MBA 715 – Reflections on Module 3 Concepts

Well, week three is coming to  close and that means I’m halfway through MBA 715.  This week’s focus was on understanding some of the data that business has to deal with on a daily basis.  Financials and pro formas were just a couple that were addressed.  Here’s this week’s review questions…

How can a leader collect and access effective data?

From an internal perspective, a leader is going to build his social capital in order to know the right people and have the right connections to get the data he needs.  It’s important that the leader knows who the right contact people are and utilizes them to get the necessary information.  From an external perspective, a leader is going to stay current with reading from his areas of expertise.  This may include newspapers, trade publications and journals.  The leader will be able to stay abreast of current trends and happenings in his field and use that information for improving his team/organization.

How does a leader determine what information is relevant to overall leadership of the functional area?

More than anything, I think a leader learns this skill with time and experience.  The more he is exposed to a functional area, the more understanding he has of what that area needs and utilizes.  By gaining this understanding through experience and also communication with the team, he is able to determine which information is the most critical and important.

How can a leader “stay focused despite uncertainty” and “remain conceptual” when dealing with the details of data analysis?*

The leader has to let the vision/mission be his driving force.  His role is to keep the focus on the end result.  If the data gets to the point of analysis paralysis, he will return to the vision and reset his and the team’s focus on the end result.  He will sometimes make  decisions on the recommendation of his team, allowing them to deal with the details and summarizing the results so that his vision isn’t clouded by the detail.

April 14, 2007 | Filed Under MBA 715 

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