Reflections from my MBA studies

Vladimír Slobodník graduated with an MBA in 1998. In this post, he reflects upon his MBA journey.

At the beginning of the 90’s after leaving Slovak University of Technology, I was looking for what to do next. I started in the chemical industry. Full of enthusiasm and courage, I decided to get a completely unknown but one of the most prestigious management educations in Slovakia – the Master of Business Administration.

Back then, in the west, everything was clear… The first swallow flew in from the UK, from The Open University in Milton Keynes, ranging in the top ten. Enthusiasm, courage, language equipment and sponsor caused me to become one of the first MBA graduates in Slovakia in 1998. Glory, I tell myself, now I’m going to spin it!

My experience from that period can be summed up in a few sentences: even the best education does not make a manager, the corporate culture does not correspond to him, the theory is understandable, the power of arguments has a higher weight, setting a goal, procedure and motivation to achieve it requires considerable resources…

My vigor was shattered, but I didn’t lose my courage. I caught a short information in the newspaper that an investor is coming to Slovakia with a plan to build a new mobile network that will replace the then clumsy NMT network with a new flexible GSM network. I boldly addressed the main investor in Paris by letter. And about a month later, I received an invitation for an interview in Bratislava and the next day I started a new job.

I found it quite funny and I devoted more than two decades to building mobile communication in Slovakia… Greenfield project, new technology, new people, resources, incredible motivation, clear goal, stages, milestones, stunning results – just a dream project…

MBA studies have their charm; you will enter the business development of Western culture… In practice, however, your personal qualities, set-up, teamwork, which I called the “spirit of cooperation”, decide. So I got an education, a prestigious diploma, membership in the AMBA (Association of MBAs), access to up-to-date information…

After all, this is not enough in real practice. Without personal equipment – the ability to create, motivate, believe in your strength and your team – all that remains is routine and frequent fumbling. Can it be learned?

Today we are looking for talents, leaders, motivators, ways to harmonize the cooperation of team members, but most often, it seems to me, we need coaches, facilitators, mentors to help relieve stress and find a way to maintain or increase our work commitment. The experience gained through the peripheries of my story tells me that today we lack the background, the sense of why we work to the limit. For the money? Social prestige? Career? Where is creativity lost? The joy of moving forward?

In 2022, Ikar Publishing released the second edition of James Norbury’s book, Big Panda and Tiny Dragon. Page 84 says: “What if I meet people who don’t like me or what I do?” the little dragon asked. “You must walk your own way,” said the large panda. “Better to lose them than yourself.”