Written by Brian Tocci, Florida Tech MBA Class of 2017
Editor’s note: Brian Tocci is Director of Operations for Larsen Motorsports and an upcoming graduate of Florida Tech’s MBA program. As part of Florida Tech’s affiliation with Larsen Motorsports, Tocci has been awarded a scholarship to pursue his graduate degree online. Read his first blog post here.
After these past two years, I have finally completed my MBA and I am extremely excited to see where this new knowledge takes me and how it will help me grow. It has been an amazing journey with its fun and tough times. I have gained so many skills that will benefit me in all aspects of my life. The skills I learned over the past two years will not only help me in my career, but also in my personal life.
Time Management
One of the most important skills I gained was time management. I have said it before and will continue to believe it that learning how to balance working full-time and completing class while still having time for my personal life is perhaps the most important skill that will help me throughout my life in my career and personal life. Managing time is something that everyone can benefit from and is a great skill to have.
Read more about how Brian Tocci learned how to create a time management plan here.
Leadership
Perhaps the most valuable skill I gained that is directly affecting my current career is how to lead people and my leadership style. Being in a position of power doesn’t mean your subordinates will listen to you, but when you lead people they want to follow you and work with you to achieve a greater goal. Although I am not a great leader, I have been able to take steps to progress towards skillful leadership from what I have learned throughout my MBA journey. I will continue to use the skills learned to become a better leader and create an environment where the team works together to achieve common goals.
Teamwork
Teamwork is vital in any career you will go into because you will always need to rely on someone to accomplish a task. I was probably one of the biggest culprits of trying to do everything myself and not utilizing my team, but throughout my MBA classes I learned that a well-built team will always surpass the individual because two minds are greater than one. I am starting to rely heavily on my team at work to help achieve goals efficiently and quickly. I understand how important a team is to achieve goals rather than spending all of your time (leading to poor time management) alone achieving the same goal.
Read more about how Brian Tocci improved his team’s morale using what he learned here.
Financial Management
The most important skill I learned that will benefit my personal life is financial management. I have never been an expert in financial management and still am not, but through the courses I took I have gained skills that will benefit me and help me prepare for my future. I have gained skills that have made me knowledgeable enough know how to invest and prepare for my future and to make sure that I am financially secure throughout my life.
Read more about how Brian Tocci learned about financial management here.
Communication
Finally, one of my favorite skills I have learned during my MBA classes is how to communicate well with others. I have always been a shy person who wasn’t the best at communication. I was your typical engineer during my undergrad: good at math, but couldn’t communicate well.
Every single one of the classes I took for my MBA helped me grow my communication skills. That has already helped me greatly in both my career and my personal life. I actually don’t fear talking to people anymore – I enjoy it. I know I have much to learn to become a much better communicator, but I am already seeing growth and benefits from the skills I learned.
These past two years have been a huge chapter in my life, but it is coming to an end and I will be able to take these skills learned from this chapter and put them to use in my future and achieve many benefits.