Lesson 66: Confidence
Yesterday, I finished my first year of business school. I turned in the final exam and walked from the building to the bus stop so I could catch a ride home. When I sat down in my apartment and looked out the window at Chicago’s crowded skyline, I felt confident. Not only had I made it to business school, but I also grew and learned throughout my first year. I asked myself, “What did I learn?” So here are the courses I took and a lesson from each one:
Power and Influence in Organizations (Prof. David Nussbaum): There are three sources of power in an organization 1) Personal Power, 2) Positional Power, and 3) Relational Power.
Takeaway: Diagnosing power can help you overcome obstacles and accelerate your career.
Microeconomics (Prof. Daniel Rappaport): Marginal utility is the additional satisfaction you feel from getting one more thing.
Takeaway: Understanding what truly motivates people, including potentially sellers or key employees in an acquired business, goes beyond just the next dollar..
Business Statistics (Prof. Bryon Aragam): Correlation is NOT causation.
Takeaway: When you notice a pattern, there could be multiple reasons for it.
Consumer Behavior (Prof. Dan Bartels): People can be influenced by myopia when deciding when to buy or sell something.
Takeaway: This is crucial when evaluating a business's customer base or even understanding a seller's short-term motivations versus the long-term health of the company you might acquire.
Investments (Prof. Michael Weber): People are risk averse so if they invest in something risky, then they expect a return for taking that risk.
Takeaway: When acquiring a business as a first-time CEO, you are one of the biggest risks so investors will evaluate you as much as the business.
Financial Accounting (Prof. Rimmy Tomy): Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are the set of standards designed to guide the preparation of financial statements.
Takeaway: Following GAAP is not meant to punish businesses; these principles allow businesses to record an accurate account of their financial health.
Competitive Strategy (Prof. Anders Humlum): Network effects happen when using the product improves its value.
Takeaway: Businesses with strong network effects have a competitive advantage because their value grows with their user base.
Higher Education Policy (Prof. Derek Rury): 2023 Gainful Employment Regulations require for-profit universities to ensure students do not take on too much debt and earn more money from their program than if they went straight into the workforce after high school.
Takeaway: For-profit institutions, like trade schools, depend on federal funds and must be held accountable.
Internal Information for Strategic Decisions (Prof. Chris Stewart): Activity Based Costing allows business to link indirect activities to the cost to make their product.
Takeaway: Offering employees transparent feedback on how their activities directly impact the business can help improve their decision-making.
Operations Management Business Process Fundamentals (Prof. Ozan Candogan): The Bullwhip Effect is when demand variability increases as you move up the supply chain.
Takeaway: Do not overreact to change.
Strategies and Processes of Negotiations (Prof. Shereen Chaudhry): Negotiation requires preparation, practice, and reflection.
Takeaway: We all have unconscious bias that can be uncovered to negotiate mutually beneficial outcomes.
I feel most confident when I am learning. I have more to learn with a year left in business school, but I am grateful for what I have learned so far. Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition will also be a learning experience. Operating a business will grow my confidence as I learn from experience.
My mission is to increase representation for Black leaders at the executive, investor, and board level. This newsletter was inspired by my desire to connect with those interested in becoming an executive, investor, or board member. Together, we are learning to become our best selves, for it is in that growth when we find our deepest confidence in our potential to achieve these roles.
This is Lesson 66: Confidence. Next week is Lesson 67: Action.
