So, you are considering an MBA…
By: Christopher Ancona, CIMBA Class of 2011
When considering your MBA, the first things you need to ask yourself are, “why do I want to get an MBA?” and, “what do I expect to get out of an MBA?” Most prospective students know why they want to get an MBA. Usually, the answer is along the lines of wanting to get a raise, a promotion, and/or filling some real or perceived skill gaps. But is this the “real” reason you want to get an MBA?
In giving the standard answers to the question of “why get an MBA,” prospective students are missing the deeper issue at hand. The real questions that most of us want answered are, “how do I become someone who employers want to give that management position?” and, “how do I continue moving forward in my career?” These questions point at the deeper problems of deciding to get an MBA. Some of the reasons why choosing “if” and “which” MBA are so difficult. How do you know which MBA will give you the best chance to have those deeper questions answered?
The unfortunate answer is that most MBA’s only offer some skill set, some networking, and some basic course in Leadership development. Often times that is no more than you would get from listening to some motivational speaker at your church or community center. The other difficulty is that all MBA programs market their programs using the same language with only slight differences so you have no way to know the truth as it would apply to you and your life’s goals.
At CIMBA and the University of Iowa, we are so different and unique that it becomes difficult to express to prospective students what the experience is like. We are not your normal MBA program. Of course, the skill sets you need to develop in classes, like finance, accounting, marketing, etc., are all included. There is, however, a much more profound portion that is so much more relevant to the deeper questions about your future. This other portion is about developing your emotional quotient and your ability to control yourself in order to work with diverse group of people to motivate, persuade, and inspire. If you want to know the truth of what is in your way to getting that promotion and moving forward in your career; there is a high probability that it is you. Most of us realize this fact and we know there is something in our way. It is easy to blame the skills, but we all know great leaders and managers and we can see we have some learning ahead of us in order to get where they are, and we know they are not there only because of their skillset. Deep down, we realize it is more than just a technical skillset that is in the way of moving forward. The CIMBA MBA is built to provide the tools and a gym to practice these new ideas and soft skills that will allow you to work with anyone, in any situation, to deliver results worthy of your time and effort.
We at CIMBA have developed and built the MBA program to get to those deeper questions at hand. How do I “become” the person who employers want to promote? And how do I become someone who can and will continue to be in demand such that my career can keep moving forward? So, if you are interested in more than a standard MBA with only technical business skills, and want to develop yourself further as a leader and as a person able to live a life and have a career that you truly love, then you may wish to consider a program that helps and encourages you to become your best.
Be bold. Be different. Be CIMBA.
