Practicum Review

For my practicum, I took BMGT 228i,”Why Good Managers Make Bad Decisions.” This course analyzed various failures in the business world and used it to discuss the common misperceptions people have about management and the reason for their lack of success. It introduced the ten soft skills that can lead to business success and avoid failure: innovation, operational thinking, decision making, strategic vision, strategic self-awareness, resilience, drive, ethics, valuing others and collaboration. After studying various failures, the professor would use these soft skills to explain how a good manager should proceed with certain situations in order to be successful. In addition to this class content, we as a class read and analyzed two books. The first was “Benjamin Franklin: America’s Original Entrepreneur,” which was an autobiography of Franklin's life from early childhood to becoming a Founding Father, highlighting his various successful business ventures along the way. We completed a creative writing piece in which we created a story for a modern day business success using the principles outlined in the autobiography. We also read a book about business and success of our choice and completed a book review; I chose to read “The Great Client Partner” by Jared Belsky.

Upon completion of the course, I learned that there are so many connections between leadership and the business world. I was surprised at the amount of overlap between what I’ve learned in PL and the content of this course. For example, when the professor introduced his lesson on decision making, I instantly recalled what I learned in PLCY201 reading “Getting to Yes,” and was able to have an understanding of decision making in business above and beyond what was presented. Furthermore, when we discussed self-awareness and its importance in business, I turned back to what I learned about emotional intelligence. The same was also true when we discussed drive and motivation. These numerous connections between BMGT 289i and PLCY201 led me to realize the importance of leadership in a business's success. Despite how knowledgeable executives of a company may be, they must display leadership skills in order to truly distinguish it from its competition, and ensure success in the long term.

I believe that my creative piece on the Benjamin Franklin autobiography is a good representation of how I have developed as a leader, student, and professionally. In this creative piece, I detailed the fictional story of the man who invented the first effectively run renewable passenger airplanes. Being a creative assignment, this introduced a new style of writing to me; creative writing is something that I do not often do, and the fact that I was successful in this assignment shows my ability to adapt my writing style to fit the different needs. Furthermore, in this assignment, I incorporated various leadership qualities in my development of the protagonist that I value and feel are important to hold myself. Among these chiefly includes authenticity; despite pressures around him to go another route, the protagonist keeps his interests and visions authentic to his true self, and in the end becomes successful. Given that this is a story of a business success, I incorporated aspects that I wish to hold in my career in the future, including self-determination, motivation, and drive.

I will take the lessons I learned in BMGT289i and apply them in the future, both in a position and generally in life. While the concepts that were taught were framed towards management and executives, the teachings can be applied to everyone. For example, I will strive to have impeccable ethics, and engage in social responsibility both with my future employer and outside of work. I will use what I learned to motivate people and establish drive, compelling them to be their best selves at all times. Speaking of the future, upon graduation I plan to return to Maryland to earn my Masters in Taxation, and become a CPA. When it comes to searching for a position and company, I will ensure that the position highlights leadership qualities for both the employee and the company, to ensure that there is a good balance in leadership between myself and my future employers.