What they don’t teach you in business school

There was a time I wished I had an MBA from a top B-school. It was something that I felt would make me grow Synechron in a more organized and professional manner, rather than the “learning on the job” approach I was using.

Over the last 16 years of being part of an organization that has now grown to 8,000 people and over 21 countries with close to a half billion in sales, I’ve now interacted with many MBA grads and realized that while they possess incredible analytical and managerial skills, not all of them have the intangible qualities that, in my opinion, are so crucial for business success.

They don’t teach Vision in MBA school. To me, Vision is the ability to imagine and dream of something that does not exist today. One needs a sense of restlessness, curiosity, day-dreaming, optimism, and an ability to let the mind wander on its own to imagine a world that only you can see in the eye of your mind.

They don’t teach Risk-taking in MBA school. The ability to take risks is at the heart of creating high-caliber companies, not least the fact that one needs to take a huge amount of risk to start a business in the first place. The art of analyzing a situation by reducing it to its simplest form and applying your organization’s core values and strategy to make a timely decision at key pivotal moments can be the difference between success and failure.

They don’t teach People skills in MBA school. The ability to connect with people – employees, customers, partners – is fundamental to business. This requires empathy, respect, humbleness, and trust building. The right language, both spoken and non-spoken are key. This includes what to say, when to say it, and equally important, what not to say. Many times, it is not what you say that matters, it is how you say it that matters. Body language – the right amount of eye contact, the right amount of pressure, or a firm handshake. When to use both hands and when not to. When to put a hand on the shoulder, and when not to.

They don’t teach Passion in MBA school. When there is a focus on teaching a data-driven and fact-based approach to business, I often feel it comes at the cost of passion. Passion is what makes you work harder than your competition. Passion is what makes you get up and dust yourself off when you fail. Passion is what attracts key talent to your company, and passion is what makes the people stay. Passion is the pixie dust of business.

They don’t teach Ego management in MBA school. Ego is the bane of successful business (and many other things in life). Learning to recognize your ego (we can all have it) and keeping it in check is fundamental to building yourself as a successful business leader. This is crucial in many situations – admitting when you are wrong, and building a team of people that are smarter than yourself are some of them.

Don’t get me wrong, an MBA is a very valuable endeavor and does develop many skills that are certainly useful in managing a business, but one should not forget that there are many skills which the “School of Life” can teach you that are sometimes more important.