Dominic Lawson founded Dominic Lawson Bespoke Planning (DLBP) in London a decade ago. In 2021 he decided to take his company and leadership skills to the next level by joining the Trinity Flexible Executive MBA.
In 2020 my business really started to ramp up and I was very determined to not to let Covid impede it in anyway. While the world’s workforce was adjusting to reoccurring lockdowns, I was fortune to be able to use this time to make a concerted effort to grow my own business.
At that same time, I knew the time was right to do an MBA because I wanted to grow the business and my leadership skills in tandem. While browsing the Trinity Business School website I found the Flexible Executive MBA. The flexible nature of the programme immediately appealed to me. I live in Ireland, but my town planning business is in London, so I travel a lot. I needed to be able to learn at a distance and connect at times that suited my schedule.
When I considering where to do the MBA, I also looked at UK and European providers, but I suppose you could say I have a bit of a soft spot for Trinity, its history and reputation. I met with the Course Director and when I found out just how highly ranked the Trinity Business School is, and how the programme would help professionalise my abilities in business, it was an easy decision to make.
I think it’s important to make the distinction that this is not just a case of an executive or part-time MBA gone online, this programme is designed specifically for distance learners. It’s professionally run and seamlessly fits around your life and work schedule, so it feels very of its time.
I'm older than the typical student but most of my classmates are my peers, so I'm not an outlier. My course colleagues (now friends) are based all over the world, in all manner of different fields and work schedules. It’s a globally connected classroom. The breadth of different backgrounds and experiences the Flexible Executive MBA has brought together would be difficult to fuse in any other environment.
Personally, I found it quite easy to adapt to the actual mechanics and structure of the programme as it is project led and therefore mirrors how I would tackle any work project. The fact that my classmates are also all online, collaborating on a project, means the programme really reflects today’s globally connected workforce.
The technology used to deliver the programme is simply state-of-the-art; the new modules are released every two weeks and you can work your way through them at your own pace, wherever you are in the world. For me, that might be an airport or a train! The course material is so interesting and relevant that I’m motivated to log in and connect whenever I can.
So far, I’ve most enjoyed the managing people module, which we did last term. It's certainly helped with managing my own staff and how I manage new recruits that join my business. Another key take-away from the course is to really lean into the skillsets of my employees when assigning work and to build their work portfolio in their areas of strengths. Through the application of my MBA learning, I am already improving my own business to a great degree.
The MBA is helping me to unlearn to relearn. I’m ditching outdated thought processes and techniques and diversifying my skillset. I believe the most important thing business leaders can do is reflect on their learning processes to unlearn the old patterns that stand in the way of authentic leadership.