How BBS’s EMBA Transformed My Career: An Interview with a Successful CFO
24 July 2024How has the master EMBA from Bologna Business School influenced your approach to your professional life in general and your role in particular?
The EMBA from Bologna Business School is a powerful career booster. In a world characterized by complexity and crises as permanent phenomena, balancing hard and soft skills, developing critical thinking, and having a clear strategic vision become essential. The EMBA encourages participants to “go beyond boundaries,” referencing Pier Luigi Celli’s wonderful essay. Expanding one’s scope stimulates divergent thinking and fosters effective responses to market challenges. The broader and more cross-functional our knowledge, the easier it is to find suitable solutions to complex problems. Managing change and the ability to embrace and govern it are essential skills for a CFO, especially in rapidly evolving market contexts.
What skills acquired during the master have been most useful in your position as CFO?
In companies, it can happen that functions come into conflict with each other. Often, these conflicts are rooted in rigid organizational structures, lack of or difficult communication, and diverging goals and priorities between departments.
The ten “core” courses of the EMBA provide an in-depth understanding of how various business areas operate and how they are interconnected. This interdisciplinary knowledge, along with a strong emphasis on developing leadership skills, promotes a broader understanding of strategic vision, helping managers see beyond their department’s interests and consider the impact of their decisions on the entire organization. A common language and an open and aware discussion facilitate conflict resolution and contribute to fostering a climate of trust and collaboration.
Speaking of soft skills, what challenges have you faced in your current role and how has the EMBA prepared you to overcome them?
The work on soft skills during the Master is by far the most rewarding.
The EMBA encourages you to explore and develop your authentic leadership style. Through constant self-awareness work and active listening, it leads to deep reflection on your personal goals and relational skills.
Group work, case studies, and presentations turn even the most taciturn and reserved participants into surprisingly skilled speakers.
The comparison and support of a class of capable and collaborative professionals is the perfect and indispensable complement to this extraordinary training experience.
Three keywords to describe your journey at BBS and three reasons why a professional should enroll in an Executive MBA.
If I had to choose three adjectives to describe my journey at BBS, they would be: intense, transformative, and shared.
INTENSE
The EMBA is known for its tight schedules and significant workload. It undeniably impacts daily life to the point of overturning it, but one soon adapts to this intensity, to the point of missing it.
TRANSFORMATIVE
It is a beautiful journey of growth and awareness that acts not only on skills but also on the vision of oneself and the world.
SHARED
There is no EMBA without travel companions. Mine were extraordinary, the greatest wealth I carry with me.
There are many reasons why a professional should choose to enroll in an Executive MBA. I will limit myself to indicating one: it is the best investment one can make in oneself.
