My road to success has a simple formula; to dream, to plan and then finally execute. I know there’s nothing remarkable about this formula; but this has been my motivating factor leading me from a budding student to a business professional. I always knew I wanted to do business or be a part of a large corporate but I failed to understand how to do it.
We all know the importance of theory vs. practical. One can’t understand certain things until you really experience it. Entrepreneurship and business is one such concept. Definitely reading and education courses develop your knowledge and skills but like sports you will never learn to do business until you go out in the playing field. I gained immense knowledge and experience of running a business throughout this semester. This semester has been very helpful in planning and grabbing the processes that are involved in business. My courses and professors chalked out a guided approach towards handling and running business. During our classes we have been taught various tactics such as how to make business plans, how to make them successful etc. My professor has been very insightful by sharing some of the world’s real case studies and practical examples.
During our classes, we were repeatedly asked the questions, ‘why would someone hire you?’, and ‘what strengths will you bring to an employer?’ This made me ponder and come up with a plan. Originally my career plan was simple; get a business degree and then work at one of the top organizations. However, during my internships I realized it’s not that simple. The recipe to success and a great job requires much more ingredients than my original plan. But thankfully this semester I discovered what was required to be successful. With the help of some of the best professors, case studies and seminars I was able to learn and plan my career path.
I started off by building relationships – something which I have never invested time in. Building relationships and to be able to work across boundaries is one key area that I have learned and practiced during the semester. I have invested in building relationships during the semester as it’s a key part of engagement and career development.
I knew relationships were an important aspect but didn’t know how important they were. So, I started off by reading and looking into it. I learned that relationship marketing is one of the important concepts in the field of service and industrial marketing. To my surprise, this concept is also strongly supported by current business researchers and philosophers. Business guru, Grönroos, writes in his paper that relationship marketing is all about establishing, maintaining and enhancing relations with all your stakeholders. These stakeholders include your internal and external customers, shareholders and all other strategic partners. The success of such marketing relationships lies behind the realization and achievement of common goals and objectives (Grönroos, 9)
Through my class mates, teachers and friends; I managed to build and cultivate a network of collaborative relationships based on mutual trust. I learned they key to building relations: give and take. I invested time in mentoring and helping my fellow class mates. My ability to voice out my opinions helped me to network with key people in the industry. It is definitely a win-win situation; I learned from them and they learned from me.
Volunteering in social causes also helped me cultivate good relationships. In addition to that it made me realize that business is not about minting money but as business professionals we have to be socially responsible well. It’s not bad to aspire to reap professional achievements but at the same time we need to think about our people, our society and our country as well. While working with various business societies & volunteer work, I contributed via looking for the best solutions for the society by working with people both inside and outside the organization. My focus was to minimize silo-working by working collaboratively with others and develop effective relationships. The outcome was amazing - my entire team worked together to achieve shared goals with everyone contributing appropriately. Interactions were open and honest, and conflicts were positively resolved.
During the course the class discussed some great leadership examples and tried to uncover what set these leaders apart from others. I feel one important thing that will put me ahead from the rest is by setting direction and inspiring. I will do this by ensuring that whatever I do, I do so in order to supports my team’s goals and the organizational mission. This means that everyone is clear on their role and contribution. As a result, people will make well-informed judgments and decisions that move the organization forward. Followed by debates and discussions that is thought provoking and inspires innovation.
Another important behavior that I will engage in is releasing positive energy by engaging constructively with others and demonstrating a positive mindset. In this way I will have a motivated team who feel they are valued, stretched and have the space to deliver. I will contribute to a great working environment by bringing energy and commitment. I also embrace difference in others, maintain my motivation and encourage others to do the same.
One of the most important aspects is how am I contributing via skills and knowledge. My objective will be to proficiently train myself with the required expertise and skill set. This just doesn’t apply to my personal development and achievement, but in order to achieve success, now and in the future, I will be supporting by team members and colleagues to do the same as well. By being open to learning, adapting and identifying opportunities for development, I will ultimately improve my performance. I will hold myself and others accountable for delivering quality results. I set, and regularly update, clear ASMART objectives and work with my manager to keep my performance on track. I will deliver quality work, on time and to budget by planning ahead and focusing my efforts.
Above all, personality development is the most I gained in this semester. Whatever you learn and no matter how many years you put in your efforts, it’s still true that first impression is the last impression. I knew effective communication is one thing which will set me apart in a job interview and help build a positive first impression. The social influence theory explains this by putting forward the concept that just about every interaction; in some form or the other; involves social influence. This type of communication and exchange of information aims to portray a certain individual in front of the other in a way that will stir up a positive preferred action. Thus the social influence theory explains an individual’s desire to make the most of the desired rewards and reduce the potential negative repercussions associated with any given personal interaction (Barrick, DeGrassi and Shaffer, 1397) My communication skills and self-confidence has benefitted a lot in this semester. I met people from various backgrounds and culture which helped me interact with a variety of people. I practiced whatever communication skills I had learned in the class with my fellow classmates and excelled in it.
Adding to the personality development is the concept of self branding. I learned that I should invest time and money in portraying a positive picture of self. Here, both the physical and online presence is crucial. Information about any person is just clicks away. Social media has become one of the most powerful tools in projecting one’s personality. There are sites which portray your personal life and then there are forum for professionals. I learned how to maximize the use of these platforms to fully capitalize on the opportunity to brand myself online. There are a variety of applications and tools available online which enable people to manage their personal brand and fine tune their profiles. Businesses today have now realized the importance of self branding and are also investing time and money in how to control these personal brands. Throughout this semester I have used various tools to build a strong online presence. Blogging is one such tool which was a new experience from me. I never had any opportunity to write a professional or personal blog before. Blogging professionally has helped me build up my thought process and skills in writing. I always had ideas and thoughts regarding business and entrepreneurial ideas but never knew how to voice them out in a professional way which could benefit others. I feel now my ideas and concepts which are visualized in my mind have a new meaning and audience as well. Most importantly, I have come to believe that my blogging experience will serve as a manuscript of my first ever entrepreneurial experience.
As I reflect upon what I learned that was most valuable, I think it was truly seeing that resilience pays. I learned that I can achieve more than often I think I can, so I just need stick to what I want! I know there will always be challenges ahead but the key is to stay intact and be focused on your goals. I understood that excelling in what you like is far easier than what you don’t like. I feel honored to be studying at one of the leading business schools and got the opportunity to interact and learn from one of the finest professors in the industry. This semester has incorporated many lectures and seminars that prepare us for all kinds of practical business scenarios. Now that I have completed this semester, I am 100% confident that my business degree and the skill set that I have acquire will equip me in transforming me from just any applicant to a bona fide leader.
Works Cited
Barrick, Murray, Sandra DeGrassi, and Jonathan Shaffer. "What You See May Not Be What You Get: Relationships Among Self-Presentation Tactics and Ratings of Interview and Job Performance." Journal of Applied Psychology Vol. 94.No. 6 (2009): 1394 –1411. Print.
Grönroos, Christian. "From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing." Management Decision Vol. 32.No. 2 (1994): 4-20. Print
