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| Silvia Scherer |
Meet my
friend from Germany, Silvia Scherer, a very talented member of our MBA 36 class, who I describe as self-motivated and extremely capable, accomplished and articulate. Our friendship had a somewhat clumsy beginning in February 2013: she was gathering data for her 540 professional consulting project and I had just arrived as the new Academic
Leader.
Silvia and
I exchanged emails about her project for the Cancer Society of New Zealand, the
design of a business model for a new centre on the South Island. As the newbie MBA
project adviser, I shared my grasp of business models and corporate structure at the Cancer Society, while Silvia countered with her vision for the
project. We engaged in verbal arm wrestling
for weeks before she pinned my wrist to the table and I conceded: do it
your way.
This exchange
turned out to be a valuable lesson in conceptual reasoning for me, reinforcing
the importance of carefully defining concepts.
Silvia defined the term, “business model,” as a funding model for a
nonprofit agency dependent on third-party donations: she and I were not talking
about the same thing. Silvia worked on
her project unimpeded thereafter and we met for the first time six months later,
after she submitted her finished product, a publishable-quality analysis and
one of the best reports our office has ever received.
Silvia and
I are thankfully friends today, but our relationship may have taken a more expeditious path, if I had known she was/is a language
professional, proficient in German, English, Spanish and French; with almost
fifteen years of corporate experience gained largely at Siemens, the German
industrial giant; and advanced through the corporate ranks to the position of Senior
Project Manager of localization projects. In hindsight, I should have simply
stayed out of Silvia’s way.
In her
words, Silvia came to our Otago MBA looking for “an internationally renowned,
high-quality programme, preferably accredited by one or several international
agencies, with a culturally diverse student body, and one that provided good value for the
money.” She chose us. She came to acquire an executive-level understanding
of international business and she devoted six months (we require 15 weeks) to her 540 analysis “as an opportunity
to gain experience and a comprehensive understanding of the non-profit sector.”
Silvia graduated on 14
December, 2013 and is actively pursuing her dream of "working as a
project / programme manager (or independent consultant) in the
field of
international aid and development, preferably in one of the larger international nonprofit or
intergovernmental organizations like
the United Nations or its related agencies." She is impressive. We at the Otago MBA will continue to support Silvia's dream.
I invite you to apply to our Otago MBA programme, if you have similar
dreams or want to make a career transition.
David
Praise from Tim Loftus:
ReplyDelete"One of the great benefits of participating in the Otago MBA was the exceptional people in the program. I had the great pleasure of working with Silvia in my syndicate and developing a meaningful lifelong friendship in the process. Silvia's leadership skill and emotional intelligence were incredible assets to our group work, and to the overall atmosphere in our classroom. Silvia's extensive international experiences and unique perspective on management added a necessary dimension to the educational experience at Otago.
I am thankful for having had the opportunity to work with a professional like Silvia, and I am honoured to call her a dear friend."