In February, I was lucky enough to attend a weeklong course run by the Australian Institute of Management called a Mini MBA.
Now most people know a full MBA (or Master of Business Administration) can take years to complete, so how could they fit all that knowledge and learning into just five days?
Well, each day was jam packed – we covered four main areas of an MBA – Leadership, Strategy, Marketing and Finance, then the last day we took everything we’d learnt throughout the week and pulled together a personalised action plan.
So, what did I take out of the course? Lots.
For starters, I haven’t been in a dedicated learning environment like that since university, which was 10 years ago. I relished learning something new, engaging in conversations with others and hearing the insights from their different industries.
Secondly, it was great to learn about business and how it works. I work in a business, all our clients are businesses that work with other businesses, yet I had never studied business itself at school or university. Everything I know was learnt on the job, albeit a great way to learn, but there was so much I learnt in the course that helped me clearly connect the dots. On the finance day for instance, we delved into P&L’s, cash flow forecasts, income statements, and balance sheets I work with every day – but I never knew how they were all interconnected. Well, now I do!
Personally, I took so much from the course. Perhaps unexpectedly, increased confidence and commitment to building my own personal agency and trust in myself. I learned that I’ve earnt my seat at the table, in my workplace and with my clients.
I’ll be sharing some more insights from the course over the coming months on our blog – so watch this space! Next time I’ll be talking all things Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and have a little test for you.
Alex Williams