A Return to Grad School…

So, after years of hemming and hawing, I’m starting an MBA program. Me, your local “this version of capitalism is not working, but I also don’t know if any version ever can” friend. Also your “I don’t think business execs should become arts execs” friend. The one who leads an anti-racism study group. I admittedly struggle with the decision to align myself with the idea that “business skills are skills for everyone.”

My end decision came down to skill building - I need to learn how to manage organizational finances, and manage people. I feel that as a woman in the artistic/programming/theoretically creative side of arts administration, people in this very business-focused city don’t see my skills as transferrable to bigger positions.

I hate that I’ve come to that conclusion. I think it’s wrong.

However, I also strongly believe in professional development and increasing my confidence in myself, and I believe this is a way to accomplish those goals. It’s also a shortcut for a skill set/knowledge base that I think will help me find jobs that make me happier.

Buuuuuuut… there’s those pesky values. And the first thing we are discussing in my very first class of the program is how leaders need to live their values, craft their personal beliefs narrative, and have the conviction to place them at the center of how they choose to lead.

So that’s my assignment for the next three years as I go through this program, and my project for this blog/site/whatever we’re calling it. Can I make the lessons from business school relate to my anti-racist values, and deepen my anti-capitalist ones? Let’s see how it goes.