7 Ideas for New MBAs following Graduation:

7 Ideas for New MBAs following Graduation:

1. Keep your feet grounded in reality. Accept that there’s no immediate mantle of legitimacy or wisdom bestowed upon you as you shake hands and grab the diploma. You’re a work in process, just like the rest of us.

2. Do congratulate yourself for having the intestinal fortitude it takes to complete your degree while working, balancing family responsibilities and all of the other challenges of life. Believe it or not, your current and many future bosses will view your accomplishment not so much as remarkable or rare, but rather as a sign of your tenacity and ability to stay-the-course.

3. Don’t expect a promotion just because of the degree. I’ve heard of this happening, but degree-triggered promotions are rare. In the case where they occur, its usually more due to a good on-going professional development plan than anything prompted out of response to your graduation.

4. Speaking of professional development plans… . Do sit down with your boss and refresh your professional development plan. If your plan is clear, good…conduct a status update and reiterate your willingness to take on more.  If there is no plan, it is reasonable at any point to show interest in doing more, however, the MBA milestone is a nice discussion prompter. Do use the occasion to very professionally indicate how excited you are to have completed the degree and how motivated you are to have the extra time, insights and tools to dedicate to helping the firm.

5. Don’t even remotely hint that unless you are promoted you are gone. Especially in this economy, where regardless of degree, buyers hold all of the power.

6. Do accept that the completion of your MBA is the beginning of your next apprenticeship as a leader and a professional. Grad school doesn’t teach you how to lead, nor does it turn you into a great strategist, a future CEO or a management innovator.  You’ve apprenticed on the tools…mostly the science of management (hey, no jokes about the dismal science, please!), and you’ve got a license to begin applying them.  The real work of learning to lead and learning how to create value for your stakeholders has just begun.

7. Do recognize that your primary task is how to make yourself more valuable to everyone around you. Now that you are no longer distracted by school, it’s time to answer, “What have you done for us lately?”

View the full article here:
http://artpetty.com/2011/06/03/i-finished-my-mba-whats-next-a-few-dos-and-donts-for-new-mbas/