Words of Wisdom from Business School Deans and Directors
An article this week in Forbes compiled messages given to the graduating business school class of 2012 by deans and directors at some of the top MBA programs, including Harvard Business School, UVA’s Darden School of Business, NYU Stern, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and more.
Not surprisingly, there were some recurrent themes. Among them: be yourself, be accountable, try to help others and society.
A couple of deans advised graduates to think about how they want others to remember them. “I’d suggest that you think about the stories other people will tell about you,” HBS Dean Nitin Nohria offered. “Are you acting entitled? Are you using power in a way that benefits those who have less of it? Or, rather, are you conducting yourself with the kind of grace that will leave the people you encounter so impressed that they will continue to tell wonderful stories about you years after an encounter?” Nick Barniville, MBA program director at ESMT, gave similar advice. “Think of how you would like to be remembered and work backwards,” he said. “Try to create something of lasting value.”
Still other deans stuck to more purely practical advice. Sleep is overrated, James G. Ellis, dean of the Marshall School of Business at USC, told graduates. “Always say yes—when invited to join friends/acquaintances for dinner, say yes,” he encouraged. “You never know who you will meet, and you will build your own network. You can sleep when you die.”
ESMT’s Barniville added, “Don’t talk with chewing gum in your mouth, and try not to use words your mum wouldn’t understand. Don’t be a bore.”
And Philippe Oster, MBA admissions director at HEC Paris, spoke specifically to the hazards and opportunities presented by social media. “Use social media with social grace,” he recommended. “Such online platforms are likely to play an ever greater role in your professional life, but remember to go beyond the formulaic and standardized messages that Linkedin and others have written for you,” he said. “After all, would you approach somebody at a dinner party or a conference and say by way of introduction ‘I would like to add you to my professional network.’”
Read the complete Forbes compilation of business school deans’ advice to graduates.
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