{"id":297286,"date":"2021-07-13T02:03:25","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T23:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian\/"},"modified":"2021-07-13T02:03:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T23:03:25","slug":"how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian\/","title":{"rendered":"#How to slay your MBA like an Olympian"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a27fbdb0f7e3\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a27fbdb0f7e3\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian\/#Erica_Wiebe%E2%80%94EMBA_Americas_program\" >Erica Wiebe\u2014EMBA Americas program<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian\/#%E2%80%9CI_thought_an_MBA_would_be_an_accelerator_to_really_get_me_where_I_want_to_go%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cI thought an MBA would be an accelerator to really get me where I want to go.\u201d<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian\/#Brad_Gushue%E2%80%94Accelerated_MBA_program\" >Brad Gushue\u2014Accelerated MBA program<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian\/#%E2%80%9CThis_is_an_opportunity_for_me_to_be_more_prepared_when_Im_done_my_athletic_career%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cThis is an opportunity for me to be more prepared when I\u2019m done my athletic career.\u201d<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian\/#Melanie_McCann%E2%80%94Accelerated_MBA_program\" >Melanie McCann\u2014Accelerated MBA program<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-slay-your-mba-like-an-olympian\/#%E2%80%9CI_couldnt_help_but_see_the_parallels_between_performance_in_sport_and_in_business%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cI couldn\u2019t help but see the parallels between performance in sport and in business.\u201d<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#How to slay your MBA like an Olympian<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                                                                        There\u2019s a lot of overlap between the qualities athletes must possess to make it to the Olympics and those required of successful students and, later, businesspeople: leadership, collaboration, determination and time management are key in both fields.<\/p>\n<p>But talk to Erica Wiebe, Brad Gushue and Melanie McCann, current and former Olympians who are all enrolled in an MBA program at Queen\u2019s University\u2019s Smith School of Business, and it quickly becomes clear that their athletic prowess sets them up for success in other ways, too. Being coachable, for example, or understanding how to spot\u2014and close\u2014the \u201cgaps\u201d in their knowledge or experience.<\/p>\n<p>These athletes are well-suited for careers in business, but they are also pursuing MBAs as a way of setting themselves up for the future. They enrolled at Smith through <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Game<\/a> Plan, a program intended to provide Canadian athletes with resources to support their education, skill development, health and career management both during their athletic careers and as they transition into the next phases of their lives. Smith has signed on as a partner for an eight-year term and has pledged to provide 1,200 Olympic athletes with access to scholarships. Game Plan has also partnered with other institutions\u2014including Athabasca University, Royal Roads University, the University of British Columbia and the University of Calgary\u2014that provide flexible course loads, alternate delivery methods and student athlete-specific resources.<\/p>\n<p><em>Maclean\u2019s<\/em> caught up with Wiebe, Gushue and McCann to talk about the similarities between their athletic and academic careers, what attracted them to business school and what they hope to do with their MBAs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1222847\" style=\"width: 830px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"wp-image-1222847 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ERICA-WIEBE-MBA-OLYMPIAN-KONG-JUNE30.jpg\" alt=\"After winning gold at the 2016 Olympics, Wiebe began looking for a new challenge outside of sport (Courtesy of Wrestling Lutte Canada)\" width=\"820\" height=\"547\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">After winning gold at the 2016 Olympics, Wiebe began looking for a new challenge outside of sport (Courtesy of Wrestling Lutte Canada)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Erica_Wiebe%E2%80%94EMBA_Americas_program\"><\/span>Erica Wiebe<em>\u2014EMBA Americas program<\/em><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CI_thought_an_MBA_would_be_an_accelerator_to_really_get_me_where_I_want_to_go%E2%80%9D\"><\/span><em>\u201cI thought an MBA would be an accelerator to really get me where I want to go.\u201d<\/em><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>After winning the gold medal in women\u2019s 75-kg freestyle wrestling (Canada\u2019s third-ever gold in freestyle wrestling) at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Erica Wiebe embarked on a \u201cwhirlwind\u201d of other projects, from wrestling in a professional league in India to trying out for the WWE to embarking on a speaking tour that saw her reach 15,000 kids across Canada. But none of these felt like quite the right next step. \u201cI still needed something outside of sport to challenge me and be part of my identity,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>So, she took a consulting job in Deloitte\u2019s Calgary office, where she focused on human capital. \u201cThat gave me exposure to a huge breadth of industries and sectors and roles, and really got me excited about all the possibilities within business,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I started to realize I had some gaps in terms of my business acumen. I thought an MBA would be an accelerator to get me where I want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lied for the Queen\u2019s-Cornell partner program in 2019 with the understanding that, if she got in, she\u2019d defer until after the Olympics. But then, COVID. Not long after she interviewed for the program and qualified for the Olympics, the 2020 Summer Games were postponed indefinitely. Clubs and training facilities were closed, too. But school was still in session, and when the adviser for the Executive MBA Americas program reached out to ask Wiebe whether she\u2019d consider starting that June, with the assurance that the school would work around her training schedule if and when the Olympics were back on, she said yes. So, for the past year, she\u2019s done both.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI competed in the World [Cup] championships in Serbia in December and I did a European tour in February, all while doing classes on the weekends and in between wrestling sessions,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>If that sounds like a lot, well, it is. In fact, Wiebe decided to defer three courses this summer so she could focus on preparing for Tokyo. But there\u2019s also a real benefit to having multiple priorities: \u201cHaving a class [helped me] forget the fact that I couldn\u2019t train or compete,\u201d she says. \u201cHaving something to take my mind off that and give me structure and focus outside of sport has been really helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course there\u2019s overlap between these two parts of her life. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about athletes having great time management skills, but I think what athletes are really exceptional at is energy management,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s understanding the micro and macro cycles of training, and how that actually relates to prioritization for any really challenging task. An athlete knows you can\u2019t go 110 per cent 365 days a year. You have to take care of the whole spectrum, which includes rest, recovery, rehab and prehab.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1222841\" style=\"width: 830px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"wp-image-1222841 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/BRAD-GUSHUE-MBA-OLYMPIAN-KONG-JUNE30.jpg\" alt=\"For curler Gushue, experience competing on a team has been hugely helpful in his MBA studies (Courtesy of Anil Mungal\/Team Gushue)\" width=\"820\" height=\"1230\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">For curler Gushue, experience competing on a team has been hugely helpful in his MBA studies (Courtesy of Anil Mungal\/Team Gushue)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Brad_Gushue%E2%80%94Accelerated_MBA_program\"><\/span>Brad Gushue<em>\u2014Accelerated MBA program<\/em><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThis_is_an_opportunity_for_me_to_be_more_prepared_when_Im_done_my_athletic_career%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cThis is an opportunity for me to be more prepared when I\u2019m done my athletic career.\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Sixteen years after he first won gold at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, curler Brad Gushue is training to represent Canada at next year\u2019s Winter Olympics in Beijing. The married dad of two is also a business owner\u2014he and teammate Mark Nichols opened Newfoundland and Labrador\u2019s first Orangetheory Fitness studio in St. John\u2019s in 2017, and have been dealing with the uncertainty of COVID since last March. And, as of January, he\u2019s back in school\u2014almost two decades after he completed his undergrad in business administration\u2014this time in the Accelerated MBA Program at Smith.<\/p>\n<p>Gushue, who is 40, doesn\u2019t see retirement in his im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>te future, but he does want to make sure he\u2019s planning ahead. \u201cI don\u2019t want my curling career to end any time soon, but you know, nature and Father Time sometimes decides that for you,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019d love to play a leadership role in any sort of company, whether it\u2019s my own or in a corporate environment or in a not-for-profit, politics, who knows. So, I can\u2019t see how this program\u2019s ever going to hurt me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, he was a little nervous to head back to school\u2014though not for the reasons you might think. \u201cI wasn\u2019t as heavily stressed from a time management standpoint,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it had been 17 years since I\u2019d written a paper or studied or done anything like that. So, I was very stressed about getting back into that routine. But after a couple months, and seeing some good grades coming back and getting good feedback from professors, I realized I\u2019m capable of doing this, and I\u2019m at a level where I shouldn\u2019t be stressed about my capacity or ability to complete the program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In fact, he says, he\u2019s better equipped to succeed now than he was the first time around. Time management and work ethic are maybe the most obviously relevant skills, but experience competing with a team has been hugely helpful, too. That\u2019s because Smith\u2019s Accelerated MBA program is team-based\u2014the entire cohort of students is split into smaller groups of six to eight students within the same geographic region. The team members are also, by design, from a variety of industries, ages, cultural backgrounds and experiences. Gushue says that can make collaboration a challenge, but a worthwhile one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have a whole lot of corporate experience, but some members of my group work for big companies, so they bring that. Meanwhile, I think I may be the only small business owner in the group,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can learn from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Melanie_McCann%E2%80%94Accelerated_MBA_program\"><\/span>Melanie M<em>c<\/em>Cann<em>\u2014Accelerated MBA program<\/em><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CI_couldnt_help_but_see_the_parallels_between_performance_in_sport_and_in_business%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cI couldn\u2019t help but see the parallels between performance in sport and in business.\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Melanie McCann was interested in business before she discovered modern pentathlon, an Olympic sport consisting of five different events (swimming, fencing, equestrian, running and shooting), at age 16. Growing up, she saw what it took for her family to run their concrete construction company and was \u201cinspired by their entrepreneurial spirit and management of employees and customers in the rural community,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>After making it to the Summer Games in 2012 and 2016\u2014and achieving the best-ever Olympic result by a Canadian modern pentathlete, a record she still holds\u2014she retired from sport, and naturally looked to business for her next career. First, she took a consulting role on the infrastructure and capital programs team in Deloitte\u2019s London, England, office. \u201cI have always been a \u2018jack-of-all-trades,\u2019 which is why I love pentathlon,\u201d she says. \u201c[That\u2019s also] why I enjoy being a consultant on a wide range of projects.\u201d In January, she enrolled in Smith\u2019s Accelerated MBA program. (She and Gushue are on separate teams at Smith, but they do sometimes chat about their respective experiences in the program.)<\/p>\n<p>In addition to teamwork, resilience and determination, McCann says taking and acting on feedback have been important transferable skills between her two careers. \u201cAs an athlete, I thrived on feedback,\u201d she says. \u201cRecognizing that I can be coachable and improvement-focused in the MBA setting has been a game changer for [me].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, there have been some adjustments. Zoom fatigue is real, for one thing. And McCann has had to figure out what success looks like outside of sports. \u201cAs an athlete, I had my sights clearly set on the Olympics and my goals were crystal clear,\u201d she says. \u201cShifting my focus and finding new goals [in] academics has been a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She does know what she wants to do with her MBA, though: become a better leader. Inspired by her dad\u2019s career, she wants to run her own business one day, so while she\u2019s working to improve hard skills like business strategy and finance, she\u2019s also excited to build the soft skills\u2014and the network\u2014she needs to achieve that goal. \u201cAs an athlete, I gained so much from going the extra mile. Tactics like working with a mental performance coach or targeting specific training partners helped me see the gaps in my performance and work to narrow them,\u201d she says. \u201cPursuing an MBA is equipping me with the knowledge and network to build my next chapter in business. I can\u2019t wait to find out what I am capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>This article appears in print in the August 2021 issue of<\/em> Maclean\u2019s <em>magazine with the headline, \u201cField to boardroom.\u201d Subscribe to the monthly print magazine <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/secure.macleans.ca\/loc\/MME\/head_subscribe\">here<\/a>.<\/em><br \/>\n<span class=\"ctx-article-root\"><!-- --><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&#038;version=v10.0\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/education\/olympians-elite-athletes-doing-mba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#How to slay your MBA like an Olympian&#8221; There\u2019s a lot of overlap between the qualities athletes must possess to make it to the Olympics and those required of successful students and, later, businesspeople: leadership, collaboration, determination and time management are key in both fields. But talk to Erica Wiebe, Brad Gushue and Melanie McCann,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":297287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/MELANIE-MCCANN-MBA-OLYMPIAN-KONG-JUNE30-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[111721,67806,67847,111722],"class_list":["post-297286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-business-school","tag-editors-picks","tag-mba","tag-olympians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}