“Is an MBA worth it?” – Many people have approached me with the question. My standard response to that question is “It depends”. It might be irritating to know that every MBA graduate is likely to respond in a similar way but let me elaborate more on that point.
“It depends on two things – What you want and how far you are willing to go for it”
In 2019, I learnt that some of my core values or my expectations from life were not aligned with my vision in life. I was much more focused on “High pay” and “opinions of others about me” than “giving my best to inspire” as my leadership skills needed more improvement (as indicated by low scores). I was very conservative and scared of change. With the help of my coach Gurbinder Punn, I worked on slowly aligning my life more towards how I wanted it to be.
I had lots of opportunities during my Cambridge MBA to work on the aspects that I wanted to work on. I consciously worked towards reorienting my values, and giving my best to improving my leadership skills through my interactions with several brilliant and kind people from my cohort. There were many setbacks, testing moments, and valuable learnings along the way. Being a non-native introvert, it was not easy, and I failed many times. However, through Toastmasters International, I learnt that failing is a common phenomenon but how you react to it would determine who you would be! I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and took part in several valuable discussions, tasks, and challenging moments to improve my leadership skills and align my activities towards “value creation” and “Building a Growth Mindset”.
When I completed my assessment again a few days ago, I could see the result of my hard work over the past two years and a complete focus shift towards becoming a better leader. This personality assessment proof works as a tangible result for what an amazing programme can offer.
So, I would urge everyone who wants to apply to an MBA / another Master’s programme to understand that it is extremely important to know what you want from the programme and be willing to put in the right effort to make that change happen. Believe me, it is HARD WORK. Just have one clear thought resonate in your mind “My journey is my journey!”
I would like to thank my coach DTM Punn, Cambridge Judge Business School and everyone from my amazing MBA cohort who helped me in this transformation to become a better leader. I still have miles to go (and grow)!
Alok is an alumnus from MBA 2020-21, for more Cambridge MBA career outcomes please visit our careers pages>