An MBA degree is one of the most coveted qualifications you can pursue to develop skills required for business and management. The value of the MBA, however, is not limited strictly to the business world, and there is much more to it than what is generally perceived.
Politics is one of the most obvious examples, where a management degree can increase the skills of an individual by leaps and bounds. Age is not “just a number” when it comes to politicians. The average age of a member of parliament of India is 54 years, which is quite alarming for a country which has more than 65% of its population under 35 years of age. The least that we can conclude from this statistic is that the youth of the country is terribly underrepresented at the highest decision-making body. The relatively older leaders, although being much more experienced than their younger peers, lack the dynamism and energy needed to address the issues at the grass root level. No wonder we see such inefficient government policies as far as the youth is concerned. The situation is further aggravated by the omnipresent corruption and the image of politicians that has been created over the years in minds of the people.
Now, more than ever, there is a need for more academically qualified politicians, who have a wider perspective and a diversified view. An MBA degree helps a lot in honing an individual’s problem solving and teamwork skills. Also, a political leader with an MBA degree will be a far better option than otherwise as he will be able to handle the finances of the party more efficiently, will be able to run the promotional campaign more strategically, and can manage the human resources more effectively. So it is about time fresh management graduates start thinking about politics as a career option, and not just looking down on it, doing nothing.
Another area of leadership, where an MBA degree can prove to be very useful is for people working in the upper echelons of an organization. A recent analysis of CEOs of the top 500 companies listed on the Bombay stock exchange reveals that only 144 of them have an MBA degree, so it is also not true that you can’t succeed without a management degree, but for a CEO or a CFO of an organization, who is already equipped with all the technical tools and techniques, having an MBA degree would be the icing on the cake. It will help him assess his leadership style, and mold it according to the needs of the organization.
There can be several other domains of leadership positions where management knowledge can make a great deal of difference, like small scale businesses, startups, sports etc. So having an MBA degree is not absolutely necessary to ascend to the top of an organization, but it certainly does help.
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About the Author:
Shikhar Parashar is a first-year student at IIM Rohtak. An electrical engineer from NIT Patna and a football enthusiast, he is also a member of the public relations cell at IIM Rohtak. He has worked with IBM India Pvt. Ltd for 2 years.
