What to learn from an MBA

Yesterday, I attended another MBA pre-daparture seminar presented by the CEO of Accenture Japan, Mr. Chikatomo Hodo. 

Hodo-san joined Accenture after he graduated with an Engineering bachelor degree from Stanford University. Later he quit his job for MBA study in University of Columbia. He didn’t think of returning to Accenture after the MBA, but a coincidence meet with his former boss at an escalator (in a train station?) changed his mind. He returned to Accenture and become the CEO in 2006.

Just some notes of his talk yesterday.

What he took away from the MBA

1)       Health : become more health conscious and routinely doing sports

2)       Common language: not just English, but also the understanding of different culture and idea

3)       Finance knowledge: able to judge a company by numbers

4)       Discussion skill: able to actively participate in the discussion, know when to lead, when to follow, and how to guide the discussion to desired conclusion

5)       Contacts: his school location in NY provides lots of chance to meet the prominent figures not only from the business fields, but also politics, NGO, academic etc.

What he thinks he should have done in the MBA but didn’t

1)       Take other undergraduate subjects besides the MBA subjects.

2)       Go to the developing country for exchange program. (As he said, the economic centric is moving towards the developing countries from developed countries.

3)       Learning other language – Chinese, Spanish etc.

4)       Learning art – music, dance, pure art, liberal art etc.

The characteristics of a Global Business Leader

1)       Individualized MACRO view – poses own Macro view for decision making

2)       Enjoy risk-taking – keep challenging, no gain comes without risk. But the important thing is to ENJOY. Enjoy the good outcome, and even enjoy the failure, because it is where you can learn from.

3)       Passion – a passion to the job, to the people and to the society

4)       Communication skill, flexibility, professionalism

What to do for self improvement

1)       Self reflection – reflect every 3 years. If you found you did not stretch in the past 3 years, means that you should seek a change instead of staying in the current position.

2)       Design & stretch – understand your capability, design the steps to achieve your aspiration, and stretch yourself with every little step.

3)       Network & Connecting Dots – building a reliable relationship with friends, colleagues, business partners etc. The dots you created at different moments will connect themselves at last.  

Hodo-san closed his presentation with the famous speech by Steve Jobs in the Commencement Address at Stanford University.

“Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Well, I do believe that what I have achieved so far is a consequence of the connection of what I did before. However, since there are so many choices available in this Informatics Age, I always try to make easy life by predefine what is relevant and what is not relevant before I decide what to do. This is important for time management as well as for "life efficiency", but at the other hand, there is also a hidden opportunity cost by turning down some of the “irrelevant” choices, which probably an important “dot” in my life.

Back to the school, I think I should be GREEDY again! Doing all kinds of study, participating in all kinds of activities, meeting all kinds of people, and grasping all kinds of opportunities. And who knows, these will be the essential dots for me to connect from the past to the future!      

Career Design

While my current company still undecided whether to retain my position for me after my MBA, I have started contemplating my post MBA career. I just couldn’t be patient for the slow decision making process in the Japanese Organization. It reminds me of why recently the Japanese industries are lagging behind the Korean’s. While the Korean is already sprinting far away by doing the thinking along the way run, the Japanese is still pondering whether it is safe to move the first step...sigh...

Yesterday I joined a Career Design Seminar dedicated for future MBA holders organized by Axiom, a head hunting company in Japan. Just to see what are the opportunities available for me after my MBA. To my surprise, the post-MBA local job market is quite large (considering relatively small number of self-funded Japanese MBA holders) according to the presenter. Of course, whether an MBA holder can secure his dream job is depends on individual pre-MBA experience and competency.

The key messages of the seminar can be summarized in below 3 points:

1)       Most of the executive positions (CEO, CFO, COO etc.) are not advertised publicly in the recruiting market. Those positions are available only through the head hunting companies which they call the Scout Market. To be aware of those positions, you have to make use of those head hunting companies. (Kind of advertising of its own importance in the executive job market)

2)       Upto 35 years old, you are free to choose any companies/any jobs to work for, but after 35years old, you have to know exactly what you want to do, what you can do, and what you want to be. Means that if you still couldn't finalize your career vision by 35, you will doomed to be the mediocrity. (Sounds true as after 35, our mind and stamina will start deteriorating, and the family and financial pressure will drive us more conservative and less risk-taking.)

3)       The best post-MBA job (or simply a Job) would be the one that you want to do（やりたい）, you can do （やれる）and you are pledged to do, or in another word you are paid to do（やってくれ）. Quite the same with the 3 Circles of Hedgehog Concept proposed by Jim Collins in his “Good to Great” book. What a company (or individual) choose to do or choose not to do depends on these 3 circles: (1) What you deeply passionate about, (2) What you can be best in the world at, (3) What drives your economic engine.

For myself, I am still in the way looking for what I passionate about. I have so far aggregated a career as a Professional Engineer, but in future instead of continuing working in the technical filed, my interest is more towards the management. So, considering what I want to do, what I can do, and what would drive my economic engine, I have a seemingly clear yet uncertain (sorry for this paradox) goal as the "CXX" of an Engineering Company.

Well, I still have time upto 35. It means there is no rush to finalize my career goal at this moment. The essential thing is to first equip myself with the necessary business skills and sense during the MBA. And I believe, when someone is well-equipped, the opportunity will follow. 

Prologue III

While others are counting down for London (Olympic), I am counting down for Manchester. 100days to go, for me to leap my first step outside of Asia, where I have been living for 30 years.

Ya, I am counting down for my new life in Manchester where I will start my MBA programme in coming August. After 6 years of working life immediately after I finished my first master degree in engineering, now I am heading back to the halls of ivy. A friend asked me why still go back to school? (I think he didn’t finish his sentence that he actually wanted to ask “at this age?”)

Well, many reasons for that, which I explained, explained and explained in the MBA school interviews, in the drinking parties, gatherings, chatting and so on. The reason is quite simple, I don’t see I can make any different in the future if I don’t make a change of my current life.

Not saying that I am not satisfy with my current life. Quite opposite, I enjoy the peaceful life in Japan, I have a caring family, and a challenging with decent pay job. But again, if I satisfy and continue to stay in this status quo (although ample of sweats, tears and hard works paid to attain this comfort zone), I will never able to achieve my dream, to become someone like Carlos Gohns!

Haha, I heard you laugh. Anyway, he is just my role model to strive for. Being a Brazilian, grew up in France, now the CEO of both Nissan and Renault. I did hope I share something common with him, let’s say being a Malaysian, spent my most precious 20’s in Japan, later UK, and finally the CEO of ? and ? and ? and ?

Sounds too greedy, haa…wait a moment, becoming a CEO in the Fortune 500 companies is not exactly what I admire for; what I thirst for is the management skills and business sense that can cultivate a more fruitful and freedom life in both business and private. The sense of quality, analytical skill and problem solving skill, the communication skill and of course the leadership, which make up a successful CEO of a company and his private life, is all I want. And to gain a foundation of these sets of skills and sense, a tricky short cut would be an MBA.          

Of course, not all MBA carry the same weight and offer whatever you want. I did make a thorough research of the MBA schools (nothing special, every MBA aspirant did the same thing) before I finally decided on Manchester. And since I have not yet enroll, I can’t tell for now whether Manchester can meet my expectation. But one thing for sure, whether Manchester can offer anything, I will take the initiative to seize whatever I want from Manchester, the knowledge, the skill, the life, the friendship, the network, and any experience and opportunities that come to me.

With the help of this Blog, I will record down all these experience, and opportunities that happen in my Manchester MBA. One reason for recording in this Blog is to share my MBA happenings with my family and friends who are across the oceans.

Another reason is to make it a countermeasure to my “amnesia”. I hardly remember what happened in the past if my brain judged the event not worth storing at the first place. And most of the time, being lazy to remember things, my mind tends to go the easy way by categorizing everything as “not worth”, and end up I remember nothing. This happens especially when I read for leisure. I did uncountable amount of reading, but whenever I come to the last page, I start forgetting what is at the first page.

Later, I realize that recording is a good practice to remember things. And Blog, is a good tool for recording. So, when you go along with this Blog in future and discover some seemingly study notes blogs, just don’t get confuse and doubt whether you are at the right place, you are absolutely at the right place with me on the “Road to Manchester”.  

Hope you enjoy reading.

留学日本

距离曼彻斯特的日子还有3个多月，是时候为下一次的留学开始做准备。花了两个月写了15篇中文博客，都是关于日本（大马？）的。接下来，该会用英文选写一些关于MBA的题材。所以，想了一想，就决定用留学日本来做我中文博客的一个总结。

和日本，算是一种缘分。在没抱着太大的希望下，意外的获得了来日本留学的奖学金。留学海外一直是我从小的梦想，所以这留学的机会，对我来说就像是自己的辛勤努力换来的美梦成真。

上了一年的日语后，因名牌效应的心理作祟，选择了东大。本想直接拿个博士学位，但进学后，才发觉自己的兴趣不在研究上，所以硕士毕业后立即参加了工作。

“Choose what you love, Love what you chose.” 很可惜当时不理解Steve Jobs这句话的含意。在选择大学之前没想到这一点，或许该说自己没想到东大的研究生活是这么乏味。虽是学生，但就像沙拉利曼一样一星期工作5，6天，每天早出晚归，加上指导老师给的种种压力，原本期待多姿多采的留学生活变成了枯燥无味的沙拉利曼生活。

后悔了吗？也不全是，至少来日本的这九年，自己收获也不少。

其一，学会了多一种语言。对已会多种语言的大马人来说，不是什么新鲜的事。但多一种语言，就像多一种技能。特别是如果不懂日语，你很难跟日本人沟通，更不要说走进日本人的内心世界。虽然日本的经济实力已大不如前，日语还是有其经济价值。依然活跃于海外的各大日企不说，日本人的种种精神，艺术文化，技术科学都是学习的对象。而想要彻底的学习，日语是先决条件。

其二，进了现在的公司。日本大企业都非常专注于培育职员。在我上班第一个年头，公司安排了大大小小的培训课程，有国内的，国外的，有短期的，也有长期的。可以说在公司里学到的技能与知识，比东大硕士课程学的还要全面与实用。拿着工资学习，这是其他国家企业少有的吧。而且，这几年参加的各大国际项目也让我写下了漂亮的职历。

其三，知道天外有天，人外有人。在大马的时候，对自己在各方面的成就都非常自负。以为只要自己想做，就没什么做不好的。来到日本，再游览了多国后，接触了更多的人与事，在视野开阔的当儿，才发觉自己是多么的渺小，自己能力是多么地有限。有段时期还真因受挫而沮丧颓废，信心全失。但熬过去了才知道这是一个必经的成长过程，从而了解到天外有天，人外有人这说法。也许，能在年轻的时候遭受挫折也是一件幸福的事。

其四，认识了许多新朋友。不管是男女老少，大马人，日本人，还是其他国籍的朋友，都是我来日本的一大收获。数不清自己受过多少日本朋友的恩惠，分享过多少大马朋友的欢笑，参与过多少其他国籍朋友的故事，但至少可以说在他乡的生活，自己不是寂寞的。这些朋友，不管将来到哪里，都会是自己最大的财富。

最后，也是最重要的，找到了我的终生伴侣。要是没日本这个驿站，我俩的异国情缘也不会发生。

所以，留学日本，在自己的生涯履历里，占了极其重要的篇幅。成长，欢笑，挫折，爱情，梦想，都是这履历里的题目。接下来的两年，故事地点将转换成英国，到时会有新的题目，或是相同题目的延续，都是自己所期待的。

不管将来会不会回到日本，我想说，arigato，Nihon。