Core values in action: COMMUNITY
Two plane tickets. Two joyful reunions. One core value at work: Community.
Lekan Lawal’s uncle warned him to expect only cold, impersonal relations from Americans. Undaunted by such grim predictions, Lawal ’05MBA left his young wife behind in Lagos, Nigeria, determined to earn a Goizueta MBA.
When word came of his daughter Ayanfe’s birth in October, Lawal posted a quick birth announcement on an online board. Then word got around that Lawal was on such a tight budget he wouldn't be able to get home to see his new baby until the 2004 summer break. The reaction was overwhelming. “I was taken by storm,” Lawal says. “Totally shocked. I did not know it would
trigger such a response.”
The reply from Lawal’s classmates was to present him with a ticket home for the winter holiday to see his baby girl for the first time, a trip he could not have taken without the strong sense of community at work within the MBA Program.
Community is one of the seven core values established by the full-time MBA Program as part of its “Leadership in Action” brand. According to the definition, community is the manifestation of an environment built on trust, support, and mutual respect. Injecting this and the other values into daily life is essential to leadership, says Kembrel Jones ’00MBA, assistant dean and director of the MBA Program. “These values give us something to strive for every day, and they drive our behavior as students and as future
leaders.”
David Stakel ’04MBA also experienced the benefit of community first hand. This past September, Stakel was determined to finish his first “Ironman” triathlon in less than twelve hours. He made it in 11 hours, 58 minutes, and 5 seconds. Back on campus, David walked right into a roaring surprise of a victory party attended by 300 of his fellow classmates.
Like Lawal, Stakel had run right into a core Goizueta value being demonstrated loud and clear by the entire student body and faculty. He, too, was presented with a plane ticket home so that he could share his victory with his mother who was undergoing chemotherapy at the time.
Says Stakel, “Everyone [at Goizueta] has an intrinsic sense of value and community, a great
sense of drive, but not at the expense of other people.”—Grayson Daughters
Community Community is the manifestation of an environment built on trust, support, and mutual respect. It is the combination of these elements that creates an intellectually stimulating atmosphere of healthy competition and non-judgmental risk taking. Goizueta’s intimate size and international flavor enhance our sense of community, one which proves boundless as it extends beyond education to create a legacy in both our minds and our hearts. |