Placements- is a dreaded word in the vocabulary of almost all postgraduate students in India. More So, among all MBA students-since the very raison d e’tre of doing an MBA is to get a good job-almost everyone forgets that usually a graduate degree is supposed to that , but more on that later.

After months spent trying to crack codes to succeed in the Group Discussion and then the Personal Interview, going through the first semester of the course already seems like a war.

As students we are all accused of being extremely indifferent towards the important career choices such as choosing between a plethora of undergraduate courses, colleges and particular electives to choose and so on and so forth.

For many students, the MBA degree is an arcane continuation of the formal education, simply an additional degree to add, and of course to address the dreaded word-job.

What we fail to understand, grasp and fully comprehend, that getting a job is not merely an output, but a gradual and logical progression in developing ones career.

Infact, getting a job through a placement-a campus placement at that, is thought of an end to the learning process. Nothing could be further from the truth and nothing could be more dangerous than this line of thought to hold on to. The day we start learning and absorbing new information, it marks the end of our existence rather than the end of our learning period.

In most MBA colleges, by the time the dreaded and much feared placement season approaches, the students invariably been through an emotional and financial roller coaster ride which drains most of any creativity and learning skills.

By the time concepts such as Day Zero are internalised, and understood, many a dream and aspiration have already been sucked bone dry by a certain sense of fait accompli-you take the first job which comes on day zero, tell the entire batch that now you are placed and have achieved a certain goal or milestone in your life.

The system does not have any emotional anchors in place to help students correctly identify their long term goals and the ways and means to achieve it.

The job, the company and the profile we choose on the day of placements will leave a lasting legacy on our lives- both professional and personal. A wrong choice here (as most of us invariably commit) will lead to much wringing of hands later in life.

The first thing to look out for in any placement season is the profile of the job. The profile includes a brief job description, helpfully given out the by the recruiter. The company not only expects a candidate with the necessary qualification, but also the necessary mental aptitude and the ability to execute the duties which go along with the job.

We must accept that there are certain things at which we might we excel in (say number crunching) but we might be shockingly inadequate (say selling skills). Admitting these shortcomings, we must approach each and every company which comes into the campus.

Insecurity is the ruling sentiment during the placement season and it is precisely insecurity which drives us into taking rash decisions. Many students and aspirants otherwise interested in Marketing will take up a core finance desk job under the mistaken assumption that we can later on change streams in the workplace as well.

Students of finance face the most agonizing placement season, especially in these hard times when the economy both global and local is going through the aftermath of an especially debilitating recession.

Most of the students of Finance stream are coerced, forced and brainwashed into taking non-finance hard-core selling/marketing jobs for which they might not have the necessary aptitude.

Approaching the placement season with a clear mind is the best way out. And yes, do not get fazed by reports of other getting placed on Day zero. It’s no big deal.

Wait for the company and profile which at least matches your line of interest and aptitude. A caveat must be applied that this does not involve waiting the whole semester for that perfect company to turn up. Life is not only not fair it’s not perfect as well.

While there are jobs and companies which might not come into your particular campus/placement, it does make survival sense to take a job which somewhat matches your profile, your qualifications and yes, most importantly, your interest.

The first job we take and the vocation we decide to pursue will not be short run decision, and should not be one taken in haste. What is otherwise a pleasurable activity of being gainfully employed will turn into a millstone around one’s neck if not proceeded with caution.

The company/ job profile must clearly offer us a chance to utilise our skills, knowledge (both domain knowledge and practical knowledge) and to wait/search for such a job is not a mistake, as many people-including our so called well-wishers would have us believe.

More often than not, the grim reality is that almost all students of marketing and finance will be “saddled” with core sales for which they might not have the necessary acumen at all.

The profile we opt for must be related to our interests and qualifications, failing which our performance on the job will be distressing and far below expectations of the recruiter. It would lead to unpleasant situations later on, both for the recruiter and the candidate/employee.

The placement season is one of the most ruthless seasons any student has to face. Not only the expectations of parents but also peers are placed on very vulnerable shoulders. At this time, the only thing which must ring in your ears must be the sound concepts of the subject of your specialisation and the main interview questions.

It is easier said than done, of course, but we must remember that failure is not an option, and to get that dream job, we must persevere and not lose focus.

As a parting note, the salary figures and much vaunted “CTC” figures are not to be pursued with a fanatical obsession-in the long run, salaries across peers in the same industry are usually within the same range and the minor variations being accounted for by differing performance appraisals.

If you choose a company/job profile which is to your liking, complements your educational qualification and skills and will add to your overall personality, then as, the old adage goes-”IF you love your job, you will never have to work a single day” will ring true.

These are times of data explosion. The data available on any subject is thousands of times more than what a person can comprehend and meaningfully use. For example, if we simply type the word ‘leadership’ and do Google search, we get approximately 48,20,00,000 links using this word. In order to go through the entire data on a subject even one time, full human life may not be adequate. Even a thousand lives may be insufficient to grasp entire available data on any subject. Fortunately, it is neither necessary nor useful to go after such raw data. However, some data is useful and required for business.

What we actually require is an extracted relevant portion of data, meaningfully organised, which we can put to use. This we call information. It needs to be specific, precise, relevant, and presented in organised form for easy comprehension. For example, if you go to the finance department of any organization, you would encounter astronomical number of recordings in the account books. These constitute data. When we look at the financial statements of the firm, we find these are extracted from the bulk data and provide utility to management and others.

Knowledge about a business or a firm is what we require for decision making on various issues which are important to us. Knowledge is what is contained in the human brain. Even the financial statements do not provide such knowledge, and we can obtain it only by looking at comparisons. For example, ratio analysis involving financial ratios gives us a better understanding of soundness of the business and its future prospects.

Wisdom is what we get by assimilating and mulling over of knowledge. Most successful investor and businessman, Mr. Warren Buffet once said, “While I am in my office, eighty per cent of my time is spent on reading and reflecting”. This reflecting provides insight into the way things are evolving and foresight into the future likely trends. Wisdom does not come quickly. It comes by deep thinking, repeated and prolonged integration of knowledge with the values, beliefs and dominant thoughts of the person.

Many persons have defined data, information, knowledge and wisdom in different ways. Some commonly used definitions are given below;

Data:

• Data are recorded (captured and stored) symbols and signal readings. Symbols include words, numbers, diagrams and images. Signals include sensory readings of light, sound, smell, taste or touch.
• Data says nothing about its own importance or relevance. But data is important to organizations mainly as raw material for creation of information.

Information:

• Information is a message that contains relevant meaning, implication, or input for decision and/or action.
• Information comes from both current and historical sources. In essence the purpose of information is to aid in making decisions and/or solving problems or realizing an opportunity.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge is the human expertise stored in a person’s mind, gained through experience, and interaction with the person’s environment.
• It is the content that resides in our mind and process of acquiring knowledge is through our interpretation of information.

Wisdom:

• Wisdom is gained through self-reflection of experience and formulation of deeper goals.
• Wisdom is a process by which we discern, or judge between right and wrong, good and bad.

Wisdom determines how one would conduct business and life in difficult times. It is based on assessment of real life current situations, feel and perception how future might evolve, and deep rooted virtues on which to base one’s conduct at all times. Key virtues have been spelled out by most religions and defined by various thinkers and philosophers. Some of these virtues are benevolence, etiquette, perspicacity, credibility, trust, humanity, justice, propriety, knowledge, penance, forbearance, rectitude, faith, valour, fortitude, charity, temperance, prudence, integrity, leadership, diligence, understanding, respect, contemplation, intellect, moderation, courage and generosity.

Two interesting quotes about wisdom are given below;

“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it”. . . . . . Albert Einstein

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in the information?” . . . . T. S. Eliot

For the student pursuing MBA, it is opportune time to think over this issue of data, information, knowledge and wisdom. For example, on every topic of study one can find enormous data and information in books, journals and on the internet. How to collect relevant information, extract subject knowledge and internalize such knowledge for future use when needed is herculean task. While pursuing MBA study, one must experiment on such issues and develop own personalized styles. Wisdom is something totally personal as it involves knowledge, experiences, reflection, and introspection to develop and grow into a person of high stature.

Data, information, knowledge and wisdom form a hierarchy commonly referred to as DIKW. Data is seen from the perspective of the user and application. It is now possible to analyze large amount of data in meaningful way to generate information, primarily due to enormous computing power of computers. Knowledge is neither data nor information, though it is related to both. Knowledge is in the mind of the person.

The common idea is that data is something less than information, and information is less than knowledge. We first need to have data before information can be created, and only when we have information knowledge can emerge. Wisdom comes much later when the person undertakes inward journey to obtain insight into life processes and prepares oneself to take effective business and life decisions.

In today’s fast paced world we are required to deal with data, information, knowledge and wisdom all the time. In order not to get embroiled in vast complexities of these aspects, one needs to be very vigilant, alert and specific regarding differentiation amongst those and effectively use each as the situation demands.

Knowledge creating activities take place within and between humans, whereas data is found in records or transactions, and information in reports and messages. Knowledge can provide sustainable advantage. In the current day environment, competition can always match current products, quality, service and prices of a firm. However, by the time this happens the knowledge-rich organization would move to newer levels of products, services and quality.

We can say that wisdom can be cultivated in individuals systematically by experiencing the emerging situations and reflecting internally. Sound character based wisdom would be vital for executing responsibility laden high end managerial assignments.

Understanding the implications of words data, information and knowledge and cultivating one’s own wisdom about business situations would groom the MBA student to be ready to own major responsibility in the job situation or embarking on own private business, as the case may be.

Contributed by Sumit Gulati (Class of 2009, IBS HYDERABAD)

Today with changing dimensions of the world, the corporate is also changing. There is a lack of talent in the industry, now it is all about right people that board right bus. Isn’t it, what you think of HR recruiting people for his company, Recruiting isn’t a child’s play. They have various parameters and guidelines which are used to filter cream out of the rest.

The trends in Recruiting according to LinkedIn’s annual recruiting trends report for 2015.

• Social networks are becoming the desired channels for promoting their talent brand.The accessibility and connectedness of professionals online have made talent more accessible than ever.
• Digital is making theirpresence in recruiting. Digital marketing tools are used segment and target talent with relevant jobs and messages at massive scale.
• Jobs fit into the pocket. Candidates now research and apply for work in a mobile-optimized format organizations that are available in mobile apps.
• “Big Data” Analytics is used as data storage and makes processing cheaper, talent acquisition leaders act as strategic advisors to the business by arming themselves with data.
• The Quality of hire is the most valuable recruiting metric now.

In an interview with Deloitte Hr, he highlighted some of the points candidates should know.

• Hr always looks for applications which showcase leadership qualities.

One can develop such qualities with time by participating in various activities and working as a team leader, it is difficult to get work done by people such things in your applications would demonstrate you as people’s person.

• Candidate should know the questions asked in an interview are based upon Behavioral and case components.

The reason for asking such questions and judging on these parameters is to check for behavioral skills. Such case-based questions can show your agile nature and IQ provided a given situation.

A degree in Master’s represents your thinking power and direction. The creativity is in ideation as it is the seed that can bloom. Employers today are searching for well-ignited minds who can add more to their business.

MBA as a degree has maintained its honor and market valuewith time.

HR are looking for

Critical Thinkers

Critical thinkers are candidates who can evaluate any company by their financial reports and can answer their business problems by formulating best business plans.

Problem Solvers

Problem solvers can build leadership pipeline, can deal with ambiguity and bring changes as they look out for a big picture.

Team Player

Team player can take a charge of running business. He can take responsibilities of a team, directing and controlling the entire staff, timelines etc. He maintains the flow of information and makes it clear and effective on the basis of innate communication skills.He should be a good speaker so that he can guide and inspire his subordinates on working efficiently and effectively. As a dynamic leader of his team, he must be capable of directinghis team towards success with a fellow-feeling, an awareness of having interests in common with others and feeling sympathy for the people who work for him. He should also think of other’s career and opportunities.

Skillful and balanced in Approach

Someone who has such qualities makes a good candidate for managerial jobs as the entire set up requires coordination with employees with a list of organizational goals which has to be fulfilled with individual goals. He should strategize his approach towards organizational goals. He must have a 360degree view of a picture.

Assertive and Social

Today when you are a part of an organization and handle a team you need to be social and amiable with your subordinates so that they can come to you for their problems. The more you keep balance in your team, the more it would be easy to work towards a directed goal. You should be the one who boost the organization development and competencies. With all good qualities, you should have an upbeat personality and keen to learn new things.

A true Marketer

This is a newly added attribute which depicts the world is in marketing now. The Business environment is getting complex, we deal in cut throat competition which makes it necessary to have marketing skills wherein you can actually sell your company’s services, expertise, and knowledge. At managerial positions, you always represent a face of your company in front of your clients. You should possess good convincing & Negotiation skills.

Builds Relations

Business runs on relations, client value a lot of parameters for assigning a contract to MNCs, relationship building is one. The way you connect to people and build associations depicts a lot about personality. We have bosses and top management connected with employees via social media platforms which make it very important to have a positive outlook, relationship building skills. The environment needs someone who loves meeting new people, trustworthy and reliable and focused in approach.

HR skim through list of various good B-schools and select the one who provided them good talent in past, qualified and well experienced faculty , good pedagogy with programs that are aligned with industry specifications and functional talent needs.

With an HR view of “should be “candidates, look up to your own personal goals in life while you prepare yourself for an interview. Self-Realization is very important as it unlocks the area of improvement.

Ask several questions and mirror your expectations with that of Hr.

Expectations

Are you clear with them, what you want out of a job and what qualities do you possess to make you fit for this industry?

Attitude

The right attitude is required when you put the first step in the corporate ladder. The Right attitude has various definitions. Do you possess customer service in your DNA if you are in a sales job?

Fit in Culture

Recruiters are seeking people who can easily adapt into organization culture. The Survival of the fittest is the theory and if you are new then makes a move to fit in the structure. Are you willing to adjust in a distinctive work culture and perform up to the mark?

Job Applications

Whenever you apply for job go through each and every point mentioned in the application, which are the key areas, key qualities. What you need to perform in this role, what are the job responsibilities, what future aspects that profile has after few years down the line.

With this blog we make an effort to make your thoughts clear about Hr hiring; now you can roll up your sleeves and can enter into fight to board right bus as there is long queue for your bus.

Go ahead fight to win!!

References

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245042

https://skillmeter.com/blog/15-qualities-great-recruiter-must-have

http://www.careerattraction.com/become-the-perfect-job-applicant-15-traits-employers-look-for-when-hiring/

I passed my MBA 10 years back from IBS. I know that it has been a long time and you must be thinking why I am talking about the things that I learnt during my MBA days, now.

Let me share with you an interesting experience. Recently, I visited the IBS campus at Ahmedabad for an Alumni Meet where I happened to meet a group of candidates for the MBA programme 2015 (yes…Old memories are back…just feeling like an old veteran), and they asked me a few questions and out of which one question was:

• Can you share with us what are the things that you have learnt during your MBA days which are helping you even now?

After pausing for a long time….I manage to answer it somehow. To be honest with you, while coming back home…I was thinking what could have been a better answer. That’s the reason I thought of writing this blog today. I think it is a very significant question that could help present and prospective MBAs during their time in ICFAI Business School.

So, No more gyaan, below are the 10 things that I learnt during my MBA in ICFAI Business School:

1. Work Smarter and Not Harder

In today’s competitive world, the major problem is we have too much work but unfortunately too little time to do it. Keywords that come to my mind are productivity and multitasking. During my earlier college days, I use to work hard but not really in a smart way. There were no nights, weekends, and evenings on weekdays.

Once, my professor told me that you should learn to adjust your habits in order to get more time for the things that matter most. Ultimately the numbers of hours in day i.e. 24 hours, will never change.

That was the turning point for me, I became more competent, and my productivity peaked. I learned how to multi-task and plan activities better. Not just in college, but also in my daily life.

Some Quick points to remember are:

1. Plan Regularly and Ahead
2. Prioritize
3. Delegate
4. Set Deadlines
5. Organize Your Day
6. Stay Flexible

2. Never Give Up it’s a Long-Road Ahead:

Life is like a roller coaster. You may not believe me but I wanted to drop out many times from my MBA. I found out later that it’s absolutely normal (sounds crazy, doesn’t it?) for such feelings to crop up.

Believe me, I wanted to quit but HE never wanted me to do that– If you are wondering who HE is, I mean the divine power above. MBA was in my destiny. Trust me “God has a plan for everyone”.

God has given me excellent professors, good friends and family who provided me with a hopeful future. Someday, if you feel like quitting, think about -what got you here, how far you have made it and what exactly is bothering you.

If you someday feel like quitting – Read the Poem below:

Don’t give up because you can’t do something

Don’t give up because you can’t achieve anything

Don’t give up because you are able to do nothing

You actually have it in you to do everything

Don’t give up because you can’t reach somewhere

Don’t give up because you can get anywhere

Don’t give up because you are ending up nowhere

You actually have it in you to attain success everywhere

 3. Give Back And Help Others:

Whatever I endured and resisted, I want to pass on to whoever reads this blog. I also meet people personally and listen to their problems in the hope of answering any questions they might have.

My advice is to cooperate with everyone, help somebody with less experience, offer assistance or expertise, and so on. Finally, you are gaining leadership skills.

4. Break The Barrier And Go Ahead:

The more I passed exams and saw the results that I got, the more I realized that there is never an end to success. Only thing that changes is your focus.

My focus on doing things serves as my motivation. So always ask yourself: What will be my next barrier that I need to break?

 5. Pursue Things Outside the Project:

What do I mean by this? If it doesn’t work within the project – always think “out of the box”. This skill will help you to grow in your career. It is always vital to be focused and motivated, you just need to do things a little outside of the box.

Example: If you treat your entire life like a project, you can’t use the same technique in different situations.

6. Depend On Friends And Family To Help Get You Through:

Without the help and support from friends and family it is not very easy to achieve success. We all need Motivators just like Arjun (from the Mahabharata) had Krishna as a supporter. Your mental and physical health is very important.

We need support at both financial and emotional levels. I am a very social person, and just as I seek encouragement from others I am also ready to support others. With this blog, I want to say thank you to all my friends and family, and I hope they realize how much their support has helped me get through some of the hardest times of my life.

 7. Develop Character and Be a Leader

Before joining MBA, I always considered myself a leader. At MBA college, I got a chance to hone my skill and ultimately turn into someone with MORE initiative, passion, persistence, perseverance.

During these days, you are entirely on your own which forces you to develop certain character skills and develop as a better leader. Force yourself and make the best out of this.

Being a leader, you will develop skills such as time management, writing skills, communication skills, analytical skills, critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills and so on.

 8. We all have different definition of skills –Enjoy your work

The answer is yes. If one person is good in Marketing, another may be good in Finance or Human Resources. Everyone has different talent, so just enjoy whatever you do. It’s important to understand this right from the MBA class as it will help you to handle the healthy competition in the world.

Remember, in the real world enjoying work can be a little more complicated than in college days. There can be numerous other issues.

 9. Learn and Recover From “Failure:

Failure is needed, as it is a step to success. Remember – it’s going to happen. You’re going to feel like a failure particularlyin first few years when you are learning something new.

It is not a failure; it is instead a fight that you want to win.One good thing that I learnt during my MBA days is that “Failure is not the end. In fact it is the beginning of a beautiful journey.” I pushed myself forward every time I failed and looked at the BIG picture. Ultimately success was waiting for me.

Today, I am a stronger person and better equipped to handle things in the real competitive world.

Some words to remember – ACCEPT, OVERCOME, and LEARN from failures and find solutions.

10. Good Moments and Bad Moments:

Good moments – when you are “happy” due to good results or excellent project grades. Good moments come to you because you didn’t give up. Good moments give you self-satisfaction that you have worked hard.

Bad moments – Sometime, you did all the hard work, but unfortunately due to lack of information or reasons beyond your control, the project was delayed. Just when you think you have that “ah-hah” moment, you tweak it, repeat it, and that answer comes later.

Good or bad moments keep coming during MBA days. Just be sure to celebrate the good moments when they happen. Just learn from the bad moments and forget it. Don’t take good moments for granted because they don’t come as often as the bad moments.

Though the learnings may be different from person to person but remember one thing that you need to be really open to take all kind of feedbacks and comments whether positive or negative from your fellow colleagues or professors or your employer during summers etc. Just ask yourself, what is your learning quotient? Keep sharing with me, I will be happy to guide you.

When you join an MBA programme at a good institution, you spend plenty of money and substantial prime time of your professional life. Obviously, you do this with some expectation of better life ahead. So, let’s look at what are your take-away from the MBA programme. These are mainly the following;

1. A degree certificate confirming your having attended and successfully completed the program. It may also indicate division/distinction achieved.
2. A marks list indicating the list of subjects studied by you during the two year period of MBA course and the percentage marks or grade achieved in each.
3. Good knowledge on various subjects of the curriculum with more detailed understanding and knowledge of the specializations chosen by you, like ‘finance’, ‘marketing’, ‘human resource’, etc.
4. A group of friends and contacts on whom you may rely in times of need.

That’s about all. However, all these are not enough for you to achieve fabulous career in a professionally managed firm with ultra-high salary package that you might have dreamt. You also expected the job to be highly satisfying, providing tremendous opportunities for learning and growth. All these and much more are possible only, repeat only, if you acquire one more take-away, as follows;

5. To be a good person, i.e., totally different person when you come out of MBA programme compared to the person who joined the MBA course.

This 5^th point, unfortunately, is not a part of the curriculum and it is generally not taught. It requires self-initiative and considerable effort. Some people call it ‘personality development’ but it is far more than that.

It involves complete overhaul of your innermost beliefs, instincts, emotions, attitudes, habits, behaviour and thought patterns. These aspects are extremely difficult to modify, as these are deep rooted in a person’s psyche and have been acquired over many years of living. It requires a deep urge to explore this area and introduce changes with considerable effort. The good news is that it is possible to bring about positive changes, albeit with keen insight, initiative, determination and perseverance of high order.

For a person to perform the assigned job with high sense of responsibility, one must possess good efficiency and high order of effectiveness. In addition one must be a good person at the core of his being. We shall now examine each of these aspects in more detail.

Many people confused between the words ‘efficiency’ and ‘effectiveness’. Broadly speaking, efficiency means doing things right whereas effectiveness means doing the right things. Effective signifies ‘what’ and efficiency signifies ‘how well’. One must achieve effectiveness and efficiency both, but effectiveness always comes first. For example, if you want to proceed in your personal journey of growth, effectiveness would imply your destination, direction and right path to reach the destination. Efficiency, on the other hand would imply using the available resources in an optimum way to complete the journey in the shortest possible time.

Efficiency is mostly a technical term signifying level of output from a given amount of input. In simple terms output divided by input is defined as efficiency. In management context it implies getting substantial work output from limited resources, especially using the limited time which is available.

Simplest form of efficiency improvement boils down to time management. Many people have examined the issue of time management and come out with large number of ideas and suggestions. Some of these are explained below.

1. Plan your work. Make things-to-do lists everyday and prioritize the same.
2. Increase your energy level by nutritious food, proper exercise, and adequate sound sleep etc.
3. Delegate mundane work to levels where it belongs.
4. Meditate everyday to develop inner calmness and highly focussed mind.
5. Introduce lean thinking and 5-S in your work environment.
6. Use technological gadgets and tools like Scraps, MakeMe, PayAnywhere, Producteev, Wunderlist, GoToMyPC, Google Docs, Dropbox, Roboform, Evernote, Google Drive, Dragon Mobile Assistant etc.
7. Standardise the processes and document the same for future reference.
8. Get accreditation of ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environment) so that production processes, systems and practices become formalized and get audited periodically.

Effectiveness on the other hand is a much wider term. It signifies that one must align all his actions and efficiencies towards the broader organizational objective. Issue of effectiveness in organizations has also been much deliberated. Some ideas for improving effectiveness are given below;

1. Keep the focus on your contribution. Blaming the circumstances or other people never pays.
2. Learn to be a team player. Even a genius cannot achieve good results by working alone.
3. Learn to take responsibility. Simply doing what is asked does not take you to great heights.
4. Always use innovation, creativity and better ways of doing work.
5. Read repeatedly and assimilate the book ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey.

The most important and highly complex issue pertains to performing well under various types of favourable and most adverse situations. It requires bringing about innermost changes in the way a person perceives, feels, thinks and behaves. The issue of morals, ethics, values and deep rooted instincts occupies very high significance in this context. Consider the recent industrial frauds like Enron, Satyam etc. In all these cases the persons at the helm of affairs were highly efficient and effective. However, in all cases they had perversions, deep roots of greed, criminality, falsehood and other associated characteristics. A few steps those may be helpful to begin your journey in the right direction are given below;

1. Highly useful qualities like enthusiasm, optimism, hope, compassion, synergy etc cannot be taught. These concepts can be explained by a teacher along with use of some examples. However, these need to be ingrained into your persona and that requires considerable will power, patience and perseverance.
2. Observe other high achieving persons, read their biographies and cull out ideas and concepts you can use for your own development and growth. For example, Benjamin Franklin had very early in life laid down thirteen values to guide him in his living. Later in his life he was involved in framing the constitution of USA and rose to the position of President of USA. The list of thirteen values with brief description of each is readily available on internet and anyone can use these for personal transformation and growth.
3. Charge your subconscious regularly with the thoughts you want to cultivate. This is also called self-hypnotism. If you tell something specific to your brain periodically with regularity, the inner brain called your subconscious mind absorbs such thoughts and it modifies your thoughts and behaviour patterns.

Once this aspect of MBA degree is understood right at the beginning of the course, students must embark upon a personal journey of their own in order to graduate out from the institution as a totally transformed person compared to one who got in. Then, and only then, sky is the limit for you and you can soar to great heights and fulfil your aspirations and ambitions with considerable finesse and ease.