On Leadership

I just finished the Business Leadership for Emerging Futures program at the Asian Institute of Management. The course is a five-day program on leadership and it focuses on emerging & contemporary frameworks for being a leader. I was attracted to the program because after the Human Behavior in Organization (HBO) class during my MBA student days, I didn't take any other class to sharpen my leadership skills.

The program centers on Theory U, a framework where leadership is seen as a process of inner knowing and social innovation. The faculty in the course were Prof. Ging De Guzman, Prof. Sonny Coloma, Prof. Poch Macaranas, Prof. Ricky Lim and a guest resource person, Ms. Ana Valdes-Lim (yes, she's the same Ana Valdes-Lim from improv theater/comedy who conducted a communication workshop for us MBA students in 2007.)

After taking the course, I had some new insights on being a leader:

• For one, I had to let go of the notion that a leader has to be perfect, someone who has all the answers to problems in a team. One of the points that I liked was that a leader doesn't have to know all the answers all the time, or a leader has to be all good news. 
• I also thought it was a leader's job to shield the team from problems, only letting the good news reach them. It emerged that sometimes, the bad news is what will spur positive change. 
• Another thing I appreciated is the emphasis on the collective effort of groups. It was mentioned that "A group effort will beat the lone genius." This is a paraphrase from The Wisdom of Crowds.
• I also liked this insightful nugget from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him....But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, 'We did it ourselves.'"

The class was composed of business executives (GM's, VP's,) and, like most of AIM's programs, it had comprised of different nationalities.

BeerPub May 2009

Last Friday, we had the BeerPub for the MBA students, and it was an evening of games, camaraderie, and, of course, beer. (The BeerPub is an AIM traditional event held to welcome new students or students who came from a break).

I served as the evening's emcee and games master I made sure everyone had a blast. We had some very interesting games that got everybody involved, even the some MBA Cohorts 2 & 3 students. Here are some pics from the start of the event:

The last BeerPub I attended was almost one year ago and it was our welcome to the Master in Management students and a "welcome back" to our class, who just came from our Action Consultancy (AC) break. The last BeerPub was held last September, but there was an interesting story behind it.

AIM Blogs at the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2009 Writing Project

I'm pleased to share that I nominated several blogs by AIM folks for the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2009. The writing project is an initiative to showcase new blogs and emerging bloggers.

Here are some of my nominations:

• The AIM Blog - This is the official Asian Institute of Management blog maintained by folks at marketing. This blog primarily contains updates about activities at the institute, but I also contribute there occasionally for some additional perspective.
• Ken Do This - MBA Cohort 2's Kenneth Reyes-Lao's blog on personal stuff, with lots of AIM experiences.
• Life's Quiet Times - My former classmate Faye Abis shares her spiritual reflections.
• WAC'd - MBA 2007 alum John Wesley Bayot's whimsical takes on business, personal musings, and AIM life. Read his post about the AIM Written Analysis of Cases. It's a fun read. :)
• Think Again - Current MBA Student Ajit Jagan frequently blogs about stuff that mirror his wide interests.
• Internet Marketing Playbook - This is the class blog for the "Winning Internet Marketing Strategies and Tactics" course here at AIM.
• Regnard Raquedan: Self-Titled - I created this blog as a sort of the "logical" sequel to The AIM Blogger as it is about personal musings about anything. 

As you can see, AIM folks have been blogging actively as of late and I hope you can show your support to these blogs. :)

Payback Time?

If you ask me what is one of the most unpredictable things in MBA life at the Asian Institute of Management, I'd say it's getting the grade for the Written Analysis of Cases (WACs).

Why?

It's because of the WAC readers-- There are many variables surrounding them:

• Culture - WAC readers are alumni from all over the globe
• Experience - Alumni who gets asked to read WACs range from grizzled executives to fresh graduates
• Industry - Regardless of the topic of the WAC, the reader from different industries (IT, manufacturing, retail, education, etc.) will be asked to be WAC readers
• Attention to Detail - Some WAC readers will be happy with broad, but substantive analyses, but there will be very anal about the specifics

That's why it's easy to take a defeatist stance when it comes to WAC's (e.g. "What's the point of excelling in WACs? It's like playing the lottery!"). A great deal of folks in my class hated the WACs, because it was hard and it was unpredictable.

So you could imagine my reaction, when I was asked to read one of the WACs of Cohort 3. On the back of my mind, I could hear myself saying "It's payback time!" but I eventually declined because I felt the topic (Management Control Systems or MCS) wasn't my strong suit. Even with a guide for the evaluation, I felt I'd be doing the students a disservice if I read a WAC on MCS.

But eventually read one single paper because some of my classmates who were asked to read the WACs needed some help. The grade I gave the WAC? Let's just say I didn't exact revenge: that person got one of the highest grades in the class because he/she deserved it. :)

Nostalgia, Five Months After

Last week, I got several updates from my former MBA classmates in the social networking site Facebook and there was a common theme: The wish to turn back time and go to the times when we were still struggling MBA students here at the Asian Institute of Management.

From what I read, my former classmates, most of which are already employed, have different reasons why they were waxing nostalgic: perhaps work life is not as fun as the MBA days, or maybe people felt more "alive" when they were working on more challenging projects, or simply folks just the desired to escape for a moment.

Five months after the graduation, I still find myself looking back with fondness to the days when we were grappling with financial accounting, getting no sleep because of the WAC's, and being concerned with grades. Five months after, a great deal of the first 16-month MBA program, myself included, occasionally miss those days.

I hope this blog post, along with the sentiments of my former classmates, resonates with the current MBA students (Cohorts 2, 3 and the newly-minted Cohort 4): Learn as much as you can and enjoy while you are here. :D

The Convocation (MBA Cohort 4 Edition)

Like I said in my last post, the new cohort of MBA students here at the Asian Institute of Management has arrived and they started today. So first of all, I'd like to welcome the 45 brave souls who will embark in a 16-month journey of fun, frustration, and friendship.

The MBA program held the traditional convocation for the new MBA class where they receive their formal welcome into the institute and get introduced to the men and women whom they will encounter during their stint here. This includes the program director (Prof. Wilfred Manuela is the program director for the new MBA cohort), the core faculty, support staff, and students.

I observed the new cohort to be still adjusting to the new environment. I mean, look how serious they look :P:

In our own convocation roughly two years ago, we had two seniors give us inspirational talks and in last year's convocation, I was one of the two students to give the inspirational talks. For this year, MBA Cohort 3 students Clarence Lim and Pavanjeet Singh shared their experiences meant to inspire the new students after the daunting rules Prof. Manuela introduced.

I'm looking forward to meeting the new MBA cohort and congratulations for getting into one of Asia's best business schools. :D