The Biggest Lessons You Learn In Business School

Amjed Osman

Amjed Osman

A BUSINESS MAJOR HUMANIZES LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING

At the same time, several undergrads picked up some lessons that can last a lifetime. For example, business school reinforced the value of hard work and character to Ohio State’s Amjed Osman. “I learned that everything in business is not about being the smartest person in the room and knowing the answers to every question. Rather it is about being the hardest working person in the room who maintains honesty and integrity through any circumstance and finds the answers to the most difficult questions through due diligence.”

Notre Dame’s Ethan Muehlstein learned how to better package his ideas to persuade others to his cause in business school. “I have learned that successful decisions are not dependent on what we choose, but on how we support what we choose: Be decisive, use evidence, think about broader implications, cultivate your relationships (in business and in other disciplines), never stop learning, and work hard.”

Most important, majoring in business helped the Class of 2016 learn the biggest lesson of all: The people making decisions aren’t much different than they are. “[I learned] that behind every organization or company there are ordinary people making decisions and learning from their mistakes,” writes the University of Wisconsin’s Vanessa Mariscal. “Businesses aren’t “big and scary” but made up of individuals just like me, who can be convinced, swayed, or learned from.”

Here are some additional lessons from the best and brightest business majors from the Class of 2016:

Marissa Giannetto

Marissa Giannetto

Act Ethically

“One of the biggest lessons the education at the Carroll School of Management has taught me is the importance of conducting business in an ethical way. Profit maximization may be the end goal for many businesses, but the means to get there needs to be moral. This important lesson is introduced through a required freshmen course called “Portico,” in which we learned about both business and personal ethics through applying philosophical readings and business case studies. I know my peers and I sincerely valued the course and it kept us grounded in how we can lead meaningful lives and careers in business.” – Marissa Giannetto / Boston College (Carroll)

Hard Work Never Goes Out of Style

“Great good can be accomplished, no matter what your role, through passion and hard work.” – Tanner Stutz, Brigham Young University (Marriott)

“The biggest lesson that I have learnt from studying business is that there is no free lunch and that every reward that you get has to be accompanied by some risk or hard work.”  – Alex Muchoki, Cornell University (Dyson)

“That everything connects in business. If you want to be the best of the best, you need to know all of it or be versed in most of it. The other lesson is being able to add value in whatever you take on. In order to add value, you need to have interest and passion in what you do.” – Erica Amatori / William and Mary (Mason)

Drew Marx

Drew Marx

“The most important lesson I’ve gained from studying business is an understanding of the time value of money. Regardless of challenges ahead, this core idea seen in early coursework will be at the heart of every business decision in my career.” – Drew Marx, University of Wisconsin

There Is Strength In Numbers

“The number one lesson I learned was the importance of building meaningful relationships. People are what drive business and opportunities. My first exposure to this was simply in interacting with other college students where I observed how much of a difference trust and perception made in all engagements business and personal. This realization was further supplemented by the social impact business core where we focused on thought leadership and communications” – Samir Goel, New York University (Stern)

The biggest lesson I’ve gained from studying business is the importance of collaboration. Collaboration is a fundamental skill in all aspects of business. Through effective teamwork you can learn from the skills and experiences of your peers to generate high-caliber work.”   – Jessica Mersten, University of California, Berkeley (Haas)

“During my time in business school, my most valuable lessons have come from interacting with people. All the textbook information is essential to being productive, but my longest-lasting takeaways are going to be my time spent working with other people. From small projects to larger groups, learning the emotional intelligence required for being a good team player will be my most essential lesson from all of my business classes. Without being able to understand people and communicate with them, all the knowledge in the world will be without fruit.” – Stetson Starkey, University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)

“I learned how to bring people together from different backgrounds with different goals to solve a problem.”  – Joseph Couture, University of Florida (Warrington)

Chirag Agrawal

Chirag Agrawal

“While the technical skills I learned in business school are definitely valuable, the more important lessons I gained at UNC Kenan-Flagler challenged me to be a better leader and a more effective team member. People often develop great ideas, but find it much more difficult to convert those ideas into a successful solution. An effective team, however, will succeed. With my experience at UNC Kenan-Flagler, I feel prepared to lead teams to work cohesively and achieve impactful results.” – Anne Burke Baldridge, University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)

“Although the business world is often associated with competition, I’ve learned the importance of collaboration. Most of my learning in undergrad has come from working with others in case competitions, stock pitches, and extracurricular organizations. Business is a subject where the learning should not solely come from a textbook or from the classroom. Working with others gives you the advantage of learning from a broad variety of experiences.”  – Chirag Agrawal, University of Texas (McCombs)

“I have learned how to more effectively work in teams and have seen how important it is to be able to trust others and provide support so that we can work towards a common goal. I have learned how to serve in different capacities on a team depending on the group dynamic which I believe is an invaluable life skill.” Sabrina Janski, Southern Methodist University (Cox)

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