Nowadays, almost everyone aspires to complete a Master’s in Business program and get an MBA. This is because a) the degree is relevant for all fields and all domains and b) it’s usefulness extends outside of business settings as well. Read our article about 6 reasons to do MBA. Directly or indirectly, an MBA degree teaches one how to better manage the professional and personal. Whether or not the person puts it into practice is up to them, of course. 

That being said, how do you manage the journey of getting a management degree like an MBA? You only have 2 years to learn all that you can and the workload is immense. 

Skills You Need to Study an MBA:

Communication skills

Oral and written, you need fluency in both to truly shine as a business graduate. Your work will involve a lot of human interaction and it is imperative that you master the art of both verbal and non-verbal communication. Doing so will help you to strike deals, size up potential clients, and turn situations to your advantage. People and relationships will be a major part of your job description and you cannot take care of both without ace communication skills.

Initiative

Instead of the word ‘leadership,’ focus on developing initiative. When you take initiative; when you are the first to raise your hand; when you are the first to step up- you automatically become a leader. A leader is someone who goes first. So, work to overcome your hesitancy, your fear of being seen, procrastination and overthinking. Reframe your mind to replace the word ‘failure’ with ‘lesson.’ Take baby steps and aim to become consistent. 

The ability to pivot

You can remember this from Ross Geller’s famous admonitions to pivot the sofa in Friends. The fancy and go-to word for this is adaptability but pivot is much more concrete and accurate. When faced with unexpected circumstances or problems, you must have the ability to pivot. When your professor demands 5 essays for the next morning at midnight, you must have the ability to pivot, cancel your plans, and get working. When the company faces a loss where it expected a profit, you must have the ability to pivot and work to recover it step-by-step.

Planning and organization

If you don’t plan your assignments and workload, you can very well drown yourself in exhaustion and backlogs. Because you’ll be learning so much in a relatively short amount of time, you need to be strategic and carve out time for all essentials (like rest and leisure). This can only be achieved when your classroom and extracurricular activities are scheduled in and organized. These traits will come in handy when you move to the office and manage large teams in addition to your own work.

Strategic and analytical thinking

This is a core part of every management practice. A business graduate needs to be well-versed in strategic and analytical thinking. They should be able to develop a long-term vision and think rationally while keeping their emotions and personal judgments aside. 

Also, you do not need to become a master of these skills right away or even in the immediate future. Small but consistent applications of the same will reap noticeable and amazing results during your degree as well as beyond it! If you think you can improve these skills and excel MBA, check out upGrad’s MBA From Golden Gate University.

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