{"id":516,"date":"2016-04-30T15:57:16","date_gmt":"2016-04-30T15:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/YourChennai.com\/?p=516"},"modified":"2016-04-30T15:57:16","modified_gmt":"2016-04-30T15:57:16","slug":"do-mba-graduates-make-the-best-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/30\/do-mba-graduates-make-the-best-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Do MBA Graduates Make the Best Leaders?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>New Research from DDI Looks at Different Undergraduate- and Graduate-level Degrees\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><em>and How They Translate into Leader Skills and Performance<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-517\" src=\"http:\/\/YourChennai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DDI-Do-MBA-Graduates-Make-the-Best-Leaders-300x177.png\" alt=\"DDI - Do MBA Graduates Make the Best Leaders\" width=\"300\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DDI-Do-MBA-Graduates-Make-the-Best-Leaders-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DDI-Do-MBA-Graduates-Make-the-Best-Leaders-184x109.png 184w, https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DDI-Do-MBA-Graduates-Make-the-Best-Leaders.png 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>The Master of Business Administration (MBA) has become the most popular degree among graduate students with hundreds of thousands of students graduating each year, according to the latest figures from the <a href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/fastfacts\/display.asp?id=37\">U.S. Department of Education<\/a>. The cost for these degrees can be up to $100,000 or more at top universities and companies pay a premium for those who have them\u00c2\u00a0-\u00c2\u00a0on average, about 36 percent more than a candidate with a bachelor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s-level business degree with a similar level of experience. But there is limited research on how these degrees translate into leadership skills. The question remains, do MBA graduates make the best leaders?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The scientists at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddiworld.com\/\">Development Dimensions International<\/a> (DDI), a global leadership development consultancy,examined how educational degrees translate into leadership skills in a new report, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddiworld.com\/hirezleadership\">High-Resolution Leadership<\/a>. The research is based on 15,000 leaders across 300 companies and 18 countries who participated in assessment center evaluations over the last nine years.\u00c2\u00a0 The research found that when it comes to the full range of leadership skills required in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complex business environment, an MBA may not always be the best choice, according to lead author Evan Sinar, Ph.D., DDI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Chief Scientist and Director, Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153MBA degrees did indeed make better managers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Sinar. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unfortunately, the same couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be said for their impact on stronger leadership.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">DDI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s research compared the performance of undergraduate business degrees and MBA degree holders against<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-518 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/YourChennai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DDI-Do-MBA-Graduates-Make-the-Best-Leaders1-300x176.png\" alt=\"DDI - Do MBA Graduates Make the Best Leaders\" width=\"300\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DDI-Do-MBA-Graduates-Make-the-Best-Leaders1-300x176.png 300w, https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DDI-Do-MBA-Graduates-Make-the-Best-Leaders1-184x109.png 184w, https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DDI-Do-MBA-Graduates-Make-the-Best-Leaders1.png 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\u00c2\u00a0eight leader skills: financial acumen, business savvy, compelling communication, driving execution, driving for results, entrepreneurship, influence and inspiring excellence. These two groups diverged on several key leader skills. Specifically, though MBA graduates consistently outperformed business degree undergraduates in financial acumen, business savvy and strategic decision making, they fell short comparatively in their coaching, results orientation and visionary leadership skills.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153While management skills are consistently higher for MBA graduates, we were surprised to find there are several skills that are lower,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sinar said. \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153These are significant shortcomings when you consider the cost of the investment,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The research demonstrates that MBA students need more well-rounded background and experiences to learn the important interaction and inspirational skills they will need to truly excel as leaders,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Sinar. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153These skills are developable with sustained focus, but can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be learned in an academic classroom. Skills practice with employees, expert coaching\/mentoring and abundant on-the-job application opportunities are critical to make these challenging skills stick,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Which undergraduate degrees produce the best leaders?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Educational degrees are closely linked to leadership capabilities and compensation levels for more than a decade into a professional\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s career.\u00c2\u00a0 So, whether a job candidate is looking for a first job or moving up into the leadership ranks, hiring managers and recruiters will make assumptions about candidates based on educational degrees.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to Sinar, educational degrees both inform and mislead potential employers about leadership skills at the same time. Business degrees are the most common among all senior leaders and, when tested against eight key leadership competencies, outperformed other degrees on five of eight key leadership skill areas. Humanities graduates also outperformed other degrees through strengths not only in interpersonal competencies, but also in results orientation and entrepreneurship.\u00c2\u00a0 Engineering graduates face a heavy disadvantage\u00c2\u00a0-\u00c2\u00a0they were near the bottom in leadership proficiency in six of the eight assessed competencies. Natural science, social science and IT were near average.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our advice for graduates with degrees that are missing key leadership skills is to supplement coursework with hands-on opportunities through targeted learning programs and developmental assignments,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Sinar.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A job candidate with the skills that his\/her degree counterparts lack will have to recognize that assumptions may be made about his\/her lack of leadership skills. For them, it will be particularly important to find ways to demonstrate these capabilities to overcome hiring biases\u00c2\u00a0-\u00c2\u00a0and to differentiate yourself from others holding the same degree, to gain an advantage in the job hunt.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Balance Technical Expertise and Interpersonal Skills<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For aspiring leaders, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to strike a balance between the critical technical expertise that most undergraduate degrees provide, with an awareness of common skill gaps that, if left unchecked, will limit overall leadership effectiveness and career mobility. Many degree programs put a heavier focus on developing graduates\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 technical abilities, and much less emphasis on interpersonal and leadership skills. Though some degree programs fill this gap with group projects and informal leadership opportunities, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often up to the student to plan for and seek out these opportunities. Engineering, law, IT, and natural sciences graduates are particularly likely to fall behind their peers from other degree backgrounds in leadership skills. This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always a problem when graduates start out at a new job as an individual contributor, but can hold them back when they want to move into a management position. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a way to set a candidate apart from the pack of other graduates in the field, if they have put the time and effort into gaining the skills others lack.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sinar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advice: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Get as much information as you can\u00c2\u00a0-\u00c2\u00a0using your career planning office if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still in school, or working with your HR department once you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in a job\u00c2\u00a0-\u00c2\u00a0to know your leadership-related strengths and weaknesses and invest in development opportunities to give you the skills you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll need and plenty of time to practice them before you need them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Research from DDI Looks at Different Undergraduate- and Graduate-level Degrees\u00c2\u00a0and How They Translate into Leader Skills and Performance The Master of Business Administration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[387,383,386,384,341,385],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-graduate-post-degree-professional","category-education-colleges-schools-arts-science-others","tag-best-leaders","tag-ddi","tag-development-dimensions-international","tag-master-of-business-administration","tag-mba","tag-u-s-department-of-education"],"views":2042,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519,"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}