My challenge of being authentic and the lesson
As I slow down my MBA commitments (I will be done with 80% of the requirements by the end of this year), I have more time to write! The last two years were quite transformative. As I reflect, the challenges I have faced were coming to mind. One of the first skills I learnt in business schools was empathy. They made us reflect on ourselves and how we deal with ourselves and others in the first quarter. Then, we had a negotiations class where they asked us to negotiate with another person given a certain situation. We had one on one negotiations with a really smart peer that went on for two hours. High quality peer group is probably the most valuable thing that one is exposed to in a good business school. Practicing empathy day-in day-out and such an extended period of negotiations gives you certain skills. It becomes second nature to assess what the other party wants and what the other party really needs. You may not know them exactly, but you do get somewh...