Today is the 4th of July. Happy Independence Day, America!
I had some new thoughts over the weekend. And a new approach towards my future. Thus far, my thoughts were to get started strictly in the Healthcare Management / Administration sector after the MBA, as a continuation of my background in Medicine. My past ambition was to become a Business Management Consultant and my hero / idol was Ram Charan, the renowned Consultant. But now, I want to be Carlos Ghosn :) I feel the need to avoid chasing the goal of Consulting and dive into the world of real Hands-on Management of an organization. I am thinking "CEO" and not thinking "Consultant" anymore.
* Consultants arrive at a project, give their expert opinion and then, just walk away. They do not stay around for their ideas to be implemented. They do not always have a say regarding implementation of their vision for a company. They may sometimes be convenient scrape goats just in order to certify an idea that top executives have already decided upon. Consultants may sometimes become rubber stamp entities. Sure, consultants make big bucks. But they are not at the top of the ladder, so to speak. It is also true that many a consultant report ends up in the dust bin!
I want to be in charge of a project or an operation and make things happen. I want to bring in real change and real implementations, rather than just recommendations. I have decided to add 2 more specialties under my belt that should empower and enable me to work for just any kind of sector and do well. I shall strive to become an expert in 4 fields, in order to become successful as a future MBA grad. I coined the acronym POMP for it:
- P - Project Management
- O - Operations Management
- M - Money Management (Accounting & Finance) and
- P - People management (Human Resources).
(Project Management does include Cost Management & Human Resource Management too. However, I am talking of in-depth knowledge). There are many subjects that we shall study as part of the MBA curriculum. However, in my opinion, in order to become a good CEO or to become a top-notch Business Executive or Manager, expertise in Project Management and Operations Management are a must along with all the other training offered in Biz School.
Some things of the things that I wish to do in order to improve my chances of employability:
- Get PMP training and certification
- Get APICS CPIM training and certification.
- Learn French
- Learn Spanish
I realized that it is not easy to get a CMC certification or an CMA certification. I do not necessarily have to chase every single certification that is out there in the market.
I need to pick and choose what is right for me and what shall work for me. For now, I have chosen PMP, CPIM and overall expertise in the MBA subjects as my short term goals.
Imagine a period of economic slowdown once again in the future (not too unlikely, eh, since these business cycles run their courses and ups and downs are so very common in the macro economy). Who are the people who shall be the first ones to be kicked out? Who are the people who the company can do without? Who are the people the company does not need when the company goes into a freeze mode - Are they the planners, the consultants and the marketers or are they the operations staff? My guess is that the company gets rid of the unproductive people involved in strategy, marketing & planning - those people who were essentially hired for the "good" times. For expansion, for boom time. But for the recession, slowdown, they are easily dispensable. However, being strong & certified in Operations and Project Management is a huge plus, since the company has to operate and function and essential activities have to go on. When there are Project Management Professionals managing projects worth more than 100 million dollars, their 6 figure salary is highly justified, eh? That is why CEOs get million dollar compensation packages, among other reasons.
More to follow with time ...
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