Skip to main content

Learn MBA Skills In 12 Weeks


Getting an MBA takes time and money, making it inaccessible to many people who want to take charge in the business world. The 12-Week MBA offers an alternative way to learn business essentials by focusing on the skills and knowledge required to succeed as both a manager and a business leader. 

“This book is the result of what we have learned teaching leadership and business acumen classes to rising and senior leaders at Fortune 500 companies for twenty years,” share authors Nathan Kracklauer and Bjorn Billhardt.


The 12-Week MBA’s unique premise is that business leaders in any industry, any function, and at any level need the same core knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively manage and lead. 

 

That core consists of working through and with other people to create value while using financial concepts and metrics to maximize the value created for all company stakeholders. The timeless essence of managing numbers and leading people can be learned in less time and at a lower cost than in a traditional two-year MBA, where much of the curriculum may become obsolete by the time students graduate. 

 

In addition, the book provides an excellent glossary of most used terms within business. And it links you to a website where you alone or in a group can supplement your reading with some interactive exercises and resources.

 

One of my favorite takeaways from the book is where the authors explain that anyone can act like a leader, but the more visible you are, the more impact you will have as you:

  • Communicate the organizational vision.
  • Model cooperative behavior.
  • Call attention to and recognize cooperative behavior.

 


Bjorn Billhardt

 

 

Nathan Kracklauer

 

Today, the authors answer these questions for us:

 

Question: How will readers benefit from making the book part of a book club experience as you recommend readers do?

 

Billhardt and Kracklauer: Learning is fundamentally a social activity. As we process new ideas -- including from management books! -- we're always looking for social validation. "I found this concept difficult -- does the problem lie with me?" or "This is news to me -- has everyone else known this all along?" When we're in a book club, we get that social validation. "Whew, I thought I was alone, but I'm not" is comforting. "Whoa, I really need to up my game" induces anxiety.


The cocktail of comfort and anxiety you get when you benchmark yourself against your peers is just one of the many ways a social learning experience like a book club can help keep you interested and focused.

 

For our book, forming a reading group with professional peers would be especially helpful, inside or outside the organization in which you work.

 

Question: How does spending 12 weeks using the book compare to the length of time to earn an MBA degree?

 

Billhardt and Kracklauer: Although MBA programs may be offered in both 1-year and 2-year versions, twelve weeks is decidedly quicker than either option! We’re able to get to that length by going deep into the areas that we believe really count.

 

We chose where to go deep based on what we observed from delivering leadership training programs in hundreds of global companies and what we ourselves experienced running our own two companies. We found that what really matter divides into two broad areas:

 

Numbers: Understanding how managerial decisions create value; how we measure value using financial analysis; and how we use the language of finance to communicate inside and outside the organization.

 

People: How to cultivate everyone’s quirky talents to achieve great things; how to get a team to act as one even when we all bring different perspectives; how to shape organizations so they don’t just perform today but perform better tomorrow.

 

When it comes to Numbers, the traditional MBA goes much further than all but accountants, M&A specialists, and Wall Street wizards need. When it comes People, most traditional MBAs offer little that prepares you for the daily challenges of working with a team, with direct reports or working alongside other leaders.

 

Besides Numbers and People, traditional MBAs cover a lot of other topics, such as marketing and operations management that are fascinating, of course. But we leave them out of our book because they are neither timeless nor universal. Either the state-of-the-art changes too quickly for a book or an MBA program to keep up with. Or the knowledge and expertise are too unique to specific industries and business functions to matter to the average aspiring manager.

 

Question: By reading The 12-Week MBA book what will readers get most versus what they will miss from completing an MBA degree curriculum?

 

Billhardt and Kracklauer: The true value proposition of the traditional MBA is that it supplies you with a network of like-minded people, many of whom are already well connected. And it gives you the signaling value of a credential. No book can offer a privileged network or a prestigious credential. But reading a book can give you the knowledge and concepts to confidently reach for the rung on the career ladder right now, without going into five or six-figure debt and giving up two years of your life.

 

But if the book is not enough, and you want opportunities to apply the skills and knowledge in it, we offer a live online curriculum that is hands-on and led by faculty with business experience, and in which you collaborate with peers who can form the core of a professional network.

___

 

Authors Bjorn Billhardt and Nathan Kracklauer are senior executives at Abilitie, a global leadership development company that has served over 100,000 learners in fifty countries.  Abilitie’s clients include some of the world’s most recognizable brands such as Coca-Cola, The New York Times, and Dell. 

 

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Great Business Quote

Here's a great quote from author and speaker Harvey Mackay : "When a person with money meets a person with experience, the person with the experience ends up with the money, and the person with the money ends up with the experience."

5 Tips For Generating Ideas From Employees

Your employees have lots of ideas.  So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you.  Hold at least a few brainstorming sessions each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these five tips: Encourage ALL ideas.  Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas.  Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability .  They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

How To Lead A Family Business

Julie Charlestein  is the author of the book,  How To Lead Your Family Business: Excelling Through Unexpected Crises, Choices, and Challenges . Charlestein is also the fourth-generation leader of an incredibly successful family-owned enterprise, and she’s seen it all firsthand, including family drama in the workplace and the office politics that come with any corporation. Her book features her  unique set of strategies for navigating the distinctive challenges and choices facing family businesses. In her highly personal storytelling style, Charlestein shares her experience as an emerging leader and ultimately CEO, who has worked to earn her colleagues’ respect. She details her leadership adventure, offering actionable strategies for those leading and working within their own family businesses. The book is ideal for anyone leading a family business or starting a family business.  It’s also good for anyone taking over an existing (or new) business. More about Charleste...

How To Coach Rather Than Supervise Employees

Bill Berman  and  George Bradt , authors of the book,  Influence and Impact , explain the importance of helping your employees to understand what their jobs entails, and what the culture expects, so they can do the work you need from them the most.  More importantly, they say that it is better for you as a leader to  coach employees rather than supervise  them. And, as you coach, they recommend you:  Ensure the employee fully understands their job responsibilities. Pave the way for the employee to be successful. Given them the time, resources and encouragement they will need. Help them know themselves better. Consider a personality assessment by a trained evaluator so they understand their styles and preferences. Help them know the business. Ensure they know the organization’s mission, vision and purpose, business strategies and cultural norms. Help them know you. Help them to really understand what you really need from them to make you and the organiz...

When Women Lead

Prepare to be inspired by and to learn from the stories of more than 60 highly-successful female CEOs and leaders who are featured in   Julia Boorstin ’s book,   When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, How We Can Learn From Them .  Boorstin shares that whether you’re a woman looking to rise in your organization or taking on a new leadership position, or a male leader looking to empower women in your organization this book is for you.   The book is divided into  three sections:   The  first section  includes: A focus on how and why women tend to build strong companies, staring with the structural challenges they must overcome to raise venture capital and scale their businesses. An Impetus for women to structure their businesses in a more purpose-drive way. How women build smart teams by embracing a growth mindset and welcoming varied perspectives.   The  second section  primarily includes: How women tackle complex probl...

How To Build Lasting Customer Relationships Using The Triple Fit Strategy

“It’s time for companies to rethink their growth logic and strategy,” according to Christoph Senn and Mehak Gandhi , authors of the new book, Triple Fit Strategy: How To Build Lasting Customer Relationships And Boost Growth .   The authors affirm that there would be much more value if companies no longer operated in a transactional buyer-seller relationship, but instead as a singular team. A team where buyer and seller can collaborate on decisions around planning, execution, and resources like they were one company.   “Today’s business customers don’t just buy products and services; they buy expectations,” explain Senn and Gandhi. “What the customers want is the commitment of and access to the supplier’s total operation. They want problem-solving and creative thinking to keep their business ahead of competition. They want partners.”   In the book, Senn and Gandhi forge an entirely new path for business that embraces a 360-degree customer-centric approach, and they ...

How To Harness Your Experiential Intelligence

“Experiential Intelligence provides a new lens from which to view what makes you, you—and what makes your team and organization unique,” says  Soren Kaplan , author of the book,  Experiential Intelligence . Kaplan explains that over 100 years ago, we established IQ (Intelligence Quotient) to predict success. Then we explored Emotional Intelligence (EQ), the theory of multiple intelligences, and mindsets that broaden the definition of smarts.   “Today,  Experiential Intelligence  ( XQ ) expands our understanding of what's needed to thrive in a disruptive world. While you can't change the past, your unique experiences and stories contain hidden strengths and untapped potential for the future,” explains Kaplan.   Experiential Intelligence is the combination of mindsets, abilities, and know-how  gained from your unique life experiences that empowers you to achieve your goals. It allows you to get in touch with the accumulated wisdom and talents you have ga...

How To Be A Learn-It-All Leader

“Great leaders are great students, and the world is their classroom,” says   Damon Lembi , author of the new book   The Learn-It-all Leader .  “Learn-It-All leaders are constantly creating and re-creating themselves, their companies, and their leadership. They are information extractors. They pull what they learn about everything—be it product innovation or how to inspire a team—from their lived experience,” adds Lembi.  These types of leaders also model and directly encourage a culture of learning inside their organizations. This attracts higher-quality workers, improves their performance over time and holds onto them longer.  The book is divided into two parts: Part 1:  Being  –  explores how Learn-It-All leaders think . Part 2:  Doing  –  examines what Learn-It-All leaders do differently .  Damon Lembi Some of my favorite takeaways (including some quotes) from the book include:  Quote : “Live as if you were to die tomor...

How Achieving Balance Makes You A More Successful Leader

In his highly authentic, sincere and personal book,  Balancing Act , author  Dr. Andrew Temte, CFA , shares candid insights and timely lessons about the balance needed to succeed as a leader. “I wrote this book in the hope that others will learn from my triumphs and failures. Those who can recover more rapidly from periods of imbalance will have an advantage over those cannot,” says Temte. He firmly believes that  leaders who strive toward balance can more readily identify and curtail organizational entropy, facilitate a culture of trust, and foster diverse organizations and cultures that inspire everyone to bring their “whole sell” to work . “Success without balance is often more disastrous than failure with balance,” explains Temte. “When the unbalanced achieve victory, it often serves to further destructive habits. When the balanced suffer defeat, resilience and perseverance grow.” Tempte further explains that  leaders today often struggle for balance between : St...