Signing Off
By Alex Fleming | April 28, 2009
Friends,
It has been great sharing my life with you these three years. Since tomorrow is my last day of classes, I am signing off here to move on with a new adventure. If you would like to continue following me, you can look at my website or blog:
http://www.alexcfleming.com
http://aflemingwhartonmba.blogspot.com
I leave Wharton Diaries in the capable hands of the first years.
All the best,
Alex Fleming
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
The cycle of MBA life marches ever onward…
By Alex Fleming | April 22, 2009
This is reposted from my personal blog, which will be continuing after business school:
http://aflemingwhartonmba.blogspot.com
Enjoy!
The cycle of MBA life marches ever onward…
Last weekend was Welcome Weekend for the Class of 2011, and for me it was a number of ‘last times.’
Last time as a Mini-Cohort leader, last time I will welcome a new class onto campus as a student, and the most sad … last time the Follies 2009 team got to perform together. I have not decided how I feel about finishing MBA yet. Part of me is excited to be done, and I feel like I have reached the next stage of my life. So, it is good that grad school is ending.
The other part of me knows that life will never quite be like this again. I wish I could just do VAC and GA and Follies and Rugby and Whartones for a living … but, nothing stops the progression of time.
It is hard to let go and watch the 1st years take charge of everything, you have to fight the urge to micromanage them, and let them find their own way. I know that the new Technical Directors of Follies will do a great job, and I have given them everything I know and all the tools they need.
But now, it is time for a new generation. I did not go out partying with the admits, partly because I was tired, but mostly because they should not be spending time meeting me, they need to focus on the 1st years and their new classmates as they begin this exciting time.
I have been contemplating what I will take away from this experience, and I think my proposed Wharton graduation speech portrays it best. (40 people participated in an election type process, and a good friend of mine, Lou Marchetti, will be honoring us at graduation with his remarks)
But, for my blog audience, here are my thoughts…
Good Afternoon. Mr. Yuunus, President Gutmann, Dean Robertson, Vice Dean Jain, Distinguished Faculty and Guests, and most importantly … the MBA class of 2009:
The Wharton Experience is different for everyone. I am sure if I asked every person sitting here to tell me the one moment from the last 2 years that defines your Wharton experience, you would give me answers almost as diverse as the people.
However, I will attempt to give one answer. And there are many strong possibilities.
Is the Wharton experience?
- Your first friend from Welcome weekend, who came with you through this journey, and will be in your life forever
- A contemplative email from Anjani Jain, the math exam, and the first time you were cold-called
- MBA Café at 3pm, or Koo Plaza on a sunny day in April
- Your learning team meeting to finish the first Marketing 621 case
- MGEC 621, Jeremy Seigel’s Class, Problems in Financial Reporting, Negotiations with Prof. Diamond?
- Whartones Concert, Dance Studio, the Comedy Show, or WICS?
- The Charity Fashion Show, Philly Fight Night, Rebuilding Together, or the Social Impact Club?
- The Conferences (Consulting, Marketing, Finance to name a few)
- The 80s party, Foam Party, Argentinean Asado, the Russian Revelry Night?
- India Club, Israel Club, AAmbaa, Whambaa, Europa?
- Thursday Night Follies, Whalasa After-Parties, Beack Week, Wharton 54 … or is it PUB?
We have had so many incredible times in the last 2 years, it is impossible to list them all, but the sad fact is that somewhere, deep down … we know that this is not reality… that the joy, energy and exploration of our MBA cannot continue indefinitely.
This has been a year of intense change for the world, and this graduation feels a little bit like crawling from under a warm blanket, to the harsh cold of a financial crisis.
I think that leads us to a more important question: What if the Wharton experience is not any of the events I mentioned, but instead the shared value system that we create and embrace, and carry forward with us.
I believe the true Wharton Experience involves 3 things:
First, I think we all have gained a great humility in teamwork and human interaction. I have been exposed to so many incredible and talented people in this class, that I am constantly dazzled. From our learning teams to committees, we cannot assume that we have all the answers … we have learned to respect and rely on each other. This trust and humility allows us to get done more as a group then we possibly could alone, and it will serve us well as we go forward.
Second, we must take our sense of co-production, to use a Wharton buzz-word, and make it larger. The self-driven energy that conceived and executed all those things I mentioned earlier came from us. We create our environment through will alone, and we must remember that we each have the power to affect change. Call it whatever you want: entrepreneurship, co-production, self-motivation … but we must use this same energy to create value and be a force for positive change in our lives.
Third, and perhaps most important, we have built and shaped a vibrant and diverse community of shared experience. Each one of us, for years to come, will recall our friends and colleagues in this class and we will always be able to reach out across the globe, whether it be through email, phone, or perhaps Facebook. We must not let this community die, and as we go about our careers, we must use this resource to help people and to achieve good.
It should be our goal to share this Wharton experience with the world, and to make the world our Wharton community. The principles that we have lived here truly can make the world a better place, and we are the carriers of this message. As you go forward in your chosen career, work for yourself, but never forget our duty to each other, and to humanity.
My friends, it has been a privilege to learn with you, and congratulations.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
A little deja vu
By Bibiana Rojas | April 7, 2009
Hola!
I can’t believe next week is Wharton Welcome Weekend… it seems like just yesterday I was attending this event. Ok, maybe not yesterday, but I tend to exagerate, it’s a Latin thing. As a way of paying it forward, I’m hosting a Colombian girl that just got admitted, Marcela. I remember last year I was very grateful that Deserrie hosted me…
Anyhoo, last year during Welcome Weekend I saw Wharton Live and I fell in love with the Saman Dance from Indonesia and this year I decided to participate. It’s known as the “dance of a thousand hands”… to know why, watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNl_rKVaGjI
Isn’t that awesome??? Man, I love the diversity at Wharton!!! This was presented during the Wharton International Cultural Show (WICS) last week. Next year, I’m going to shoot for Bhangra…
Bibi.
Topics: Careers, Student Life | 1 Comment »
Mirror, mirror on the wall
By Bibiana Rojas | April 2, 2009
Hola!
This past week has been devoted to introspection…first, I attended the Leadership Presence workshop developed by the Pig Iron Theater company. It was a 2 day workshop (4 hours each day) where we explore how people perceive our presence when we are not talking or doing anything, but just being. It was interesting to learn how people see me and how I can improve that. We also learned techniques to connect to your audience, the importance of body language, and trust exercises (such as running with your eyes closed, so much fun!).
After that, I joined the Small Group Dynamics workshop. This workshop is one of the requirements to complete the Leadership Coaching Program… the program accepts about 80 students per year and connects them with a professional executive coach to address specific concerns. The first step is completing this workshop to learn more about how you interact in a small group.
The workshop is 3 days from 9am-5pm, facilitated by a psychologist, and it’s very intense. We actually had to sign some waivers that explain the workshop could create a lot of stress and it was not recommended for people going through a rough patch in their lives, and confirm that we were mentally healthy. I heard people cried in other sessions and others freaked out and stormed out of the room. What happens in the workshop is really nothing extraordinary, it’s actually quite simple… but it can be frustrating.
Given that this is my diary, I wanted to record some of my takeaways for future reference:
- Understand how people respond to authority and leadership in a small group. Difference between independence (listen to proposal and evaluate if accept or reject) vs. dependence/counter-dependence (accept or reject immediately - two sides of the same coin).
- Certain people need to build a relationship with a person before they can trust them. Am I one of those?
- The concept/attitude people have towards authority depends a lot on their own relationship to their parents.
- It’s difficult to focus on the here & now, at times people tend to avoid the task at hand and resource to a fly attitude to manage their anxiety (return to comfort zone). This was referred as “intellectual masturbation” where people avoid hard topics and refer to “easy” topics instead to please themselves.
- A successful leader needs to have a clear position, confidence, and persistence. First impressions are hard to change and these impressions may be reinforced by other people in the group through conversations and actions.
- A leader in a small group must also find the “key currency”, which depends on the identity of the group. Can you provide this currency or can you help get it? If so, you’re in.
- Some non-constructive comments or feedback people give, it’s a way to diminish others in order to defend themselves from what they perceive as a threat.
- I’ll never watch the movie “12 Angry Men” the same way…
Overall, this workshop was very useful and I’d recommend it to people… but their results will depend on their own interaction and small group. This workshop helped me understand what drives people’s actions (including mine) and the importance for a leader to manage her own anxiety and others (it’s not necessarily a problem, it could be an ally). As professor Kenwyn Smith told us at the end of the workshop, we learned at school a lot about the hard stuff such as finance, OPIM, or accounting; but not enough about the difficult stuff such as group’s dynamics.
The last piece of personal reflection was today when I attended a presentation by Chris Warner where he told us about his experience climbing K2. The story was very interesting, dramatic, and full of lessons to business leaders. However, I couldn’t help but leave with a sad feeling… How can a human being leave another one behind alone to die? Do nature and extreme circumstances really get the worst out of us? Does 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) separation from the world gives us a valid excuse to forget all moral values? It’s easy for us to see all the mistakes and point fingers at other people when we’re sitting comfortably in the middle of a classroom, but when it’s our turn, will we step up to the position and do the right thing? I want to believe that I have been preparing for it and that I won’t have second thoughts about it. In spite of not being a professional mountaineer, I think you can distinguish certain leadership treats that could provide warning signs of a selfish mountaineer vs. one ready to do anything for his team.
This week we had a reading in MGMT 652 about Level 5 leadership… these are the type of characteristics I think relates to an amazing leader who will do the right thing at 100 ft or 28,000 ft elevation. That right balance between humility and will… this is the person I expect to see in the mirror….
Bibi.
Topics: Academics, Student Life | 2 Comments »
It’s all fun and games until…
By Bibiana Rojas | April 2, 2009
Hola!
Last week, we had a second chance to listen to our Wharton comedians, and yes, our jokes refer to classes, professors, dating, and other typical events in the life of a Wharton student. The torch was passed between Presidents from Alex & Julia to Matt and Jason; and the show was amazing. I laughed even more than in the first show in Fall… I think I cried at least 3 times and I may have peed a little bit (hey, I’m just trying to be honest here…).
Anyways, here’s my top 5 (in no specific order, just what I remember):
- Jason: returned with another imitation of Anjani, this time in a good cop/bad cop routine with Kembrel Jones for an ethics code violation. Just thinking and writing about it makes me laugh… it’s a little awkward when I think about it in class and suddenly I start laughing for what seems to be no reason…
- Ohad: Kudos for the best rejection to a rejection letter from McKinsey. Here’s the video since just words are not enough to explain how hilarious this was… you can see the whole segment or skip to minute 3 to see the rejection letter part: Ohad’s
- Matt: as a preview/promo of the show, he had launched his “Matty G” videos (think Ali G) interviewing Wharton professors including Peggy Bishop Lane, Alex Edmans, Ed George, and Franklin Allen. His routine was pretty cool too (I actually met Matt when we were preparing for case interviews and we spent a saturday afternoon in Huntsman Hall doing a “case marathon” with other 100 people… this time it was more fun).
- Alex: analogy of the MBA students dating life to IB and how we start as day traders and end up with junk bonds. Can you tell he’s a 2nd year preparing for the infamous “beach week”?
- Julian McCullough: he’s a professional comedian, not a Wharton student, but he was the perfect end for a wonderful night. I learned what a bump is, had ghostbusters flashbacks, and understood what a man means when he says: “hmm, I’m sad now, I don’t wanna do this anymore.”
I can’t wait for the next show…
Bibi.
Topics: Careers, Student Life | No Comments »
Congrats R2!
By Alex Fleming | March 27, 2009
Hey all, just recovering on the Friday after Wharton 54, the craziest party of the year around here.
It was … epic.
Congratulations to all R2 Admits, I look forward to seeing you on Welcome Weekend - maybe a few of you will get lucky and end up in my Mini-Cohort, that is, if the organizers see fit to hire me.
Also, I want to thank you for all of your patience as the Wharton Diaries have been in transition since our site crashed last year - we are currently finalizing the new portal and presentation, and we will be migrating soon. So, for now I will be publishing blogs on my external site until we complete the process.
If you are interested, I also intend to blog there after MBA. (I will stop doing an official Wharton Diary at graduation.)
Here is the link:
http://aflemingwhartonmba.blogspot.com/
All the best, to everyone, and keep your eyes peeled for the new look!
Cheers
Alex
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
What? We’re in Quarter 4 already?!?!?
By Bibiana Rojas | March 19, 2009
Hola!
Long time no talk! How are you guys doing? I know I haven’t written in a while, but Q3 really flew by… Recruiting was definitely the key word of this period and it took everyone out of their usual rhythm. I feel extremely lucky for receiving two offers, but even with an offer, I was not able to get back into my routine. I was so dedicated to finding an internship that I couldn’t find a way to reconnect to classes later on.
It’s true that Q3 is the lightest in terms of academic load (well, depending if you add electives or not… and what kind), and a lot of Wharton important events take place during this time too. Some of these were:
- Philly Fight Night: Business School vs. Law School at the original site where Rocky fought. This is a must see during your year at Wharton and the event always sells out. Each boxer comes to the ring with his or her entourage… and man, they take it very seriously! The Wharthogs had the best shows: James and his African dance, and Donal and his leprechauns + bagpipes… Leatt, the Hebrew Hammer, was the only girl for the night. Besides the “halftime” entertainment with Dance Studio hip-hop and capoeira, Matt was the highlight of the night when he decided to jump from the 2nd floor into the boxing ring. Crazy!
- Wharton Charity Fashion Show: the best looking men and women from the halls of Huntsman. Plus, you get cool goodie bags and at midnight there’s a walk off competition for everyone. Neil stole the show when he did his imitation of Zoolander’s move of taking off his underwear while fully dressed.
- Spanish Pub: celebration of Pamplona’s famous festivities. In the middle of my OPIM class, the Spaniards walked in completely dressed in white and red (the traditional outfit for this occasion), singing at the top of their lungs, and with two bulls chasing after them. That was my favorite OPIM class. The party was followed at pub with sangrias and botas, where I learned the correct way of drinking out of a bota.
- Follies: as usual, this was an amazing show. I don’t have words to express how cool this was. The theme for this year was “The Trojan Wharton. A Greek comedy about a financial tragedy”… for the main show, everyone in the audience dressed up with togas! Kudos to all the participants in Follies, students, professors, and technicians.
- Elections: so… Q3 is when 2nd year students must pass the torch to 1st years for leadership positions in the different clubs and WGA. This is an insane time… suddenly, you’ll have 10,000 emails in your inbox from all the people who may have met you at some point in time asking for your vote; and suddenly you’re everyone’s best friend. It goes something like this:
Hi Bibi,
It’s been a while since we talked! Well, really we just talked once, when I asked you what time it was at the bus stop, but I think that moment highlighted my strengths: I’m outspoken, confident, and a problem solver. These are the qualities required for a great leader and I think you can see how I will make a huge difference at Wharton. Hence, I hope you vote for me to be the president of the XYZ club. Thanks for your vote! And see you soon at the bus stop!
Sincerely,
Bus stop guy.
It’s all good because as b-students, we need to learn about the interaction between business and politics. The culmination of this eventful quarter is Spring Break. This is yet another busy time for the students… options for the break included treks to Japan, Korea, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Hong-Kong; Leadership Ventures to Patagonia, Cotopaxi, and Caribbean; and a myriad of small trips organized by students.
Now, ready or not, we’re at the end of our first year. WOW! What an amazing experience…
Bibi.
Topics: Academics, Careers, Student Life | No Comments »
New Video Diary - Happy Spring Break!
By Alex Fleming | March 15, 2009
Hey all, I know it has been a bit more than a week, but I am getting better. My new diary can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03dMmVj2jZ0
Enjoy!
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Alex - Back from the Dead - 2nd Video Diary
By Alex Fleming | February 24, 2009
Hello gentle readers!
I am back with another video diary. I hope this finds you well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzRs80Fhz5g
Enjoy!
Cheers
Alex
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Life after DIP
By Bibiana Rojas | February 10, 2009
Hola!
I finished my last note saying that I was hoping to be able to write the next time with good news. So… (drum roll)… I got an offer! And I’m extremely excited, it’s exactly what I wanted!!!! But now, I have to focus on helping my friends get a job too… there is this recession thing that is affecting our job search, not sure if you’ve heard about it. One thing that I must mention about DIP and pre-DIP is that I really saw the Wharton community coming together as a team… first years and second years will get together for endless hours to help each other prepare for interviews and super exciting cases. For me, it was great because I got to talk, meet people in a deeper level, and expand my network (Marina, Denise, Kes, Michael, Elsa, Wolfgang - thank you all!).
On other news, I have been exploring my “talented” side these past weeks. First, I have been practicing my salsa number with the Dance Studio. Tzyy and Hyoju are our teachers and they are amazing! Fernando is my partner and I feel a little bad that we are the Latin people and don’t look as good; but I guess that’s what happens when all the salsa you do is the one with the chips and the guacamole. Anyways, I’ve heard that practice makes perfect, so I’m sure that by April, we’ll make our Latin friends proud : )
The second area is Follies. No, I don’t have the creative, singing, or dancing moves of the writers and cast; so I’m a techie (stagehands to be precise - the person dressed in black who moves stuff in the stage in between scenes or while the cast is dancing, so I guess I get my 5 seconds of fame! Ha!). And yes, I was recruited by Alex under a quid pro quo agreement (he helped me with case preparation for interviews). I remember that when I saw a part of Follies during Welcome Weekend I was impressed by the talent of the actors and the orchestra members… and I’m still am, big time! But being backstage has also helped me admire the work of the rest of the people… costumes, make up, sound, lights, producers, business team, directors, and staff from the theatre. These people have dedicated tons of hours to put together this show and they did a great job! I can’t give you any info since it’s all confidential until the real show opens on Thursday… but all I can say is that it’s amazing and you shouldn’t miss it!
Last thing in my “talented” board is the Indonesian Saman Dance. I also saw this act last year when I came to Welcome Weekend, and I was so fascinated by it that I promised myself to do whatever it took to get into the act. Yi Ming is in charge of the dance and we’ll start practices tomorrow. Unfortunately, I have class at the same time as the practice but I’ll meet later with her. It’s a beautiful dance, all done with hands and a lot of precision. I can’t wait to learn more about it!
Oh yeah… I also got into the Leadership Development Coaching Program, but I’ll give you more details about that once we have the kickoff (which is also tomorrow at the same time I have class - I hate these typical trade offs).
Ok, time to go… the women’s rugby team is having a happy hour…
Bibi.
Topics: Academics, Admissions, Careers, Student Life | 1 Comment »
« Previous Entries