EXTERNAL DELIVERY – It’s Never Too Late

“You’re going to do what?” was my wife’s reaction to my announcement. “Come on, you know it is something I’ve always wanted to do,” was my response. “Don’t you think that you’re a little old for this?” she fired back. “It’s never too late,” I countered.

What she and I were talking about was my decision to go back to college to earn my MBA. The reason I am doing this is because I want to teach at the college level when I make the decision to call corporate life quits. I am aiming for a good business school, but a roadblock for me is that I cannot teach at the college level without a graduate degree. So with some apprehension, I met with an advisor at Centenary College here in New Jersey and signed up. I chose Centenary College for three reasons:

1. My son is a professor at Centenary
2. They have what is considered one of the best online MBA programs taught by professors who are at the top of their game
3. They gave me a substantial tuition discount because I am a veteran.

When hearing about my return to academia, a lot of my friends reacted with smiles and gave me positive reinforcement. But I know what they were really thinking was that I was following in Rodney Dangerfield’s footsteps if you remember his movie, Back to School.

Actually, I have found that my fellow students are very accepting to my participation in the MBA program. I hadn’t expected that being that my 5 children are all older than most of my fellow students. One thing however has stood out during the first year of my pursuit.

When I announced I was returning to college to earn my MBA, there were a lot of comments from people to me saying that this should be a slam-dunk for me with all of my business experience. That turned out to be very incorrect. It has been almost 30 years since I went to Business School, and the business world has changed dramatically. I have learned many new ideas and ways of thinking about business than I had done previously. From Leadership, to Managerial Economics, to Marketing, to IT, the world has changed and changed in a big way. Running a company with 1980s methods will not work today.

The culprit is the Internet. This technology has changed the world forever, and today’s captains of industry had best understand how to leverage it against competition and what competition can do against you using the Internet.

I highly recommend that if you have been away from school for a decade or two, you might consider an online MBA or at least a few online courses to get yourself tuned up. I will tell you that going back to school late in life is a great experience. You are much more focused and appreciate the education in a way you never have before. It is challenging from an academic perspective, and yet, the material is understandable and holds your interest. See, an old dog can learn new tricks.

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John A. Bermingham is former Executive Vice President & COO of 1st Light Energy & Conservation Lighting, Inc. and former Co-President and COO of AgraTech, a biotech enterprise. He was also President & CEO of Cord Crafts, LLC; President & CEO of Alco Consumer Products, Inc., Lang Holdings, Inc., and President, Chairman, and CEO of Ampad, all of which he turned around and successfully sold. With more than 20 years of turnaround experience, he also held the positions of Chairman, President, and CEO of Centis, Inc., Smith Corona Corporation, and Rolodex Corporation as well as turning around several business units of AT&T Consumer Products Group and served as the EVP of the Electronics Group, and President of the Magnetic Products Group, Sony Corporation of America.