Benefits And Takeaways of Higher Education and Completing An MBA
By Kathleen Coolman, MBA, PMP
I had a different path to higher education than my five siblings, who went to college soon or directly after high school. I chose a different path that started with a job, and I got married shortly thereafter. It wasn’t long, and I realized that my career was very limited without a degree. I started college classes part-time and after two children my marriage ended. I found myself a single parent with a limited career and salary, but I was more motivated than ever for higher education and a degree. I learned about a job opportunity at a university that was two hours from where I lived at the time. I was thrilled that I was selected for the position and I moved to that city. Although a big life change for me at that time, the main goal of working at the university was the tuition discount that was available to me as an employee. I worked full-time and obtained my bachelor’s and master’s degrees part-time. It was difficult being a single parent, working full-time, going to college and eventually graduate school part time, but the payoff was tremendous.
Influence on Others
Two benefits to my personal higher education are the unique way I was able to finance it (through my employer) and also that my daughters could see my work and dedication to completing both degrees. It took a long time, but they also could see the payoff.
Research and Reading
During my coursework, I took two women’s studies classes. In one of them, I had to find and read magazine articles and review advertisements that were published during the year of your birth. It was eye-opening to discover that information. Drawings and pictures of women in dresses and pearls while talking about cleaning ovens and getting dinner ready for their husbands helped me see the historical view of women’s roles in society based on my own birthdate. Another notable takeaway, similarly, from a Women in Business class, occurred when we were given a business-focused book list and had to use a two-step formula for continual leadership and development to utilize in our career. I have tried to continue it to this day. It originates from Dr. James T. Brown, author of “The Handbook of Program Management.” It is as follows:
Read one or two ancient wisdom truths daily from an ancient wisdom text such as, “The Art of War,” “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” or from authors such as Deepak Chopra.
Read at least one leadership book monthly.
There are many business leadership books written by and for women to include in YOUR booklist. With this formula, after five years you will have read 60 books on leadership and absorbed over a thousand leadership realities. What you have read may be things you know in your heart or have heard before. However, it will give you a level of depth that will allow you to speak, act and manage leadership challenges with great effectiveness and with a natural response. Your coworkers, supervisors and colleagues will not identify exactly what makes you so effective, but the result will speak for itself.
Women’s Style
Another lesson I learned is that there are gender differences in work and leadership styles derived from socialization, upbringing and even different linguistic styles between men and women. One point made by my professor Dr. J. Keenan from my Women in Business class, is that you may see males prepare and deliver work differently than females. Frequently when a task is assigned, males deliver that which is asked and a little bit more. That is considered a successful performance. Women on the same team deliver that which is asked and perhaps deliver 95% more. This is also a successful performance, but the additional time it takes to overdeliver is not necessary and may or may not get noticed. Even if the extra work put in does not come from the next task assigned, but from your after-work hours and by burning personal time, it is not necessarily added value. Think of it as jumping over a hurdle, men run for it, take off and slightly but successfully clear the hurdle. Women run, take off and jump 5 feet above the hurdle. In both cases the hurdle is cleared magnificently, but at what additional and unnecessary cost?
Networking, Asking for 10 Minutes
A fourth key takeaway that I would like to pass along is this concept: You can focus too much time on your job at the expense of your career. Avoid thinking that you have too much work to do, and take a moment to reach out to key people or contacts in your industry. Building a personal network is important for future job hunting, can lead to unknown opportunities, or help you find mentoring relationships that come from those contacts. It can help to get you noticed, get you promoted, or it can get you a sponsor. It may feel difficult to reach out, but an easy phrase I learned to use when meeting a potential key person is to simply ask, “Can we schedule to meet (or talk) for just 10 minutes?” Throwing that timeframe out there makes it easier for you to ask for the meeting and it likely makes it easier for a key contact to answer “yes.” Once your meeting is taking place, there is no telling how long it will last, and it is up to you to use another network contact to enhance your worth and visibility. Trying to meet or talk twice a month for 10 minutes with a new professional contact will give you 24 great opportunities to grow your personal network next year.
