Its all about our Values

The classes are over and this week we have our review sessions. And next week… exams- the most dreaded part of our studies… o come on. They are a routine now. After so many reports, assignments, WACs etc I don’t feel any fear for exams.

Today we had Careers Stocktaking Workshop, which would continue over the next day. In this workshop we were asked to focus on our values, our goals, post MBA plans and our future direction. I enjoyed today’s session a lot. The best part was that I recognised my values- I think till yesterday I was not even clear what does the word ‘values’ mean? And in a day I know what my values were. I was so excited and happy, when I realised that I clearly know my values.

Our instructor is Jennifer, a very experienced Cranfield Alumni. She did her MBA in 1993-94 and was here to guide our thought process and help us in deciding where we should focus next.

So what do you mean by values. Of course everyone has different perception and I believe there can be a long debate over the meaning of ‘values’, as it differs from one individual to other. Values are not morals- they are not right or wrong. What I have understood is that values are our beliefs or anything on which we want to spend maximum time of ours. Don’t confuse it with your hobby- hobby is an expression of value. Let me give you an example here. For me my top most value may be ‘Self Recognition’ i.e. I want that whatever I do- whether at work or in my social life I should gain recognition for it. If your value is ‘Money’- it implies that money gives you peace of mind, you are happy when you have loads of money. So money in itself may not be a value, but what you do with money, what positive effects it has on you is actually your value. One of my friends has ‘Honesty’ as his value. That means that he wants to be honest, keep his integrity intact and that’s his foremost priority- that’s his foremost value.

Hope I have been able to make something clear about values. It’s not easy to decide upon what your values are. You need to spend hours and need to think a lot…. And if you don’t wanna make so many efforts, come over to Cranfield- I am sure you will realise your values here.

There is one more easy way, that I have discovered of my own, to find your values. Just think what turns you off. What you don’t like? And then try to find the basic reason for that problem. Another example. I and my friend participated in a business competition. He wanted to gain an edge over other teams by knowing the strategy of last year winners and not through his own knowledge and efforts. I feel that is sacrificing my values of honesty and integrity. Why do u wanna shoot your target by placing your gun on someone else’s shoulder? It hurts me so much. I immediately backed off the competition and let him make strategic decisions. He may win by using others’ expertise, but I hate such wins. I never compete for winning, I compete to gain competence; to gain knowledge and to sharpen my skills. Not to win. After all its not the winning that counts. It’s the effort and the participation, which counts.

My message- decide your values, discover them, and never ever sacrifice them. You are what your values are. So don’t compromise on yourself i.e. don’t compromise on your values.

ATK….. so near yet so far.

A lot has happened in the last 15 days. There were so many submissions, assignments, reports and other tasks in the past 10 days that I could hardly get any spare time to write anything. In between there was another WAC (Accounting one).

Life is really very tough these days, and I am consistently reminded of my days in India when I used to have a lot of free time; but then this is the true face of the life of a MBA. You have to manage your time and Cranfield MBA is teaching us quite well- the time management. I may have been sounding boring as I have been emphasizing too much on hectic life and time management, but this is how the life is going on here.

Admissions at Cranfield for the next batch have begun, and I was reminded of the anxious times when I was applying to the global MBA institutes. I still remember the day when I got the mail from the Cranfield admin regarding my admission; I was so happy.

Well, that’s history now. Let’s get back to present. I think I mentioned here in some blog that I participated in AT Kearney Consultancy Challenge but could not make it to finals. On Sunday, I got the feedback regarding my submission and I was so sorry to find that our team missed the finals by just 1 point. Gutting… just a single point. I was not depressed when I found that I have not made it to the finals, but it was really disheartening that we lost by just 1 point. The evaluater said that our presentation was well recieved, but the winning teams had used more of the MBA jargons and more of the marketing analysis tools; that was where we lost the game. Our analysis was almost similar and presentation even better; but we did not use MBA tools as we were not aware of them, then. Its pertinent to mention here that the ATK Challenge was during the first month of our MBA. Other teams consulted faculty, who advised them to use techniques, which were taught to us later in the course. Had I been aware of them then, I would have incorporated all the analysis and jargons. At the end, its all about learning and performing, and I must say that I have learned a lot from ATK challenge. One learns from other teams, from self experiences and from the research required for such competitions.

Today, we just concluded our SMS (Strategic Marketing Success) Presentations. What a day it was! 8 presentations in total and all very creative, entertaining and showed the hard work put in by the teams. Our team researched on ‘Burberry’- British heritage fashion brand. The report writing was easy but the toughest part was presentation, which involved a labour of more than 10 hours. I am enjoying making presentations and am discovering a lot of new and creative styles of presentations. The best part is that my peers give a lot of attention to my peers as they are enthralled by the passion, energy and enthusiasm that I display during the presentations. These comments are not my creation, but the feedback from faculty and other MBAs.

Last week we went to London for Cranfield annual networking event. It was first such event for me, and it was good to meet a lot of alumni (especially the people who did their MBAs long time back) amid drinks and snacks.

Just 2 weeks are left for the first term to get over, as in the third and the last week we have our exams. Its hard to believe that term one is about to complete. Then, its hard to believe a lot more things like losing ATK by one point.