My one-year MBA at Hult International Business School has been the most learned year of my life teaching me about business, problem-solving, leadership, presentation, and personal growth. While it’s impossible to list all my learnings here, here’re my 15 most important ones.

About Data

1) Empathy: Data is considered as the most important commodity of our time. It gives brands a better understanding of customer needs and behavior and helps them to target customers at the right place and at the right time. No wonder marketers today are obsessed with data. But in this age of data obsession, brands who have empathy will stand out. While data helps brands in satisfying the customers, empathy helps them win their loyalty. A perfect example is Nordstrom who empathizes with customers who’ve recently become parents by having a designated parking space for them. It’s such small empathetic gestures that influence customers in deciding where to shop.

2) Artificial Intelligence: The future of business is Artificial Intelligence and it’s going to embedded in every part of the business just as computers are embedded in every part of business today. Therefore, it’s very important to understand how AI should be used, and its limitations. AI is based on data and data patterns don’t tell us everything. For example, data won’t show the reasons why men in Kenya borrow a higher amount in loans than women. Now if we automate decision making, letting AI (based on past data) approve the loan amounts, we’ll have a system that would be inclined to approve higher loan amounts to men than women. Using AI incorrectly can have disastrous implications for both businesses and society.

About Problem-Solving

3) 5 Whys: Some of the biggest problems in the world persist because their root cause hasn’t been addressed. The 5 Whys model helps you reach the root cause of the problem. Asking why to a problem for a period of 5 times helps in determining the root cause and saves time and money which would’ve been otherwise wasted on addressing the wrong problem.

About Leadership

4) Fear: The worst thing we can do as leaders intentionally or unintentionally is to create a culture of fear. Fear doesn’t allow creativity to thrive, which is a requisite for any kind of innovation. To create a culture where creativity can thrive, we need to be more accepting of failures. Fear often takes place when leaders stigmatize failures.

5) Gender Intelligence: The most relevant course that I attended in my MBA was Gender Intelligence. With the #MeToo movement uncovering the sexual harassment and sexism faced by women in the workplace, never has it been more important than today for leaders to make serious efforts to make workplaces safe, secure and comfortable for women. When we come across sexism in the workplace, we need to make efforts to discourage this behavior. By not doing so, we encourage it and allow it to thrive. One way to go about this is to have a one-on-one conversation with the colleague in private where you express your discomfort with the situation. If the problem persists, you can communicate the issue to human resources, and if despite all efforts, the problem isn’t addressed by the organization, you should consider a job change. The last thing we should do as leaders is to contribute to the growth of an organization that breeds such culture.

6) Disagreements: Disagreements are often impossible to avoid in today’s fast-paced, diverse business world, but what is important is how you address them. The first part to resolution is listening with an open mind even if the person on the other side may seem wrong. When you listen to people, they let their guard down and are more open to a counter-opinion. The other thing that can be done to ease off the tension is taking a short break.

About Personal Growth

7) Growth Mindset: If I had to mention the most valuable learning I received during my MBA, it would be the Growth Mindset. Unlike the fixed mindset, where we believe that “I can’t do this because I am not good at it,'' Growth Mindset is about having the belief that “I can do this if I work hard and give time to it”. In this one year, I have surprised myself time and again whether it was about getting over my mental block about cooking, overcoming my fear of quantitative subjects and attaining a B in Managerial Economics or gathering the confidence to ask a girl out in person, something which I’ve struggled with. I don’t think I would’ve been able to do these things if I wasn’t constantly encouraged to have a Growth Mindset throughout the year.

8) Listening: Being a good listener is the most important requisite to personal growth. If you’re open to listening, your well-wishers might give you invaluable feedback. The best advice that I received in the entire year was from my roommate and friend about a personal habit I unknowingly practiced. I don’t think my roommate would have ever given me the advice if he didn’t think I was a good listener, and I would have continued to practice this habit throughout life.

9) Ego: Ego is the most useless emotion we can have. The moment you start giving importance to your ego, you stop thinking rationally and end up making wrong decisions. Ego also doesn’t allow you to take others’ help when you need it. I failed in the first Operations Management test we had, and it was clear that I needed help with the subject, but I didn’t want to ask someone as my ego didn’t allow me. It was only after failing the second test, I decided to take a friend’s help. He helped me prepare for the third test and I was able to get an A this time. I am sure I wouldn’t have got an A if I hadn’t kept my ego aside and asked for his help.

About Presentation

10) Storytelling: There is a reason why we still remember fairy tales from our childhood but not the PowerPoint presentation from last week. Storytelling in a presentation is as important as the content on the slides. Having presented at least a dozen times in the last year, here’s what has worked well for me:

a) Start Well: How you start sets the flow of your entire presentation. If multiple speakers are going to present, let the best storyteller in your team begin. There are several ways to start well but the one I can vouch for is by making a statement. A statement gives context to your presentation and immediately sparks interest amongst the audience. When our team presented an idea for a travel app in a business challenge, I started with “Today, we’re going to change the way the world travels forever!”

b) Avoid Methodology: Clients and investors give you time to present because they assume you’re the experts. They really don’t want to know how you collected the data unless it’s of importance to the proposal itself. It can also be very boring for them. To be on the safe side, keep the methodology slide in the appendix in the end and present it only if you receive a question about it.

c) Use Audio-Visual Aids: You can make it easy for your audience to understand your proposal better if you help them visualize. Don’t be shy to use images, videos, sound clips or props to make your presentation more effective. Using audio-visual aids also makes you more trustworthy as the audience can get a glance of the look and feel of your proposal. For a marketing project, our team created a presentation about a fantasy Bollywood film for which we presented a poster, a teaser, and even a radio clip!

11) Statistics: Statistics are essential to any presentation, but unless you provide context, the audience will never understand their significance. You can do this by comparing data geographically, historically or to another player.

About Productivity

12) Meetings: Half of our work lives revolve around meetings, and so it goes without saying that they should be efficient and productive. From the myriad of team meetings I’ve had in the last year, less than half have been able to accomplish both. The three things that were common in them were:

a) An agenda: A meeting stops being effective when it goes on for too long. That’s why it’s extremely important to have an agenda and stick to it. Sticking to the agenda makes sure that everyone uses the time wisely. One can share the agenda with the team members in advance so that they come prepared. If the meeting is expected to go on for hours, reserve some time for a break in the agenda. It avoids team members from getting overwhelmed.

b) Equal Participation: Typically, brainstorming sessions are dominated by extroverts, and we don’t get to hear the opinions of less expressive team members. If you feel that a member has been observant and quite for a while, ask her/him for her/his opinion. This will not only help you get another perspective but also make the team member feel valued.

c) Clear responsibilities: While this may seem the most obvious, I’ve been a part of so many meetings where at least one team member isn’t clear about the task he/she is required to do after the meeting. A good way to address this is to specify the task each team member is required to do before the meeting ends.

13) Commitment: To be productive, you need to be committed to the completion of the task. If you’ve a task that you know will require a few hours to complete, don’t start working on it straight away as it will take you more time than you need. The first step is to estimate the time the task would take. Start only when you can commit to sit and work for the number of hours required. The second step is to remain focused during the time you’re working on the task. Put your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode so that you don’t get bothered by notifications.

14) Mental Health: Mental health is as important to productivity as having a clean desk or a comfortable environment. You can’t be productive if you’re stressed or frustrated. There've been times where I’ve taken an entire day to finish a task that I could’ve done in a few hours if I wasn’t stressed or frustrated. Taking care of your mental health is a responsibility that you must take if you always want to be productive. Some of the things that have helped me to be consistently productive is talking to a therapist, going to the cinema, spending time with friends, taking breaks between work, and trying to have not more than four tasks on my mind at once.

About Entrepreneurship

15) Risk: I’ve always wanted to start something of my own, but I’ve wondered if I’ve what it takes to be an entrepreneur. After taking part in an entrepreneurial challenge, I’ve come to realize that the most important trait that any successful entrepreneur has is the ability to take risks again and again. An easy way to know your attitude towards risk is by asking yourself “Is it okay if I fail?”. And if the answer is no, entrepreneurship isn’t for you.