Over the past decade, business school has been a popular place.  This is good for business deans and faculty BECAUSE it has been good for business students. Students have chosen to major in business or get an MBA for a variety of reasons, mostly related to optimizing job opportunities and careers. As we enter that season of the year when students select their business school, I wish to offer some helpful hints for making the B-school choice.

There are many information sources competing to get prospective students’ attention – ranging from all of the media rankings sites to B-School accreditors to the government’s “Occupational Outlook” reports. Blogs too numerous to count offer hints and clues on getting into the best schools or what to look for in a program. With all these resources, it should be easy to select a business school that is a good fit for each student.  But it isn’t easy to identify a school that fits.

I emphasize the notion of fit because there are differences across B-Schools.  Some are subtle (e.g., the educational philosophy of faculty) and some are sharp (e.g., focus on some specific area or emphasis, such as technology, entrepreneurship, or health care). Most of the sharp differences are observable from available information and likely emphasized in schools’ promotional materials. Prospective students will notice these features. The subtle differences are more difficult to assess because they may not cluster in the avalanche of data that students can find on each school.

To understand the subtle differences, prospective students must ask questions.  The questions may be asked in an email, phone call, meeting with a school representative, or during a campus visit. I urge prospective students to visit each school they are seriously considering as the ability to assess things in person, including nonverbal responses, surprise from those being questioned, and emotional responses, is very valuable.  And where it is not possible to visit a school, it is essential to get a 360 degree perspective through directed conversations with each prospective school’s constituencies (i.e., admissions staff, a few faculty, a few students, and some alumni).

Are they interested in talking to you? Do they provide a canned pitch? While you want to get some consistency in responses, there will likely be some differences. Your challenge is to interpret the information and make a good choice.  It is not an impossible task.  It is, however, a very important one. Put differently, people may get married more than once in their lifetime, but they only get one MBA. If you choose your mate poorly, you have options.  Not so if you choose your business school poorly.

So what questions should prospective students ask? I don’t claim that the questions below are the only ones or most important ones to ask. They are neglected questions.  Ask them to get contextual information that will help you make a better B-school decision.

What is the typical approach by the professor in and outside the classroom? To what extent are courses taught by full time faculty or people with less teaching experience. Some schools stress that all professors have real world experience.  This might mean that teaching is their second job. It also says nothing about the extent to which the full time professor or part time professional are good at communicating with (and educating) students.  You want to know how effective professors are in the classroom and whether they are available outside of class to answer questions, brainstorm, talk, and help. Some Nobel Prize winners seem uninterested in teaching students while certain adjunct faculty are awesome. Some part time professors seem only two steps ahead of the class despite their work history and background. Information on such teaching quality does not translate well from rankings sites.  Those grades given to teaching will not tell you what your instructors will be like.

To get this information, you need to ask for some examples of helpful approaches used by the best professors and aspects of class that were not appreciated.  Then get a sense of the extent the best and not appreciated behaviors existed in typical classes. Because learning styles and preferences differ across people, recognize that someone else might not enjoy a professor whom you would love.

Whether someone is a great classroom instructor or not, determine the extent to which faculty are available to students.  Do you need to make appointments to see them?  Are they available during or beyond office hours? Are they interested in talking to you?  This kind of information will give you a sense of the environment you’ll enter at a school.  Then you’ll be able to judge better whether you’ll like the environment.

How much practice do you get?  It is not unusual for promotional materials and rankings media to focus on majors, class work, placement, and similar factors. But consider the analogy that the best sports teams practice their skills extensively to improve performance and opportunities. Will you get a chance to practice the skills that supposedly guarantee you a great job outcome?  Since the overlap across curricula at business schools is great, the practice time allows people to gain the edge necessary to do a job. Practice comes in a variety of forms.  Are students required (or encouraged) to work on “real-world” projects for companies or organizations?  How extensive are these opportunities?  For example, a school that has try-outs to select a team to go around the country to participate in case competitions likely offers fewer opportunities to students than one that encourages many students to participate in such competitions.  Practice has an added benefit. It gives you a chance to decide if you really want to be a (fill in the blank) before you take a job as one.  Learning that you don’t like a particular job or field before you graduate is a good thing.  Only practice will give you the answer.

How does the program leverage graduates’ skills to create opportunities? All business schools will talk with pride about their impressive placement results – percent placed and average salary.  This is nice, ON AVERAGE, but may not tell you what result you will secure – especially if you are not the average business school student.  If you are interested in a very specific type of career, getting a job in a particular city, breaking into a certain industry, or changing careers, you need to know how a business school handles students for placement purposes.  Is it up to you to generate the opportunity if it is outside the school’s normal recruiters and jobs?  (Note, this is not necessarily a problem; the key is knowing the answer up front and not being surprised.) And if a school says that 95% of students were placed by 90 days after graduation, ask about the 5% that were not placed.  What help is available to them?  Why did they not get jobs?  Most importantly, are those individuals forgotten after the final placement statistics for the year have been compiled? While no one looking to enroll in business school assumes he or she will be in the 5% without jobs, 5% of the class will be.  Thus, knowing up front the approach of the career services office, the view of the administration (even the dean), will give you a sense of whether a particular school is a good match for you.

Despite the global problems that appear on each day’s news, there are many, MANY opportunities for business graduates. Your opportunities will be greater or less depending on whether you select a school that is a good fit for you.  Do your homework on this.  Don’t assume that some ranking will give the best result for you. Do your work and you’ll compile the most important and relevant ranking – for YOU.

And make sure you ask questions – especially ones that are neglected.

How do you measure the quality of a business school?  That question confronts me on a daily basis, especially when some new ranking comes out.  Although rankings cannot be ignored and offer insights, they do not typically provide an objective and transparent way to measure the value of any particular school.  The underlying value is apparent primarily in places and outcomes not easily captured in rankings. A few recent interactions with Katz and CBA alumni help illustrate this view.

Recently an alumnus, Ramen Venkatesh, made me aware of an essay suggesting that an MBA adds value only if your degree is from a “top five” program. The article by Jay Bhatti was titled “If you can’t get into a top-five MBA program, don’t even bother.” Here is a link to the article, though you may need to search for it as content on consolidation sites is not always maintained:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/t-top-five-mba-program-181158875.html

I appreciated Ramen’s willingness to share this article with me. It is interesting and disappointing at the same time. The interesting part is the passionate cry by the author for the creation of stronger – more valuable – business education. He accurately describes changes in the economy and business structure that make a traditional MBA less valuable. I won’t say obsolete, because that is not true.  But less valuable than the MBA of 25 years ago is true. His points provide a challenge to business schools, their professors, and the executive education sector more generally. The challenge is to create a business degree that generates great returns in the economy and job market we see today.  That challenge is not an easy one to overcome because competition for opportunities is much greater today than it was 25 years ago when many smart people in Eastern Europe and Asia were shut out of the market. With more competition and changes imposed by technology, fewer people are in line for the outsized gains that were available to MBAs in years past. In addition, the challenge is difficult because many business schools still generate good results from their MBA programs – making the need to innovate less urgent than it should be. (If you doubt this calculate the ROI to an MBA program relative to law school.)

I’ve written many times that business schools have been enjoying a golden age and the faculty and universities have been the beneficiaries. We must adjust to changing times, however, and our future will be dimmer if we ignore the author’s sentiments. Just as it was difficult for Kodak to make adjustments to the digital age when the profit margin on film was so great, it is difficult for b-schools and professors to change. I wish I had an easy answer to the issue. I agree with the author that something must – MUST – change in business education.  Indeed, traditional business schools have increased tuition and student enrollments in the same way that big banks used borrowed money – to gain leverage for bigger results. The leverage funds diverse operations and activities, including high compensation for business faculty (relative to faculty in other schools and disciplines). If enrollments cannot be sustained, something will give. The lower returns cited by Mr. Bhatti will likely lead prospective MBA students to shop more carefully for a program. In other words, perceived brand quality is critical to the enrollment decision – and becoming more important.

The disappointing part of the essay is the absence of ideas on how to solve the problem and the absence of data in support of key arguments. For example, I don’t know whether people at start-ups or entrepreneurial firms or in some sectors look down on individuals with MBAs. Some may do so.  But it would be crazy for any company seeking talent to ignore people simply because they have an MBA.  Thus, I suspect the author has overgeneralized, especially since no data are provided in support of many of the assertions in the essay. Some of the information cited is dated. For example, recent placement results at MBA programs have generally been strong. This means that students are getting enough return from the degree to justify the sustained interest in MBA programs. And as noted above, this is one reason why change is coming so slowly to business education.

I also find flippant the idea that any prospective advice-seeker should be told to avoid an MBA if you can’t get it from a top-5 program. The exclamation point on this is the fact that the author goes on to list his top five schools – without giving any information to justify the list and without recognizing that a variety of rankings and surveys will show a different list.  Such advice is not only unhelpful, it is condescending and arrogant. Let prospective students know your concerns and views, and let them decide how to proceed.  Anyone who is gaining new skills and using them to leverage his or her opportunities for the future is generating value and helping the economy. The choice of how to do this should be left to the individual and thus the best advice is to urge prospective students to gather the facts about MBA programs relative to MFA programs, for example, and to apply the facts to their circumstances so a good decision is possible.

The view also reinforces the idea that rankings are the best indicator of a business school’s brand and that students should rely on rankings to make decisions. Admittedly, it may seem self-serving for the dean at Katz/CBA to make this claim.  We are not on any of the top-five lists. But let’s be honest and admit that most b-school and MBA rankings are non-transparent efforts by companies to create a list that can be sold for profit.

For that reason, I wish to mention something else that measures important educational outcomes. Schools need to focus on building student character and preparing students for strong careers. On February 16, 2013, I had an experience that made me proud of the character of our students. It was blustery and cold at 8 a.m. in McKeesport that day when I arrived with my daughter to volunteer for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. We were outside in a parking lot to distribute food to people. To my surprise, several CBA students greeted me on my arrival and I soon met a part time MBA student. About 8 of the 40 volunteers that day were connected to CBA or Katz. It was not an organized school activity and the students didn’t need to be there, but there they were.  And with the entire group’s efforts, we provided fresh and nutritious food to 450 families. The families included men, women and children, old and young, and people of all races. It made you reflect on the difficult circumstances faced by some.

Here is the Katz/CBA Team – including me at the far right.

Near the end of the event, the Katz MBA student said to me: “I am humbled.” I agree completely with his sentiment as it was eye-opening both to see the need in the community and to serve other people. When we look to generate high salaries and top positions, it is easy to forget the community in which we live and people in less fortunate circumstances. It is wonderful to see students recognize this reality.Later that day, I learned that one of our Katz/CBA teams had won the Pittsburgh regional Chartered Financial Analysts Investment Research Challenge.  This is the fourth year in a row we have won the challenge and bested teams from local schools ranked better than us. I give great credit to our students and their faculty advisor. They have excelled in the competition and this will prepare them for many real world challenges. Ironically, they may be hurt by our ranking, despite the fact that they outperformed students from “better” schools in head-to-head competition.

The success of students in case competitions and character displayed by students choosing to give time to serve others are things that make me proud of Katz and CBA. I am humbled when I see what they have accomplished and the kind of people they have become.  This in turn fuels me to strengthen our reputation. Our students, alumni and supporters deserve it. When arbitrary decisions by ranking companies neglect us, I know that those rankings do not reflect the quality and character of our students and programs.

I’m very sad to report that our friend and colleague, Wilma Tabisz, died suddenly on January 12, 2013. For the past two decades, Wilma served as the executive assistant to the dean at the Katz School – ably supporting Jerry Zoffer, Andy Blair, Rick Winter, Larry Feick, and me.  I am sure that hundreds of alumni probably crossed paths with Wilma at some point in the past. While we are still in the state of shock that accompanies this kind of sudden loss, I wanted to reflect on some of Wilma’s qualities as a lasting memorial to her. Those qualities are relevant to the subject of leadership. In particular, the list of popular leadership books is full of titles referencing famous coaches, CEO’s, saints, and even Attila the Hun.  The leadership approaches of some of those people probably were enabled by an effective administrative assistant.

Wilma practiced four habits that are especially relevant to leadership and she practiced each almost religiously. I am not sure whether she knew she was engaging in leadership behavior, but she was aware that her approaches tended to work.

Leverage the Power of Optimism

Wilma emphasized the positive in everything.  She certainly acted as if she agreed with the late Zig Ziglar that “there has never been a statue erected to honor a critic.” I never heard her use a cross word or suggest anything negative regarding anyone.  She told funny stories, sometimes regaling people about the exploits of her young grandsons, and always aimed at making people smile and feel good. She was more concerned about others than herself. If she were able to do so today, I suspect that she would remind us that one of our CBA colleagues delivered two beautiful and healthy twin girls on January 12, 2013 (the day of Wilma’s death). While she’d understand our sadness about her death, Wilma would focus on the beauty of the new life and the future. I can imagine her showing photos of the new twins, saying how nice they looked, and laughing at how busy they will keep their parents. She would agree that the death was a tragedy, shame, and shock. In the next sentence she’d remind us that we need to move forward, with the point being dual: we need to move and we need to keep focused on the good things the future will bring to us.

Optimism is a powerful force.  When combined with the recognition of reality, it enables people to be more effective. Anyone who met Wilma knew from the first moment that she was authentic. Her habits of staying positive and looking at the future – not the past – are practiced by great leaders. By acknowledging problems and sadness while directing people towards the future, she was leveraging the inherent optimism in the people she met. She would want us to remember that the best way to honor the ones we’ve lost is to make things better for everyone else.

Demonstrate Bravery

Wilma was very brave. She seemed to take Franklin Roosevelt’s words to heart: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  I’m not sure she realized it but she did things that many people would avoid or fear.  She did whatever was necessary as part of her job whether it involved cold calls or instantaneous responses to someone who called with a question. She was the front line whenever a disappointed or frustrated person demanded to see the dean. She had a way about her that could disarm even the most difficult person. One evening near the end of the Fall 2012 term, when I was away at a meeting and only one or two people were in the dean’s suite, a man came in and loudly complained about almost everything.  He shouted and was physically intimidating, but Wilma stood up to him (literally) and got him to calm down by asking questions. Ultimately, she was able to get him to leave. She defused a difficult situation by being brave. (As an aside, we have changed some office security policies because of that event.)

It is important to be brave. Leaders must face the situations that confront them and their organizations. Procrastination is not a solution. Isolation is not a solution. Leaders need to make important choices in real time. While lots of Monday-morning quarterbacks will second guess any decision, leaders don’t have the option of delay. You must be brave to make the calls and live with the consequences.

Showing Respect

Wilma showed respect to anyone who called or entered the dean’s suite.  It didn’t matter who you were or what the issue was about. While treating people appropriately is one sign of respect, she also did other things that demonstrated respect.  For example, in all executive offices, from that of CEO of a major company to a dean or department chair in a university, information exists that needs to be held in confidence. Various reasons call for confidentiality.  But information is power and some people wield power by disclosing private information.  Not Wilma.  Although she had access to most of the Katz School’s confidential information – on personnel issues, student problems, allegations and charges of one wrong or another, etc. – she kept confidences. This generated trust.

Wilma was able to engage in small talk with anyone. She was pleasant and charming. This easy way led others to talk to her. She knew all the gossip and everything else going on at the school. But she did not misuse the information entrusted to her and overshare. Keeping secrets was an important way to show people she respected them.

This is important for leaders.  Gen. Colin Powell has reminded his audiences that as long as people bring problems to you it means they have faith that you can create a solution. Once people stop talking to you it is a problem as they have given up on you.  Wilma was always able to talk to anyone while maintaining confidences.  This behavior did not cause problems; instead it built trust and respect. Leaders must engage, communicate, and respect everyone in the organization.

Never Give Up

Wilma overcame many obstacles during her lifetime. She was a cancer survivor and lost hearing in one ear. While she experienced much pain, she never complained and she never gave up. She was much tougher than her appearance suggested. And she did not let things get her down (at least not in my presence). I remember the first day I met her: I got a hug because everyone got a hug that day given she had just successfully completed chemotherapy. She let me know after each successive “clean” doctor’s visit and she appreciated feeling better. She saw the bumps in the road for what they were – temporary barriers – and she was determined to overcome them. Leaders must be persistent in their efforts. By overcoming adversity they build habits of success.

Why is this so Hard?

Wilma’s leadership habits – as summarized above – may not seem to be so special, secret, or super.  Yet, they are key attributes of good leaders and are in short supply across many of our global organizations. Perhaps it is a product of the personality or education of people getting to top positions. Perhaps it is a reflection of a society in which everyone seems to post his/her life on Facebook. Perhaps it is a growing shortage of authenticity in people. Perhaps it means that good executive assistants are hard to find. And perhaps I am missing the common link. At the end of the day, however, good leaders need to be respected and trusted and decisive. They earn trust and respect of others by making decisions that are reasoned and proper, showing respect to others, cultivating a culture in which people feel free to express their views, and showing that they want to hear what other people have to say. Wilma was able to do many of these things well.  She was more of a leader than she probably realized. And that’s one more reason why the Katz School will miss her so much.

Wilma’s Obituary in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review read in part:

Wilma (Thompson) Tabisz, 62, of Tarentum, died Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, at UPMC-St. Margaret Hospital, Pittsburgh. She was born in Tarentum to the late Warren and Mary (Groom) Thompson. Ms. Tabisz was an administrative assistant for the dean of Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh for the past 18 years. Wilma was very proud of her of her family, whom she loved dearly, most especially her beloved grandsons. She is survived by her daughter, Jennifer (Mark) Focareta; grandsons, Matthew and Michael Focareta; brother, Robert (Gloria May) Thompson, of Valencia; brother, Glenn Thompson, of Butler; sister, Mildred Elliot, of Pittsburgh; brother, David (Darlene) Thompson, of Butler; sister, Elvajean (Robert) Downing, of Butler; sister, Nancy Critchlow, of Saxonburg; formerly married to Edward P. Tabisz, of Butler; and many nieces and nephews.