Unrivalled learning
“I’m an engineer by background. Before I joined the Executive MBA programme, I had been working at Shell for about 15 years. My last position involved leading an internal start-up helping commercial fleet businesses to reduce their fuel consumption through telematics. I was managing 20 people in the local team and an outsourced team of 20 developers in India."
“My appointment was a last-ditch effort by Shell to win the critical mass of customers required to support the P&L of the business. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to achieve that in the time required, so I was tasked by Shell to find a third-party telematics solutions company to partner with. Then, I made myself redundant. That was 2016.
“For the first time in 15 years, I didn’t know what my future looked like, and I was really nervous. I knew I didn’t want to go back to a technical role - I wanted to progress in the commercial environment in a strategic leadership role. I wanted to successfully grow a start-up focused on exciting technology innovation for the benefit of business and wider society."
“But the roles I wanted to pursue all asked for MBA qualifications. It was frustrating, and I knew I needed more business skills and knowledge to transition into the new career I craved.
“I had some money saved and thought that I could either invest it in my house, or myself. I decided that if I used it on myself I would get a better return on my investment financially, as well as in terms of future career satisfaction."
“I looked at London Business School’s Sloan Masters, but that is a one-year full-time programme. I knew that I wanted a programme where I would be able to immediately apply the learning to add value in the real world, making sure that at every stage, I would be absorbing the rich theory, insights and techniques the programme and the whole experience would offer."
“So, the fact that the London Business School EMBA is a part-time programme, mainly delivered on Fridays and Saturdays, suited me. It offered me the time in between to absorb the broad learning and skills, find relevant applications at work and have interesting exchanges with peers based on the week’s topics.
“Why London? I was recently married, and working full-time, I needed to complete the programme in a way that I would still be married after graduation!
“Why London Business School? Comparing the top business schools, I most liked the structure of the learning at LBS. Other schools focused on online learning, LBS offered the face-to-face experience. Without that, you can’t make the kind of bonds that our cohort of 70 have. I know who I can I call on for which type of problem.
“In fact, I would say a surprise takeaway of the EMBA was how much I actually learned from my peers. The quality of the cohort was exceptional and it’s clear that LBS work very hard to shape the class with diverse skills and work experiences, while putting together people with similar values, mindset and ambitions."
“You spend most of the first year working in your team and, at first everyone has their own priorities. But you quickly get better at appreciating other people’s priorities so that you can get the best work done. I’ve learned a lot about myself, what my key strengths are as a leader and what motivates and inspires me. I’ve also learned a lot about other leadership styles, and how to work with them"