Today@Dal

Posted January 6 by the Globe and Mail:

Kyle Palantzas is a business professional pursuing an MBA at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He’s a Carleton University journalism graduate, a former sports writer and competitive athlete (hockey and rugby), and a recipient of a community leadership award in his hometown of Pickering, Ont. He is an avid sports fan and fitness enthusiast, fascinated by media, advertising, consumer behaviour, branding, sales and first impressions. This is the second entry in his blog about his MBA experience.

The first day of my MBA I was taught a very simple concept – be really good at one thing.

With just one semester left until I walk across the stage at convocation, I am convinced there is no better advice.

Take Facebook for example.

Yes, co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s claim to fame is creating the world’s largest social media platform. But do you think he’s exceptional at balancing the firm’s books, selling advertising space, maintaining infrastructure, analyzing data or providing legal counsel?

I doubt it. He’s a computer programmer and he is really, really good at what he does. If I ever need a programmer, and have all the resources in the world available to me, Zuck’ would be my guy.

He’s changed the way the world communicates (more than a billion people use Facebook every month) and is considered a programming prodigy. But would I trust him with my taxes? Nope, that’s what accountants are for. Heck, with my MBA training I would feel more comfortable doing my taxes myself.

The whole notion of learning from people better than you is the foundation of higher education. That’s the main reason why I changed games and jumped into an MBA program. Every day I celebrate diversity, encourage perspective and absorb everything and anything that betters me.

However, in order to take advantage of these self-betterment opportunities, some people need to check their egos at the door.

Read the rest of this article at the Globe and Mail website.