Saturday, August 22, 2009

MBA - insecuritization


If you are part of any top MBA program class in the world, you will be joining a group of achievers who have mostly led and outshined any group they have been part of. These MBA students generally are the top speakers, top creative thinkers, have been the natural leaders, swayed the groups to their ideas- basically the white swan among ugly ducklings. When you are in a situation where you have always excelled and have led the way, you get accustomed to the adulation and the admiration. I have always been portrayed as someone who is an achiever, someone who will always excel at whatever he does. With this perception in mind, I joined the MBA program at University of Hong Kong. With ego of the size of a gigantic blue whale, I entered my first lecture in the program. The very same day, I realized what it is to be part of the herd. It reminds me of the movie Madagascar- 2 where Marty the Zebra reaches the forest and meets other zebras for the first time. Marty is depressed and perturbed by this self realization that he is not unique and there are many others who have stripes and can perform his famed water act. .
Relating this story to ours, my class has 53 students. Every student has a special story to tell. They all come to the MBA class from distinct backgrounds with some kind of accomplishments under their belts. They all excel at public speaking, creating lateral thought processes, articulately sharing their ideas - basically being fantastic at whatever they do. Someone who is used to being hailed as the MAN, being among such champions is like losing one's identity. In a moment, you realize that you are not the smartest, or the most hard working person in the world. And this self realization brings you to the brink of deep insecurity and emotional turbulence. That’s why I term doing a MBA as becoming insecure or the process of INSECURITIZATION
I am sure most of the 53 students in the class would have / will feel this emotion sometime during the course. I believe that in such a crisis situation, what you need is the support & cooperation of your fellow students. I guess this is what “teammanship” is.
This experience has also made me realize the MBA program should help students improve on their EQ ( emotional quotient ).

There are three types of quotients ( Qs ) in the modern world.
They are :-
1. Emotional Quotient ( EQ)
2. Spiritual Quotient (SQ)
3. Intelligent Quotient ( IQ )
Contrary to most, I believe EQ is the key behind living a content & balanced life. Don’t want to talk about EQ now but on a soft note, would advise everyone to live their life to the maximum. Stop thinking about what others in the class might be doing now. Do what you want to do because that’s what matters and nothing else.
Have a good weekend !!!

12 comments:

Asanka said...

100% agree :)

Good post!!

A.

Nikhil Wadhwa said...

makes sense.. keep the posts coming!

Regards,
Nik

Umang said...

Interesting
it gels perfectly with ur story that high achievers are the most susceptible to competition
McKinsey right ?

venkat_(n)ever_thinking said...

Very nice viewpoint dude. I know this MBA thingie can give your self image quite a jolt :)

instant_blogger said...

I have seen people in my class really lose it man
and getting some support from your classmates is invaluable. Your life can really go for a toss

instant_blogger said...

Yes Umang
I have taken this viewpoint from a Mckinsey viewpwoint as well.
Those guys are the most brilliant ppl on the earth but at the same time, this brilliance makes them very insecure as well

tanzeemtimes said...

Good one....Inspires me to take up MBA!!!

Varun said...

that was a nice post amit... i completely agree.. adding more to the post.. there is always a herd of ppl for whom it is a common practice or a simple thing which might be the most unique thing in you.. for example i recently started doing yoga from 4:30 AM till 7:30.. now i feel that is unique abt me in this part of the world.. and then my grand father said.. its a super common thing in the gurukuls..

the most amazing thing abt uniqueness is that its a never ending game!.. u always have to move forward to keep adding more uniqueness to u.. there we go again..it all boils down to progressing!!... so lets keep that as the ultimate secret of success as of now until u or some other blogger is able to counter it..

i dunt really know if i stuck to the topic of ur post..

P.S- i am comming down to s'pore in sept.. see if u can join in.. now that ur not too far..

regards,
varun arya

Jason YANG said...

you are sooo unique even not the smartest one in the world.
it is lucky to be the smartest one in the world, but it is interesting of being yourself.

come on, dude, try to be best of yourself during the 14 months in HK.

Jason

Shuchi said...

Haha, awesome, I can relate to this soooo well. However, I didn't enter class on day 1 with an ego the size of the elephant. I do hope to walk out with one ;)

*kidding!*

Cheers to the HKUMBA 2010 class! woohoo...

instant_blogger said...

Thanks Jason
I must admit that you have very deep thoughts
Shuchi - you are capri - u r born to have an ego even if you don't accept it :p
Cheers to HKU MBA
HKUMBA !!!!!

Ben Arthur said...

This is a very true story
someone in ur comments has mentioned Mckinsey. all good consulting companies/ i banking companies with smart ppl are like that
this insecurity is obvious

good thought process
sometimes lets talk - ben_arthur@artherton.com