My CIMBA Journey: Letizia Gallo

1. What are the benefits of doing an MBA Full Time vs Part Time?

For me doing the full-time program was the best way to fully embrace the MBA experience. By doing a full-time MBA I had the benefit of not only improving my academic knowledge but also improving on a personal level. The leadership skills, the individual coaching, and the team coaching helped me with that. In addition, the biggest benefit for me was being able to participate in the LIVE 2 Influence program. It really put into practice how we, as leaders, must understand the person in front of us instead of focusing on biases caused by stereotypes, first impressions, or our way to view the world… in other words our System 1 Thinking.

2. What do you feel was the most valuable lesson you took from it?

The most valuable lesson that I took from my MBA is that each of us has a story. We might be standing in front of another person thinking we know why they act a certain way, but the truth is we only see a part of who they are. It’s up to us to ask questions, to make the person in front of us tell us their own story and be able to dig deeper than what we see on the surface or what our biases make us see. I keep this always on my mind, especially considering not every person I meet I get to spend a lot of time with, so “falling” into the bias trap is easy if you aren’t mindful of the situation you are in.

3. What is your most cherished memory from your time at CIMBA?

I don’t have a most cherished memory from my time at CIMBA in fact, I have many. I would have to say my favorite ones are from all the times we were together as a group. Starting from wearing red when it was the Chief’s game day, to having my classmates over for lunch with my family, to the Kansas City’s families treating us as their children when we visited them, to Dr.Al’s explaining us the secret recipe for his ribs, to wearing FT team jerseys for our soccer match against the PT,…I could keep on going but in general, I would say the people and the time spent with them are where my most cherished memories come from.