The retail industry is playing a significant part in the environmental crisis. From plastic bottles and bags to massive carbon emissions, the impact the retail sector has on the planet is substantial. The sustainability focus of my MBA will better prepare me to advocate for sustainable practices—I’m getting an overview of the core problems and learning some innovative ways to approach them. Over the past decade, many companies have added developing sustainability practices to their goals. I want to help influence the industry overall to shift to a more long-term reward model that incentivizes decisionmakers to make the type of environmentally friendly decisions that may pay less today but will pay huge dividends in the future.
Almost everything I’ve learned during the core curriculum has been useful in my job already. I’m especially grateful for the lessons we learned in our Modeling Managerial Decisions class. The class was tough, but it immediately helped me address a problem I was facing at work. Using the linear programming formulations skills we learned in class—especially Excel Solver—I was able to build a linear programming model that helped me effectively present a solution to a difficult problem we’ve been grappling with. The model turned out to be a prototype and the inspiration for a new digital product my team is building this year.
I want to be the kind of leader who inspires others to focus on initiatives that do good and that give back to society. I also want to inspire my fellow leaders, in business and in society, to utilize empathy when making decisions that will impact people’s lives. Finally, I hope to lead by example and help my fellow classmates leave Yale SOM knowing that investing in others often yields the best returns on investment in the long run.
