MBA graduates laud, rebuke IOB

Top businessman Arthur Lok Jack recounted his own experiences of rejection and eventual success to spell out to some 73 MBA/management graduates the qualities of leadership that would prevent them now getting stuck in middle-management.

The Associated Brands chairman was addressing the University of the West Indies (UWI) Institute of Business (IOB) presentation of graduates at the Hilton Trinidad on Friday evening, before an audience that included President George Maxwell Richards, Minister of Science and Tertiary Education Danny Montano, United States Ambassador Prof Roy Austin, United Kingdom High Commissioner Peter Harborne, and several top local businessmen. Acknowledging that in their studies the graduates had shown sacrifice, drive, ambition and commitment, Lok Jack warned: “Many MBA graduates are lost in middle management, and have not progressed as they would have liked and their goals have eluded them”.

But assuring “There is always room at the top”, Lok Jack listed the qualities sought by organisations in promoting managers. He explained that companies asked: “Does this person have leadership qualities? Are they entrepreneurial or risk-averse? Your competence and ability to work hard are very important but are taken for granted.” While noting that managers were good at solving problems between different people and between different departments, and that managers seemed to be favoured by organisations over leaders, it was the latter group that Lok Jack effused over, spelling out the four attributes of leadership.

Lok Jack said: “A leader is a visionary, who lives by his vision and inspires others to.  A leader motivates people in different ways, articulating their vision for the organisation, and satisfying people’s need for self-esteem. “A leader needs good intuition. This helps form new ideas, although a CEO is reluctant to say ‘gut feeling’ but instead calls it ‘judgment’” He used his own life to make the point, recalling that as a young man he had wanted to set up his own business making chocolates (now Associated Brands) but was turned down for financing by every banker on his list. “I then visited a banker who was not on my list and he gave me the loan, out of his intuition”.

The third quality a leader needed was to be passionate, said Lok Jack, adding: “Enthusiasm is very infectious”. He recalled that many proposals were shot down by a member of a company’s board of directors because a CEO showed a lack of passion in presenting the idea. Fourthly said Lok Jack, a leader needs people-skills. “A leader must inspire confidence, show sensitivity to people, and have good emotional intelligence”. He noted that a successful CEO must be able to ‘think outside of the box’, quickly evaluate risk profiles, and be quick on his feet. Lok Jack concluded: “A good CEO has leadership qualities and management skills”. 

In his remarks to the graduates, UWI, St Augustine, Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal, Bhoe Tewarie praised them for having learnt how to learn.  “Only a learning society can compete in a knowledge-based society. See how far you have grown by just one little decision to further your education. See how much the world has changed in the two years since you started. You have learnt how to learn. “We want to spread this philosophy through the whole of UWI, that you are not just learned graduates but are learners. Learners who will create, innovate and initiate. I congratulate you as you continue your journey of learning and for the contribution you will make to this society. I wish you a happy learning life”. 

Tewarie’s point was earlier alluded to by executive MBA valedictorian, attorney Nicole Chapman, who praised the IOB’s promotion of teamwork among students. She recalled: “From the very first day we as a bunch of complete strangers were told to form ourselves into teams which would stay together the entire two-and-a-half years. The work of the team would be graded as your work. This was an affront to our logic. How could you put your fate, your success in the programme, in the hands of others?”. But she said eventually they all felt the power of synergy, learning that each one had something to contribute and all learning that “None of us is as smart as all of us”.  Chapman praised the MBA, saying: “We have learnt to become excited about change...We learnt to step out of the box by always asking ‘why?’ and ‘why not?’ and by never discarding the different, seemingly ridiculous idea”.

International MBA valedictorian, human resource manager Hermese Duncan Alexander, likened the course to an air flight, saying: “It wasn’t too long before the turbulence set in and the flight became unbearable...Sleepless nights, interpersonal squabbles with fellow passengers, and even disembarking passengers were some of the casualties we suffered...At a stopover we were able to form some invaluable friendships which kept us focussed during the flight and provided the moral support some of us needed. Having resumed the flight we had to constantly pass through air pockets of administrative difficulties. From the beginning of the flight to the very end, these gaps in the coordination of the flight tested the passengers’ faith in the flight crew. Thankfully the competence of the tour guides helped attenuate the turbulence caused by these air pockets...The air pockets were caused by a lack of proper communication and saw us confused about the texts to be used, anxious because of the late release of exam information and late confirmation of electives, to name a few...We believe the IOB has set an exemplary standard via the instruction that we received; we believe that now it needs to set standards which are no less worthy of praise via the administrative support provided”.