It seems that if you want to move up in management, you need an MBA. At least that was the prevailing wisdom a few years back as I worked in various corporations. Most executives were expected to get an MBA, and most did. There was an explosion of "executive MBA" programs in the late 90s and early part of this decade allowing employees to earn an MBA while still working in a full time position.

However a lot of the MBA program was geared towards teaching hard topics, like finance and accounting, and ensuring that graduates understood the roles of information technology in a company. I think that was a bit of a mistake as we ended up with a generation or two of managers who viewed ROI, profit margin, and the bottom line as the most important parts of a company.

Companies are realizing that becoming an executive and leader takes more than understanding numbers, and are starting to look to hire candidates that have stronger "soft skills" that emphasize working with others, understanding other viewpoints, motivating employees, and relating to customers. Business schools are starting to catch up in these areas and looking to offer more courses that deal with softer skills.

If you are interesting in advancing into management, an MBA might be a good investment, but I would also argue that building strong soft skills is just as important. If you demonstrate strong abilities to interact with others, solve problems, handle disagreements, and act as a leader, you might be just as strong a candidate as that recent MBA graduate.

There's a lot more to IT than technology, and a lot more to business than crunching numbers. Those soft skills will be valuable in every facet of your life, and are worth spending some time on in your personal development plan.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

• Windows Media Podcast - 23.0MB WMV

  

• iPod Video Podcast - 16.3MB MP4

  

• MP3 Audio Podcast - 3.7MB MP3

  

The podcast feeds are available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com. Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there. Overall RSS Feed:

or now on iTunes!

Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter: