Eight Essential Lessons From My Stanford MBA

Stanford MBA Anna Frances Wood has launched Brains Over Blonde

Lesson 5: Find your passion

One of the reasons I was drawn (re: obsessed) with the Stanford GSB over other top business schools was the emphasis on pursuing your passion.

A lot of pressure is put on this word “passion,” so it’s important to note that your passions can evolve over time, and discovering your own is a process.

I wrote my infamous “What matters most to you and why?” Stanford GSB admissions essay on having an open heart. I came to Stanford knowing I was passionate about making a positive impact in the quality of people’s lives. Before Stanford, I had worked as the Lead Google Wellness Champion as a side project. I organized fitness challenges and health testing, and fell in love with helping people grow and feel better about themselves physically and mentally. I assumed I would start a company in the health and wellness space after graduating.

Leaving the workforce, investing in myself, and reflecting while at the GSB, allowed me to see that, yes, I was immensely passionate about having a positive impact on people’s lives. More specifically though, I felt I had a calling to inspire and empower fellow women. Once I discovered my passion, it was so strong that nothing could stop me from pursuing it. I frequently pulled all nighters working on my lifestyle business, Brains over Blonde, and it didn’t feel like work. I took a massive career leap and gave up steady, sizable corporate salaries to pursue my dream.

The Stanford GSB’s motto, “Change lives. Change Organizations. Change the world.” truly is a cornerstone of the community and culture. Discovering my passion helped me see that this is how I was going to change the world, and that nothing was going to stop me.

If you already know what your passion is, go with it. You’re one of the lucky ones. Not everyone figures out their passion in business school. Many people learn more about what they don’t want to do than what they do, and that’s just as important. Discovering your passion is a process.

You spend so much of your life working; it pays to be pursposeful with what you do with your life. Do something that is meaningful to you. Stand for something. Know your values. Figure out what makes you happy. It will help you discover your passion, which will give you more energy and life than ever before.

Lesson 6: Discover your authentic leadership style

In two years of classes at Stanford, we had the privilege of some of the top leaders in the world speak to us and answer our questions. Sheryl Sandberg, Tyra Banks, James Mattis, John Donahoe, Joel Peterson, Reese Witherspoon, Eric Schmidt, you name it.

There were plenty of similarities between them. But what stood out was that they each had their own unique leadership style.

In business school, you learn the qualities of what can make you a good leader. You read about them in cases. You role play, film yourself, practice over and over again. All of the leadership skills you learn are great tools to have in your toolbelt, but some will feel more authentic to who you are as a person than others.

I learned you can’t imitate someone else’s unique leadership style. You can identify what you don’t like and avoid it. You can admire what you do like, emulate it and make it your own. But that’s the key, you have to find your own.

To find your own leadership style, you really have to know yourself. Truly looking at yourself, flaws and all, is a difficult thing to do. But doing so allows you to identify your weaknesses, improve upon them, and find others with those strengths to support you. It also allows you to identify your strengths, practice them, and make them stronger.

Lesson 7: What really matters

Not a single corporate leader stepped foot in my classroom and said, “I wish I’d spent less time with my family.”

The idea of “work/life balance” is elusive and may not even exist. But it’s imperative that you find a way to harmonize the two in a way that works for you. At any given time, something may be out of whack. Maybe it’s quality time with your spouse, not taking time to travel, or skipping out on workouts or sleep. That’s why it’s essential to continually check in with yourself and your loved ones, and constantly be willing to adapt and adjust to what your current situation calls for. A supportive spouse is essential, and I learned one of the most important career decisions you make is who you marry.

I also learned how important professional freedom is to me. I realize that not everyone has this luxury and it’s easier in some careers than others, but it was something I wanted to optimize for.

There are always going to be a million different demands on you. Learn to work smarter, not harder. How you allocate your time is entirely up to you. You have to set boundaries. Prioritize. No one is going to be looking out for your work / life harmony like you are. Know what your priorities and your non-negotiables are.

Lesson 8: Be kind

There’s no doubt that hard work and grit pay off. But the type of person you are really matters.

Regardless of who you want to be, I suggest you be a kind one. There’s never a good reason not be respectful and responsible with other people. To give back. To take the high road. To share. To listen.

What type of person do I want to be? What type of leader? I want to be someone who leads with warmth. Someone that learns from everyone, at every level. I want to be someone who empowers and trusts my team. I want to be true to myself. I want to be optimistic (that’s core to who I am), but challenging and discerning. I want to ask a lot of questions. I want to change the world.

Part of changing the world, part of being successful, includes service. I’m so fortunate to have had the career and education I’ve had this far. I didn’t do it on my own. A countless number of people helped me along the way. I want to be someone who pays it forward. I want to share the success I’ve had.

In the words of Stanford GSB Professor Irv Grousbeck, “don’t look back on life and see a failure of kindness.”

My two years at the Stanford Graduate School of Business came to end in June, and there is an undeniable sadness and feeling of loss that comes with that. Will my friendships remain in tact? Will I remember what I learned? Will I achieve what I set out to? I’ve never been good at goodbyes. In my past, I may have avoided or refused to acknowledge the end of this experience for as long as possible.

One of my favorite professors at the GSB, the infamous Carole Robin, emphasized the importance of marking beginnings and ends. Only once you mark an ending and have full closure can you reach a neutral zone, where you’re ready to start a new beginning.

She also taught me to mine every experience for all the learning there is to be had from it. Whatever happens, good or bad, take your time to take it all in. So here I sit, marking the end of my Stanford GSB experience by writing my lessons and mining all the learnings I can.

During our final week of school, Professor Robin remarked how the word “commencement,” which signified the end of our days as Stanford MBA students, actually meant “beginning.” I don’t have it all figured out. I know much of what I will learn from my Stanford MBA is still to come. But I am throwing myself into this new beginning.

Anna Frances Wood is the founder and CEO of BrainsOverBlonde, a lifestyle platform for women who refuse to choose between femininity and success.

DON’T MISS: BLONDE, BRAINY & BEAUTIFUL AT STANFORD GSB

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