If the admissions committee were to interview one of your closest colleagues, what aspect of your personal development would this person say is especially important for the admissions committee to know?

Sample One

Scott Ross and I joined Techno Company (TC) five years ago and he has worked with me both in Boston and in Silicon Valley. I asked Scott this question and he answered that he was most impressed with the ability I have developed to influence without authority.

In my sales role at TC, I have to rely on the contributions of cross-functional teams who do not directly report to me. Many of these groups have competing priorities and I have had to find a way to focus these teams on the solutions for my customers. Over time I have learned that to influence without authority I need to clearly communicate a vision of success, be open to compromise, ensure roles are clearly defined, sell the benefits of my vision in terms that appeal to my colleagues and prioritize the must haves before the “nice to haves.”

To seal a $60M deal with Innovation, Inc. all the capabilities I had developed were put to the test. My vision for this project was to displace the incumbent, Computech, on a chip design that everyone inside TC had written off as a lost cause. I assembled a team comprised of TC executives, engineers, business managers and legal representatives, and convinced them that winning this deal was a possibility. To put together an A-team of engineers, I compromised with the TC technical management team and allowed them to reassign resources from my other customer to the Innovation project. After assembling the team I explained my two phase objective: first, get Innovation to agree to an evaluation of our new processor, and second, convince Innovation to install our new processor in a handheld. I made sure everyone on the team understood his or her role. In the execution phase, I conquered each obstacle by maintaining a vision of success and selling that vision to my constituents. When times got rough I made sure that the team remembered that a win would open the door to $100M in sales that was currently going to our biggest competitor. I ensured that only the mission critical requests from Innovation made it onto the work plan. This built my credibility as a project manager and made my team realize that if I asked it was urgent and important.

Ultimately, Innovation, pleased with the TC solution, dismissed Computech - a $60 million win for TC. Scott witnessed my win from the sidelines and I asked him to comment on my performance. He said, “TC management thought John’s goal was unattainable, but he disagreed, believed in his vision and convinced the team that success was achievable. John used his tenaciousness and leadership capability to drive the team through the toughest of obstacles and kept everyone focused on the end result. His success was a truly remarkable feat and a great development experience.”

In my career I will have to motivate and influence people no matter what my position is on an organizational chart. I will continue to concentrate on developing these skills and my improvements will enhance my ability to get results in business.

Sample Two

If the admissions committee spoke to my closest colleague, he would highlight the range of experiences I've had and the role they've played in my development. Since my closest colleague is also a close friend, he would use the word “experiences” as a charitable way to describe the small and large mistakes I've made or witnessed over my career. Without the mistakes, I would have learned very little. I feel one of my greatest contributions to my MBA class will be the lessons I’ve learned and can share with my classmates.

I've worked for ten years as a software engineer, consultant, health care researcher, and business lead. I've helped launch eight businesses – five of them successfully – including one of my own. I joined a company as its ninth employee, grew it to over 250 people as part of its management team, then saw it collapse because of mismanagement and infighting. I've been at companies saved and destroyed by venture capitalists, so I understand the risks and benefits they bring and how a company can choose VCs for maximum advantage.

I've been with six startups from conception to launch, so I'm familiar with the overestimation and underestimation that accompanies new ventures. I can review the business plan of a technology startup and spot where they're likely to run into trouble.

I've witnessed or led a handful of engineering disasters and can now smell a disaster in the making. Nearly every team thinks their project is going well, but I can talk to a team and determine if they’re deceiving themselves.

My experience with engineering teams sizes as small as two and as large as fifty has shown me what it takes for a startup’s small guerilla team to grow into a large, disciplined engineering organization. I used to crave the excitement and bustle of a startup’s office until I learned a well-run team should appear boring and predictability. I can talk to a development team and determine if they have the skills and infrastructure in place to grow successfully.

As a consultant and senior engineer, I've helped nearly fifty business leads understand how technology can best solve the challenges they face. I can help a charismatic CEO turn his grand technological vision into a project plan that can be executed step-by-step. I've seen good and bad relationships between developers and business leads and know what it takes to turn a bad relationship around.

I’ve spent four years solving some of the thorniest problems in the business of health care, a field that’s still in its infancy but growing rapidly, and which represent a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs with the right ideas.