I believe I am an ideal candidate for the Flex MBA program at Lehigh University because of my unique work and life experiences. Experiences that have lead me into my current role as a Team Leader (what most would call a supervisor) and provided me with the knowledge and understanding, that people management, and more directly servant leadership is what inspires and drives me.
I will start with off by telling you about my first experience coaching / leading people. Before I begin let me say that I am not looking to brag about my glory days being the captain of the varsity wrestling team, because believe me, they weren’t that glorious. I was a slightly above average wrestler, with an average level of commitment to the sport, but what I had was an interest in making my team better. Not just for the sake of winning, but because seeing the progress each individual made and knowing that I was helping them be successful, made me happy. This happiness and making others better was something I was eager to commit to… almost to a fault! I got in the habit (and still have this habit as I still train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) of providing my opponent with the knowledge of how to prevent the moves I was using to defeat them. I loved giving them understanding that actually made their game better… and then hated it the next time they stopped my attack.
This is very similar to business, but with one key difference; I get all of the joy from teaching, coaching, or mentoring people, but there is no undesirable outcome to it. The employee flourishes, the team flourishes, and thus the business flourishes. This is an exact picture of what I learned to love about being a leader; I can take what is in front of me, team or individual, and through coaching, mentoring, or development make them better. I can impart my experience, knowledge, and advices to help everything around me mature.
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So a little background as to where this passion has lead me and where it has come from. As I stated before I first realized I had a desire to make those around me better, through wrestling. This continued after high school, as I signed up as an assistant wrestling coach for St.Pius X high school in my hometown (Pottstown). There I was able to coach high school kids, and continue doing what I loved, developing others! This passion was not content however staying on the wrestling mat. It drove me to my current role, all the while learning different skills that have helped develop me to what I want to be, a people leader. I started at J&J in 2004 just happy to have escaped my union job as a machine operator who felt trapped, undervalued, and disposable. From the moment I stepped into the doors at J&J I felt like the sky was the limit and I could be the leader I was born to be. I immediately got to work, and started going for it. I took in all the knowledge I could, to learn a new industry.
I went back to school to get my BSBA, and I set myself apart by being able to see the bigger picture of the business and see how I could affect it by being a leader, regardless of title, years’ experience, or process knowledge (all which were definitive restrictors in the Union job). Most recently I have taken on the role of Team Leader, I have been tasked with leading a team of thirteen bio technicians, that I have spent the last 10 years working beside. Most of my peers and management thought this would be a huge challenge, because of the some of these technicians trained me when I started, but I knew while yes, it would be challenging, I had already had a head start, because I had been helping develop and lead those around me, in any way that I could since I started with J&J. I am now 8 months into the role and have had nothing but positive feedback from both management and my direct reports.
Now let’s talk about why I believe I have this passion. I am almost certain this desire to lead other and develop those around me stems directly from my early work experience. I started working in my family owned construction business when I was 12 years old and this continued through my early years of college. While working in construction (roofing and siding) I was exposed to a different form of leadership at the hands of my father.
I believe it is best summed up as a Dictatorship. But it wasn’t just “Do as I say”, it was verbally abusive. His methods weren’t used to be damaging, but were just manifestations from him not knowing how to express his feeling or understanding what effective leadership and emotional intelligence could looked like and how it affected employees. He didn’t realize that empowering and encouraging his employees would be far more productive than belittling and demanding them. I am in no way looking for sympathy here, as those summers spent on hot roofs, being degraded and ordered about made me realize how important effective, servant, and emotionally intelligent leadership really is on both employees and the business as a whole. In addition to that it developed my rock solid work ethic.
These experiences have made me what I am today and they have helped me develop into the leader I am now. With the skills and knowledge I will gain during my work while achieving my Lehigh University MBA I am certain that I will be able to take my team, my company, and myself towards a prosperous future. This is why I believe I would be an ideal candidate for the Lehigh University Flex MBA.
