MBA 2020 ????????

??Spoiler: Riga Business School MBA graduation 2020 event. June 6th 12:00 (my time ~ 12:15) ???? https://youtu.be/lo7ExHcF4ok

Hello, Everyone. Today June the 6th, 2020, is an extraordinary date for me, and I want to share my happiness with you. I am graduating from Riga Business School (RBS), a Professional MBA program. This has been a remarkable three years that filled and changed my entire life. Meanwhile, it also was a great challenge for me, my family, and my friends. However, now it is all done, and we all celebrate.

Valuable Takeaways

1. Diversity within the team is the fundamental source of novel solutions that drive the effectiveness of the organizations. It is vital for adaptation and survival in the changing environment.
2. Leadership is biased as a status of being enlightened and, therefore, to get more. Authentic leadership is more about a responsibility to serve and support those in need. Give more than you take.
3. Companies all over the world are facing similar challenges in regards to General Management practices and particularly to Information Technology Management. Latvian companies are not an exception. Almost all problems have already defined solutions and proven cases. Just Do It.

Bits of Self-Awareness

• In the secondary school, I was passionate about Mathematics. Meanwhile, by pursuing a Management career in IT, I became more and more distant from the study I loved all my life. I can not express how I have enjoyed Statistics, Managerial Accounting, and Financial Management courses. This was terrific evenings in school and memorable weekends at home preparing the assignments and searching for the one, the only right answer—incredible emotions when you do find it. I was working hard and never tired.
• Human Resource Management and Marketing Management probably was the most troublesome courses for me. Until then, I had minimal practical exposure to both fields professionally. However, Digital Marketing, which is my little hobby for about ten years (Google Marketing), was a real pleasure (partially as a result of the instructor's pragmatism and solid experience). The Digital Marketing study stands at the edge of Information Technology and Marketing science. Information Technology became my passion even before Mathematics. In 1993, I was so lucky to get introduced to the first DOS and Windows 3.11 running Personal Computers at my primary school. I was hugely impacted by the recognition of the role of programming in society and the elite status of Software Engineers during that time. Do you still remember those times when IT was not so commoditized in Baltics? I hardly recall...

Culmination

The last semester was challenging. I set an ambitious goal to graduate in 2020. I just love how the numbers look like and aspire to overcome challenges. To do that, I required writing my Master's thesis in parallel with the last in the program Strategic Management course. Fortunately, I have timely understood that the only way to do that successfully is to write my Master thesis about the Company Strategy development. That would enable me to synergize the course syllabus with my thesis outline. However, I was still worried and overloaded. At this moment, I want to tell "Thank you" to my thesis supervisor Aldis Greitāns, and Strategic Management Instructor (and also my thesis Reviewer) Andrejs Dzedons. I honestly appreciate the support you have given and the opportunity to keep the strong link between the Strategy course and the Master thesis. You made my dream come true.

Why MBA?

When you take any course at RBS, you are feeling in the shoes of CMO, CFO, CTO, ... CEO of your company during all semester. Despite the age or career level, this is an unprecedented opportunity for everyone to explore how C-level executives are thinking. Some might argue that learning is distant from the real world and practical aspects of business. Meanwhile, the dozens of original case studies, student group course papers, and in-class experience sharing brings us closer to the practical aspects of business management. The school prepares the next generations of executives.

Thank You!

This journey would not be so fun without my dear classmates. It was a real pleasure to meet you once or even twice a week for a long time. Have chit-chat and coffee during the breaks, work in groups and share experience outside the school. I know that sometimes I was pushy as a team lead. Meanwhile, we were never ready to give up and always strive for excellence. Thank you for your dedication. I learned a lot about the motivation and dynamics of the team.

Graduation 2020

Due to the limitations caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the last lectures, final exams, and consequently the graduation event is unusual. Thanks to the professionalism and can-do attitude of RBS administration, everyone interested will be able to participate in this fantastic event. That is a fundamental achievement for the graduates that have finally gotten a deserved MBA diplomas. Please join us in this celebration.

??Congratulations to all of us!

The live stream ( https://youtu.be/lo7ExHcF4ok ) will start June the 6th, 2020, at 12:00 Riga time. If everything goes according to plan, you will be able to notice me around 12:15.

See you, and thank you for caring.