MBAs Face No-Nonsense Hurdles At Fort Benning

Simple enough.

Well, not exactly. Each mission contained “touch red your dead” obstacles and imaginary land mines which stood between the students and their goals plus very limited, ambiguous materials to use as resources. What’s more, each challenge required significant levels of physical strength, adding another level of confusion when trying to determine how a team could collectively finish the mission. As if adding insult to injury, once the instructions were given, the military officers who served as the day’s facilitators quietly faded into the background. Any requests for help—outside of repeating the original instructions—were blatantly ignored.

ULTIMATELY, THE DAY’S EXERCISES ARE ALL ABOUT DEVELOPING SELF-AWARENESS

So how does all of this translate to the business world? “I’m focused on our students’ re-entry into the workplace,” says Emory leadership professor Peter Topping. ”When they leave Goizueta a year from now, most of them will return to the workforce as managers or they’ll be on the management track. Therefore, it’s important for them to be able to foster team work and to deal with ambiguity.” Topping also pointed out that the day’s exercises are ultimately about self awareness. “To lead others, you start by leading yourself better.”

Wondering how well Emory’s MBAs performed when they were brought on base and challenged military-style? Like true MBAs, they exhibited creativity and perseverance, a can-do attitude and passion. Where many fell short was planning before tackling; either too little time assessing what was before them or too much time looking at the obstacle which led to the kind of analysis paralysis that is pervasive in big companies.

“MBAs are trained to ‘go’ first,” said Full Time MBA Program Dean Brian Mitchell. “This course teaches them to plan first. It helps them be more effective and saves time in the end.”

SATURDAY WAS A LONG DAY UNDER A HOT GEORGIA SUN

Nevertheless, after a long day under a hot Georgia sun, the MBAs (who, by the way, just started the MBA program two months ago) were more energized than when the day first began. Sure, hardly any of the obstacles were defeated, but the MBA candidates undeniably left Fort Benning with new perspectives on leadership.

Reuben Weislogel, who was in investment management before enrolling at Goizueta, said his biggest takeaway was that he discovered his personal leadership style. Having the opportunity to lead a mission and to see how others led, “I learned that my leadership style is to set up the situation, lay out the task and tools, ask for input and then execute.”

Nicole Bullock, who had worked as a human resources specialist for International Paper, enjoyed seeing more of her fellow classmates take on leadership roles and said a key takeaway was being able to quickly adjust one’s leadership style based on the task at hand.