Lexington, KY - The best investment advice I ever received came from a colleague at an early point in my career: "Invest in yourself." He felt that the greatest returns were to be realized from this strategy; stocks and bonds could not compare.
Investing in yourself can mean continuing your education, staying on the cutting edge of your chosen field or developing a new area of expertise. It can mean moving business ideas ahead, perhaps making a leap from a known situation to one with equal numbers of possibilities and questions. In any case, investing in yourself requires time, energy and often a financial commitment.
When employment opportunities are scarce, many people recognize that self-investment through further education can be beneficial; applications to graduate and professional degree programs generally increase. But for those not prepared to make a commitment to another degree program, continuing education, in the language of academia, offers alternatives to degree programs. The Gatton School at the University of Kentucky is expanding such opportunities to meet the business community's needs.
MBA Roundtable
One continuing education program available at Gatton is the MBA Roundtable, open to individuals with MBA degrees and, as you might imagine, intellectual curiosity. Participants network with other professionals and heighten their understanding about issues important in business through monthly dinner meetings, readings and faculty-facilitated discussions. Most participants to date have been sponsored by employers, but self-sponsored individuals are certainly welcome.
The Roundtable started last year and has attracted a diverse group in terms of career types and cognitive styles. Moving forward, program staff would like to see more demographic diversity among participants as well.
Recruitment to the program has involved approaching corporate leaders, encouraging them to send their best; reaching out to Gatton alumni; and encouraging participants to bring friends and colleagues to a single meeting to "try on" the program before committing to the full ten-month agenda.
Additional programs offered
Gatton's Certificate in Business Administration provides a taste of a wide array of business topics and tools that can be used at one's desk right away. Topics range from marketing to management to accounting, and each three-hour class session stands on its own (no assignments outside of classes). As with the MBA Roundtable, many participants are employer-sponsored, but individuals sponsoring their own participation are also welcome.
Gatton's office of adult and continuing education also offers the Family Business Institute and is developing a program in entrepreneurship.
Custom-tailored executive programs delivered by Gatton's MBA faculty and adjuncts have been offered for Hitachi, University of Kentucky's medical center, and a number of other employers in the Bluegrass region.
As an example, one automotive supplier commissioned a leadership program to challenge senior and mid-level management to think outside of their own industry. Gatton staff developed a four-day program that included a behavioral work assessment (Who am I at work?); a component comparing Western to Eastern-style leadership; and segments on communication, decision-making bias, negotiation and strategy.
Importance of ongoing training, education
Training, unfortunately, is often one of the first areas that senior executives cut in tough times. Toyota, however, is cited by Gatton staff as a good example of the opposite philosophy. When business slows down, Toyota cultivates its employees and invests in training, which is a good model for other corporations. Down times are often the best opportunities to retool, reorient and invest in human capital in order to leverage operations to the fullest going forward.
Broad thinking is critical to today's world of work, given the ever-shifting landscape of our economic times. Employers providing continuing education tend to attract employees who like to learn and are engaged in their work; lifelong learning instills confidence that we can master new things and makes us more effective in our efforts.
Self-employed professionals who pursue continuing education stay on the frontiers of their fields more effectively. Their pursuit of new knowledge signals to clients that they take nothing for granted, that they are not stagnant.
My colleague's advice, offered so many years ago, continues to ring true. We must invest in ourselves and, as a corollary, in our employees in order to reap maximum returns.
Jane S. Shropshire guides students and families through the college search process and is Business Lexington's Higher Ed. Matters columnist. Contact her at Jshrop@att.net.