This is where your finance takes place

I can’t explain it, but there are some people that are simply not professional. You are going to tell me that you know of ton of them, me too. However, I find it worst when I meet one during my MBA class. Last semester, we decided to add a fifth member to our group. We selected that person from we have seen so far based on our first session experience. He was showing assurance, professionalism and good ability to speak in front of people.

We thought that he was a good choice to improve the quality of our work. Yeah, this is what we thought. I still can hear his “no worries, everything will be done” in my head. This is a 2 part posts where I list the do’s and the don’ts when you have to deal with someone you don’t want to deal with.

Don’t…

Assume that everything is alright

A common mistake people do is that while they are frustrated inside, they become more and more lenient with the person getting on their nerves. They assume that everything is going to fall back to their place and that time will arrange the situation. They assume that the person will suddenly wake up and do what he has to do. Well I have bad news for you; he just won’t! The problem with this type of individual is that he doesn’t realize that there is a problem.

Let your anger go in

Sometimes, it becomes so frustrating to deal with them, that you just want to start a nuclear war to put a end to the relationship. This advice is as good for classmates as it is for co-workers or neighbours: do not let your emotion take control. Even though you are right and you are desperately seeking a solution to your problem, losing it will surely liberate some steam but it won’t solve the problem.

It’s not like you had the possibility to fire this person or simply not work with him. If you are stuck and have to work with him, insulting that person would just make things worst. Worst than that, he will probably be able to use your inability to control your temper as an excuse for his poor work quality.

Abandon and leave it as is

This is probably the easiest way to deal with this type of situation but this is also the solution with the worst ending for your personal situation. It’s almost as if you let the other person “win”. You will greatly penalize yourself on top of letting this individual getting away with his attitude. Indulgence has its virtue, but sometimes, you have to stand up and say what you think.

Tomorrow, I’ll write about what you should do when you are in such situation.

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I randomly post about my MBA progresses and experiences. When I started this program, I had three goals in mind: learning something, getting the 3 letters on my business card and knowing more people in the industry. Recently, I noticed that I really learned stuff and that networking does matter. So here my piece of life regarding what you can get from such academic program.

Present like a pro

I always had been good with presentation. Even at primary school, I was participating in all kind of contests. I also did improvisation and I really enjoyed this experience. But with our team, we decided to improve this skill to another level.

We recently got together and rethink the way we do our presentations. We started on the premise that there are people paid to make conference. So why don’t we try to build our presentation in a way that we could sell it?

If you build a presentation thinking that people paid $150 to sit there and listen, you better have something to say! So we started with this idea in mind and we made our presentation last weekend. It appeared that we did really well and we were told that it was looking more like a conference. While I think there is still improvement to be done, I think we made a good step in our presentation skills. It will definitely help me out make better presentation for my clients!

Get business done

Three weeks ago, I agree with a client to transfer money from another institution. The problem is that the situation was not simple and I had to speak with the financial advisor at the other bank before processing the transfer. After 2 faxes and 10 voice mails, I was kind of running out of options. I was on a limited time frame and I started to feel the heat.

This is when I remembered that I know a branch manager from that institution in my MBA class. I called her and got the right name and a direct phone number. I have been working on this case for 2 weeks, and I solved it 15 minutes after speaking to my MBA contact.

The best of it all is that I am now after the whole account and this could make my whole year! I’m telling you, the MBA is going to pay from one way or another!

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I am almost done with my second full time MBA session and I thought it would be interesting to give you an idea of what life with a MBA looks like. It could be of great help for people who are not quite sure if they should start one or not. The goal is not to discourage anybody However, I am being honest, I like living this way!

 

5:15 AM

As the radio goes on, I am wondering what the hell I am doing; waking up before birds start signing! I grab a bagel and sit in front of my computer; I have readers to take care of I work on TFB while I’m having breakfast and I read emails sent overnight by my other MBA colleagues. Then I got to go in order to catch up my bus at 6:15.

 

7:10 AM

I’m sweating like a pig, trying to run faster than that stupid piece of rubber rolling below my feet. In order to keep my mind clear, I go to the gym three times a week (but most of the time it’s twice a week as I can’t always wake up at 5AM!). I’ve been writing in the bus for a good 40 minutes, it’s time to change my mind before I start working.

 

8:30 AM

I get in the branch; it’s almost empty as most people start around 9. I get my things set up and I print one or two things regarding my MBA. While I prepare my day, I look at my next presentation on the next Saturday.

 

5:00 PM

What? The day is gone already? Did I forget to tell you what I do for lunch? Not really; it’s because I take only 20 minutes and then I go back to work. With a young family, I don’t want to come back home late. It’s time for another bus ride. I won’t be able to write as my brain crashed in a brick wall a few minutes ago. I’ll open my accounting book instead It is much more relaxing!

 

6:00 PM

Time is up for my second shift: being a daddy from 6 to 8 and then disguise myself as a hubby for another 2 hours. I really enjoy this part of the day as I can play with my kids and I completely disconnect from the rest of my crazy life.

 

10:00 PM

Back to my computer. Everybody is asleep and I can start working on my MBA. I always cheat a bit and spend about half an hour on TFB before I get to my stuff. Last week I wrote my accounting paper; we had to go through 4 years of RIM financial statement in order to determine what are their accounting policies in term of litigation estimates, stock options cost, presentation of intangible assets, pressure of performance from the stock market and the effect of a stronger Canadian dollar on their business mostly done in US dollar.

 

12:00 AM

It’s time to pull off the plug and get some sleep. I obviously won’t be able to wake up at 5 tomorrow morning. I’ll skip the gym and wake up at 6:30. Anyway, even if I would like to sleep-in, I have 2 alarm backups that wake up at anytime between 5:30 and 6:30

 

So If you have a young family and you are eager to succeed in your career while doing a MBA, this what is waiting. I personally don’t think it’s too much. It’s all about time management.

 

image source : flickr.com 

 

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