take up anywhere as long as you had your laptop with you. I had been working at Nortel for over 11 years (the last few years as a Project Manager) and I wasn’t really enjoying my time there anymore - but my husband and I had a deal. The deal was that I would keep my job while he did his MBA and then after that I would quit and go into Event Planning like I had been wanting to for the past 6 years. It was a great plan, but one I was worried wouldn’t materialize because making a career change is not easy to initiate. Anyway, as fate would have it I got laid off (after surviving 24 rounds of layoffs at Nortel) shortly after we had moved to London.

I have to say that this sudden change in our lives, not to mention in our finances was a stressful time for us. Add to the fact that Sacha was in school day and night didn’t help the situation either.
After a lot of anxiety and not having Sacha there to talk to all the time, I decided that this was the best thing that could have happened to me. I embraced it and within a few months signed up for a number of Event Planning volunteering opportunities. I even got an opportunity to help plan the first Canadian MBA Leadership Conference at Ivey. Now I’m well on my way to transitioning into my new career and I am very excited about doing Event Planning full time!

These past 6 months have had their ups and downs. It’s always a strain on a relationship when you don’t get the time to be around each other all the time. During the times that I’m busy with friends or an event, I find it easy to be in London. During the times when I don’t have much going on, I find it hard being without my family. It’s tough to be home all day and not get any interaction with people. I guess the key is to keep yourself really busy. I found it a real treat to be at home in the beginning, but after a while there are only so many books you can read and only so much television you can watch ;-)

We always knew that Sacha would change as a person due to his MBA. It really is a personality challenge as well as an academic one. Being a part of this Ivey MBA “bubble” as they call it, has really brought out the social side to my husband. I like that but at the same time I realize that it takes time away from “us.” I used to get a lot more quality time with my husband and now I get time with him and his friends when he does have free time. I like the group thing too but after a while a little alone time is needed. We both find it much easier when his school work is lighter, but we have to make a real effort when school is demanding.

I know Sacha has learnt a lot about himself during his MBA program but I find that I have learnt a lot about myself too. I’m learning, for the first time, that when I don’t have a lot of interaction with people I really miss it. I learnt that when I like what I’m doing as a career I’ll put a 150% into it and that I can get so motivated. I’ve learnt that I was in the wrong career and I am so proud of myself for making a change now instead of regretting it for the rest of my life. I’ve learnt that I love meeting new people and making new friends. I’ve learnt that I really do miss family when I am not around them. I’ve learnt that whatever it takes, Sacha and I will work it out. But most of all, I’ve learnt that moving to London, getting out of our shell, was the best investment we made in ourselves.

Half Done!

It’s Saturday afternoon and I find myself back in Ottawa. Geeta and I decided to take a spontaneous trip back home after my team presentation (which was on “religionomics – the impact of religion on economic growth) concluded on Thursday. I’m currently sitting in a walk in clinic, surrounded by plenty of sick people….I’m paranoid that I may catch another horrible virus. My regular doctor in Ottawa doesn’t work weekends and I was forced to come into a walk-in-clinic. I’ve been sick for almost 2 weeks. What started off as a soar throat, and a weak voice (which is probably good for me because I talk way too loudly), has turned into chest congestion and I’m thinking that I need antibiotics? I haven’t exercised in two weeks and am dying to run again and get into shape for my upcoming China trip.

The drive up to Ottawa was quick. We listened to a dance club mix on the way up…my favourite lyric these days: “Daddy-O, you got the swagger of a champion.” You’ll never guess where that one comes from. …It’s Britney Spears, “Womenizer.” Wow, I’ve got a Britney Spears song stuck in my head …that’s pretty sad, although I do love the line. I’ll have to incorporate that one into a blog entry somehow ;)

Coming back to my hometown/Otown has been very refreshing. I didn’t realize how much I missed home over the last couple of months. It’s been really nice spending time with family, my nieces and nephews, and friends. Geeta and I have been splitting up our time here in Ottawa; she’s been living at her parents and myself at mine. I enjoyed a boyz day out with my dad and brother yesterday; we went out for Thai food and caught the new Bond flick (by the way I wasn’t too impressed with the movie). The family hooked up for an extended family dinner last night in the popular Byward Market after having pre-drinks/snacks at my inlaws…fun times. I’m looking forward to coming back here for Christmas after the China trip. My baby niece Sanya is growing up so fast and I feel like I’m missing out.

Unexpectedly, coming back to Ottawa made me realize how much I was being missed at home. I didn’t expect that. It made me realize how important it is to me to be close to home and close to my family. My parents are undergoing household renovations, and my dad has been taking on a lot of extra physical activities that I normally would have helped out with. My mother is recuperating from back injuries after a nasty ‘freezing rain’ fall. I wish I was here more to help them out. My brother told me a few weeks back that I should consider staying close to home in the future especially as our parents get older. That kind of hit home with me and I think it is important for me to be close to home no matter what endeavours I pursue. Moving to Toronto post-MBA is closer than London (4 hr versus 7 hr drive to Ottawa) so I hope I can be home a bit more to help out.

On a sadder note, I was disappointed to hear that a few of my Nortel colleagues were let go after last week’s dismal news, including two of my favourite executives Lauren Flaherty (CMO) and John Roese (CTO). As you may recall from my previous blog entries, Lauren Flaherty was going to come to Ivey in October to do a talk on leadership but had to cancel last minute…I guess I know why now. Last week, I published a blog entry for the Financial Post. That entry has been read by thousands of people around the globe and I’ve been getting lots of email and feedback on it. It’s amazing how far blogging can reach out. On the positive side of things, the article stimulated a lot of debate as it was picked up by other websites including allaboutnortel.com and others. It even prompted a counter blog to be written against my pro-government intervention view point. The Financial Post/National Post wanted to publish it in print last Tuesday but I opted not to go through with it for personal reasons. I have enjoyed the Nortel/Government debate and hope that I continue to write more about controversial topics such as this one. Thanks to everyone for your feedback and encouragement.

So what else is going on?

A couple of weeks back I had the opportunity to attend an Ivey Alumni Award Gala in Toronto. The alumni chapter in Toronto was honouring the Ivey Business Person of the Year (given each year to an Ivey alumnus from Toronto). This year’s recipient was the CEO of Manulife Insurance. Attending this gala was a surreal experience; there were CXO’s and EVPs from pretty much every major Canadian corporation. Its pretty cool being apart of the ‘Ivey club’ and to be apart of an alumni network that has so many prominent names. In fact part of our student group sat at the Harry Rosin table, where CEO Larry Rosen entertained us. When you come to Ivey, you often hear about how three out of every five CEOs in Canada are Ivey or Harvard grads…its one of those useless facts that you kind of just kind of shrug off. When you get an opportunity to attend a gala such as this one, that fact becomes deeply engrained in your mind…as you start to wonder if that will be in your own fate fifteen years down the road. Another notable event worth mentioning is that ten Ivey students got to go down to Toronto to see/meet with former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan. In a couple of weeks, I will get the opportunity to attend a Bill Clinton talk in London…keep you posted.

Speaking of Toronto, I was back in Toronto last weekend to attend another MBA fair with some of my student ambassador colleagues. It’s always an honour to represent your school at these fairs and its kind of neat talking to prospective applicants, especially since you were in their shoes only a short time ago. The fair was successful and fulfilling on a personal level and I hope to attend many more in the future.

On a side note, I wanted to quickly mention my MBA learning team, “Team 5.” If there is one thing that has made my Ivey MBA experience it’s my learning team. I am a true believer in collaboration and team work and I was touched to come into class on my birthday with a gift waiting on my seat from my team. …it was a book on collaboration…how fitting and how touching. Our team just wrote a blog entry on "The Dynamics of Team Five" on the MBAA Student blogging site. Give it a read if time permits.

I thought I’d end this entry with an update on my ‘networking’ activities as my brother likes to call it (aka “partying” activities). Yes I’ve calmed down on the partying scene and typically go out once a week, and only if my wife is willing to join ;) I admit that one of my primary personality changes this year is the fact that I like to party now. I know it’s been a tough adjustment for Geeta, but I guess I know that it’s only going to last another six months and I want to make the most of the “ivey bubble” experience and ‘network’ it up before heading back into the routine working world. The last few weeks have involved some pretty crazy ‘networking’ activities. I celebrated my 28th birthday like it was my last birthday. I celebrated Halloween like it was the last time I would ever dress up….and next weekend I will celebrate a “bollywood”/”Iveywood” theme party in true Indian fashion and bhangra it up until my feet hurt. What can I say…I’m having a blast at Ivey and it’s definitely going to go down as one of the most memorable years of my life.

Four weeks to go until the China Study Trip….can’t wait.

Until next time,

Sacha

28 and counting…

It’s my birthday today and I’m 28 years young. I’m feeling 20 these days, and I think I look it too aside from the greys that I can’t seem to hide anymore …I recently shaved my head, and no more goatee for a while now ;)

Wow a lot has changed this year, and despite the many ups and downs, 27 was a great year for me and I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished. I feel like 27 was the year where I got out of my routine and out of my shell, and explored unchartered territory. It was year where I made so many great friends, and took risks…definitely a defining year for me and one that I’ll remember.

Geeta has been spoiling me rotten all week and she definitely made my birthday a special one. I missed not being around family today to celebrate and I’m looking forward to seeing them at Christmas after a class trip to China! Speaking of China, I just attended a class preparation seminar for our China MBA study trip. In that seminar we got a few mandarin lessons and it turns out that accents are accentuations are really important in the language. As a learning exercise, the class was taught how to say ‘da’ four different ways using the four mandarin accentuations...it was pretty funny hearing the class repeat ‘da’ over and over in different tones.

When I was born in 1980, President Ronal Reagan was elected into office that day as I’m told by my mother. Today, on my birthday President-Elect Obama is elected into office. I feel like I’m living through a historical moment…kind of like all those folks that lived through the first man on the moon landing, the JFK era, or the Vietnam War. I guess it isn’t entirely true (that I haven’t lived through historical moments); I mean I did live through the fall off the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War, the dot com boom and bust, and 911….but somehow, Obama takes the cake. It almost feels as if the world took a deep breath today and expressed a sigh of relief….like everything is going to be ok :) Just wish the damn stock market felt that way today! It’s still paining me to look at my portfolio.

What were my key takeaways from year 27?

-Genius comes in times of adversity.
-Don’t give up hope when things look hopeless.
-A conservative person can become a conservative risk taker.
-Successes are nothing if you don’t have friends or family to share them with.
-Negativity is contagious but so is positivity.
-Don’t take all the good things you have for granted.
-Don’t let friendships slip away as a result of stubbornness.

I mention that these were my key takeaways, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve learned to master them :) I still have a long way to go on embracing many of these takeaways. Let’s face it: I hate adversity, I have downer days, I’m conservative in nature, I love family and friends but in doses, I love to bitch about things on occasion, I definitely take things for granted, and I can be one of the most stubborn asses you’ve ever met on most days….but hey... I’m working on it ;)

So what’s 28 going to be all about? I want it to be about successful new beginnings in a new city (Toronto), successful partnership with my wife, good friendships, keeping it good with family, making a difference, and having impact.

Thanks to everyone for you warm birthday wishes….means a lot to me.

Until next time….

Sacha

Blogging...blogging...blogging

I didn’t get much of a chance to write an entry this week. I’ve recently extended my blogging activities and I’m now blogging for three sites including this one! I can’t possibly write three different entries on a regular basis so here’s how I’m going to do this:

http://sachagera.blogspot.com: will be my personal blog highlighting the ups and downs of my MBA experience and will have a realistic and more personal feel to it.

http://iveymbastudents.blogspot.com: will generally be the same entry as this blog site but minus the personal stuff (since its audience is primarily for prospective MBA students). Sometimes, I will add MBA specific stuff that I won’t be adding to this site.

I’m also now blogging for the Financial Post along with two other Ivey MBA students. Check out my blog entries @ http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/executive/default.aspx . These entries will be focussed on business issues as well as MBA related articles.

Since I don’t have a formal blog entry this week, I thought I’d attach a link to my latest posting on the Financial Post. It’s about a topic I’m really passionate about ;)…can you guess? Yes, I get made fun of a lot in school for constantly referring to Nortel during our class discussions and this article is called “Why Ottawa Should Save Nortel.” Even the professors poke at me about Nortel to the point where it’s getting a bit annoying! Hope you enjoy it and I would love to hear some feedback on it:

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/executive/archive/2008/11/03/why-ottawa-should-save-nortel.aspx

Until next time…

Sacha

Inspiration from Passion

Its late Saturday night and I’m writing a blog entry...Don’t ask me why. I stayed home tonight which is pretty untypical for a Saturday night in the Ivey MBA program. Geeta joined me late in the evening after she put in a long day helping out with the Canadian MBA Leadership Conference (more on that later). We decided to keep it low key tonight and so we rented ‘Harold and Kumar’; pretty funny and silly….exactly the type of movie we were looking for tonight. Geeta fell asleep during the movie (she’s been on her toes non-stop for a number of days) and hence I’m burning off some excess energy as I write this. Today was a weird day. I think I got really bored! Life passes by really fast in an MBA program with school work, friends, and all the related class social events. Many of us call it the “Ivey Bubble”, a year of unprecedented learning, socializing, networking, and classroom drama. The truth is that I haven’t really sat at home doing nothing in a really long time. I almost feel like today was a bit of a detox session from life in the Ivey bubble ;) The weird thing is that I didn’t know what to do with myself. I tend to become restless when I’m doing nothing. The good thing was that the Senators were playing the Leafs. The unfortunate part is that the Sens lost again! It has been pretty depressing to watch them this year (so far). I hate it when my team is on a losing streak.

I thought I’d mention that I’m now an uncle for eighth time over. My sister-in-law delivered a healthy baby boy at 9lbs 8oz in London, U.K. Baby Adrian is doing great and hopefully we’ll get to see him soon!

When Geeta (my wife) lost her job at Nortel earlier this year, she was as happy as could be. I didn’t understand why. I had just taken a leave from work to pursue the MBA and we had gone from two good incomes to zero in a relatively short period of time. In honesty I was a bit scared. She told me that she wanted to do a career switch; that she was done with tech and that she wanted to become an event planner! She had talked about it for years and I guess it was a good time to explore it… but I’ll admit that I was a bit sceptical. I’ve always been a believer that anyone who is passionate about their job will be a success at it. I never really understood Geeta’s passion for event planning until she took on a volunteer position to be an event planner for the first ever CMLC (Canadian MBA Leadership Conference), which was hosted at Ivey this past weekend with students coming in from 13 Canadian MBA programs across Canada. Our MBA student council here at Ivey were pleased to have Geeta helping out and warmly integrated her into the role. Geeta did a fantastic job in helping to plan and organize the event, and it was a huge success. Above and beyond everything though, I realized how passionate Geeta was about the role. She’d been working really hard at it for a couple of weeks now and I hadn’t seen her like that in a long time. If there’s one thing I get inspired by, it’s watching people’s passion for things they love. My wife’s passion for event planning inspired me this week, and I’m really proud of her. I know now more then ever that event planning is what she’s meant to do. For those of you contemplating a post-MBA career; don’t lose sight of your passions despite the $$ that other careers may offer in the short run. I truly believe that following one’s passions is a long-term gain perhaps in exchange for some short-term pain.

Speaking of the CMLC conference; it was an initiative originally conceived by some past Ivey MBA student councils (now graduated). This current MBA council actually made it happen and it’s a testament to the strength of the students in this school. The American schools have been hosting conferences like this for sometime now; sharing best practices and strengthening the MBA experience across their country and across many schools. Hopefully, the CMLC will achieve the same objectives here in Canada and will continue on for years to come.

Brian Tobin, former Premier of Newfoundland and Minister of Industry & Fisheries and Oceans kicked off the CMLC conference on Friday with a heart-felt speech. He spoke candidly from his experience, and offered many wise words of wisdom. He was polished, honest, and simply a fantastic speaker! I guess I know where his daughter (a classmate of mine) gets it from ;) The one thing I will take away from his speech was some of his words about what constitutes a successful leader…it went something like this: “A good leader is someone who can sail the ship through the rough waters and is not afraid to jump into tough conditions. Any leader can sail a ship through calm seas.” I couldn’t agree more. He spoke highly of former Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his work ethic as a leader. He shared accounts of how there was never a bottleneck in Chretien’s leadership (i.e. his desk was always clear at the end of the day and all his work and decisions were made before he left the office). He spoke about leaders that navigated through the rough seas and that had to make tough decisions that weren’t popular; Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Brian Mulroney in Canada with the introduction of the GST. He talked about achieving the impossible; Canada eliminating its $42 billion deficit in the 1990’s and producing ten consecutive surpluses. It was a fascinating speech to say the least, and you could really see the passion come through from all that he’s done in life…inspirational to me!

I wanted to share a quick story from class this week. Last Thursday, our Professor came down with laryngitis. We were studying a case on the 2004 NHL Hockey strike. As a solution to the problem, she asked a classmate to lead and teach the class. One particular classmate stepped up to the challenge and did a fantastic job that really blew us all away. This student actually worked for the NHL Players Association at one time (the union side of the strike). What impressed many of us wasn’t so much his in-depth knowledge on the case (which was incredible), but rather how well he did acting in the role of a case-based facilitator. The role of the professor in a case-based school like Ivey is not to lecture or to provide answers but rather to facilitate a class-led discussion by probing, challenging, and pushing the subtle intricacies of the case. It’s this method that makes the students think in new ways and consider new angles; the perfect method to developing an effective decision maker. It’s amazing how well this student did, and its further evidence of the depth of the students in this class.

Until next time…

Sacha

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