Guest Student Blog Post: Fahad Tariq, MBA 2016
Last week I arrived at Ivey at 7:00 AM, almost an hour and a half before classes started. It was a sunny, brisk morning and the Ivey building was completely empty. Rays of sunlight passed through the building’s many windows and lit the wood-panelled student lounge. I took a seat in one of the leather sofas near the window and looked out at the picturesque Western campus. I had endeavoured to come early this day so I could have a few moments of quiet and reflection. Specifically, I wanted to reflect on my first month of the MBA program and how fortunate I was to be studying at Canada’s top business school, which strives to “Develop business leaders who think globally, act strategically, and contribute to the societies in which they operate.”
As I started reflecting, I realized our MBA classes to date had not gone the way I was expecting — and I mean this in a very good way! Our core classes — Accounting, Leadership, Communication, and Macroeconomics — were extremely practical and centred on making informed decisions and transforming our business conduct. Theoretical ideas and frameworks were emphasized in so much as they enabled us to make effective decisions.
In our Communication class each student was videotaped presenting to their respective study team and then we were all provided with feedback to improve our presentation skills, such as slowing our pace and engaging the audience. We also learned persuasive presentation techniques from budding magician Keith Brown whose tricks and, more importantly, confident presentation style left us amazed.
In our Leadership class, we worked in teams of six to construct a Lego tower with dimension, input, and time constraints. The purpose of this fun and competitive exercise (also videotaped) was to examine our teamwork skills in stressful situations. We learned how to assert, compromise, persuade, question, lead, and follow when working in diverse teams in pursuit of a common goal.
Macroeconomics, traditionally taught in a theoretical manner, was introduced to us as an additional lens through which we could analyze and evaluate business decisions. In this way, we answered practical questions such as “What is the impact of falling oil prices on a manufacturer in Ontario?”
Our learning experience has been vastly enhanced by the outstanding faculty who are passionate about teaching and by peers who continue to impress with their diverse backgrounds and insights. We had a case involving a Brazilian brewery dealing with threats from municipal officials, and I was amazed that one of the students in our class had dealt with the same situation in real life when she worked in South America. Her unique perspective altered the class discussion by making us recognize the magnitude of our decisions.
If the first month of the MBA is any indication, the next year will be a truly transformative experience. As students and future leaders we will learn much in class and perhaps more importantly outside of it. We will push ourselves beyond our comfort zones. We will laugh and form lifelong friendships. We will begin to “think globally, act strategically and contribute to the societies in which we operate.” And I for one can’t wait to continue this transformative journey.