On your graduation day

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Good morning, graduates!

Today is a big day and you should feel very proud. My Kellogg journey has been shared with many of you, so I am sure you know this day is particularly meaningful to me as well. Your graduation, the convocation events this week and the exit conversations I’ve had with members of this class have inspired a bit of personal reflection.

Over the last 15 + years, I’ve developed five “life mottos” that I wanted to pass along to you to consider as you take the next step in your life journey.

The 11 takeaways from my Kellogg experience

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Tomorrow I will officially transition from being an MBA Candidate to an MBA Graduate of Kellogg’s Class of 2015. Over the last few weeks, as the journey started approaching its goal, a few of us had conversations about what our key takeaways were.

What are the things we learned that would stay with us for years to come?

An MBA gives you technical skills and core subject matter knowledge, but some lessons stand out. As I thought about my own learnings, a few things came to mind and I thought it was worth it to share them with current and prospective students.

Financial advice for graduates

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This week, almost one thousand people will graduate from Kellogg with their MBA degrees. They will then embark on careers that will span decades. Last year I posted some financial advice for the graduates, and some people found that useful, so this year I’m sticking with the theme.

Commencement speaker Cesare Mainardi shares three strategic rules for career success

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Cesare Mainardi ’86, CEO of Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company), is one of today’s foremost thinkers in business strategy. But when he started at Kellogg, he was a self-described “uber-engineer” who lacked the managerial insight to drive a business. Mainardi plans to share his advice with graduating EMBA students this Saturday, June 13. In advance of his remarks,… Continue reading

Controlling queues on the job and in your life | MBA Learnings

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I’ve been sharing a run of operations learnings of late as a part of this series. This has been surprising as I never considered myself a fan of the subject. However, thanks to a combination of a professor (Gad Allon, who last week was named Kellogg Professor of the Year) who’s more than managed to pique my interest and a realization that learning to manage business operations isn’t very different from managing life operations, I’ve enjoyed my time studying operations. And today’s topic is managing queues.

Managing queues is particularly interesting as we all experience, and generally dislike, queues.

Learning about ‘China’s next chapter’

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The China growth story has been a big headline recently in business, academia and in governments around the world. And the story continues to evolve. The market has developed into a complex and sophisticated behemoth.

With that in mind, more than 600 attendees gathered at Kellogg last month for the 2015 Greater China Business Conference. “China’s Next Chapter — Future Growth Engine” focused on how China would address current challenges and fuel its future growth, laying the foundation for the country’s next chapter.

Kellogg announces Professor of the Year

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Gad Allon, professor of managerial economics and decision sciences, was named the 2015 L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award on Friday.

The award, named in honor of former Kellogg Professor Lawrence G. Lavengood, is voted on by graduating students of Kellogg’s Full-Time and Part-Time programs.

“As an aspiring operations expert and life-long learner, Professor Allon continues to inspire me and those around me with his passion for operations, his drive to continuously improve and his desire to help others learn,” wrote one student in their nomination for Allon.

Private equity, venture capital and unprecedented change

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The worlds of private equity and venture capital are facing unprecedented changes. An influx of non-traditional investors, fewer potential targets and anemic economic growth are all contributing to intense competition for returns. The formerly well-defined lines of fund categorization have begun to blur, and major industry shifts are requiring a rethinking of traditional capital structures and holding periods. Given these momentous shifts in the PEVC landscape, the 2015 Kellogg Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference sought to explore the challenges of building value at both the fund and portfolio company level.