Portland State University: Lance Leonard
Lance graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. He served as an executive officer and adjutant, an operations officer, and a troop commander and, in all, has spent 35 months overseas during three separate tours in Iraq. Lance says that his greatest military challenge and accomplishment was commanding a nine-section unit of 149 diverse personnel, and ensuring their health and welfare and the completion of every mission his unit was assigned. Lance, who is an active duty student, plans a full career in the military before retiring.
Why did you decide to get an MBA?
Well, I wanted to learn a framework that would allow me to think with a business mentality and understand the inner workings of business, and then apply both to advance in my military career and in a civilian career once I retire from the military.
Do you have a sense of what you’d like to do with your MBA skills in the civilian world? Have you thought that far ahead yet?
Yes, I have, actually. I’d like to do leadership coaching and management development.
Has school provided any unanticipated benefits or surprises?
Yes, I would say the diversity of people in the program. In school I meet people who are very different in perspective and outlook.
What advice do you have for your military peers who are thinking about applying to graduate business school?
One quick and obvious thought is to start reading business magazines and journals or start getting in touch with the business world through news articles prior to starting a program. And then, I think the harder piece of advice is to expect a very different kind of intense routine in your graduate program. I worked long hours in the military, but there was a separation between military work and home. It’s different in an MBA program. Work comes home with you — and you have to do it. You can’t just think you can pick it up again when you get to class the next day.
How did you prepare for the GMAT® exam?
I was on active duty and my assignment was pretty hectic so I didn’t try to carve out large blocks of study time. I practiced on my lunch break and whenever I could get in 30 minutes or so. And I definitely did triage and prioritizing to figure out where I needed the most study. The official GMAC practice test I took really helped me with that.
I found that the practice tests in some of the books I bought to help me study were too easy. The GMAC prep test was more helpful for me, because it was a retired GMAT test. So it gave me a better indication of what I knew, where I needed extra study, and how I would do on the actual test.
How did your military background help you with the rigors of school?
We work a lot in teams in my MBA program. So knowing how to efficiently deploy team members, as well as the leadership and planning skills I learned in the military, has helped me organize teams in class that are effective in meeting our assignments’ objectives. I also learned a great deal about team dynamics through the military. So that helps me recognize potential issues between team members and work to resolve those issues before they become problems.
How would you describe the value added of your military experience combined with the MBA?
Well, my next jobs are going to be focused on planning and operations. My military background makes me more focused and a better leader. The MBA gives me a better understanding of business processes. And that, combined with my military experience, gives me a greater ability to organize resources. The combination also stretches your thinking. Now I have two sets of theoretical frameworks for understanding how things work and for making better decisions.
