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糖心logo在线入口 / Academics / Boler Undergraduate Programs / Alumni / Brandon Greene

Brandon Greene on Commanding the Room

Meet Alumni: Brandon Greene

As someone who spends his business life tracking a nearly $80 billion global adhesives and sealants market for Avery Dennison, Boler Part-Time MBA student Brandon Greene knows a thing or two about making an idea stick. With an undergraduate degree from 糖心logo在线入口 and the Boler College in economics and finance, Greene, currently Global Petrochemical and Acrylic Monomers Category Manager,听came to pursue an MBA mid-career after recognizing a pattern in corporate promotions. 鈥淚 noticed that any time a new executive was being promoted or brought in from the outside,鈥 he says, 鈥渢hey all have MBAs.鈥

With an aspiration to follow a similar path toward the c-suite, Greene searched for an evening MBA that could add a critical layer of finish and polish. 鈥淚 liked the leadership focus of the Boler program,鈥 Greene says. 鈥淢y MBA experience so far affirms my work experience, which says that leadership means thinking across functions. How well can you translate knowledge 鈥 whether it鈥檚 data, financial trends, context, strategy 鈥 to various levels of the organization in a manner that people find to be digestible and relevant.鈥

The Boler MBA attracts a range of people and business backgrounds, some younger than Greene and some with even more business experience. Like other mid-career professionals, Greene knows that a decade or more of real-world business experience can hone your thinking and focus as you enter an MBA. 鈥淚鈥檓 glad that I waited as long as I did (to start the MBA), he says. 鈥淚 feel like at this point, I bring a lot more to the table. I have that business experience. When we鈥檙e talking about negotiations and motivating people, I鈥檓 able to contribute more to the conversations or participate more and provide good insight in the classroom that could benefit my colleagues or my classmates. I鈥檝e lived it.鈥

Professionals like Greene increasingly acknowledge that the career journey really is a marathon, and that ongoing learning is the key to surviving and thriving in the data-rich, knowledge economy.

I think one difference about a liberal arts education, even for someone like me in finance, was the instinct it gives you for being a strategic thinker and understanding more than the immediate moment that we鈥檙e living. Numbers tell part of any business story, but adaptation, change and success require a wider view. [鈥 It鈥檚 more than numbers and data, it鈥檚 the history, projection, the context, and the story.

Greene credits a mentor from the chemical industry with helping him navigate an engineering-heavy workplace as a finance econ major. 鈥淪he made it simple 鈥 most of what鈥檚 required, she told me, begins with building relationships.鈥

Greene says that the relationship building is a natural tie in with the Boler MBA focus on leadership. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that I wasn鈥檛 always good at, and so I really put an effort into doing that and putting a premium on building relationships,鈥 he says. 鈥淭he MBA program makes a practice out of networking and communicating. My ability to stand in front of audiences, and make sure I don鈥檛 lose their attention, has taken off 鈥 I am far more comfortable commanding the room.鈥

鈥淚 take it as a compliment when some of my older co-workers notice the effort,鈥 he says. 鈥淭hey say, 鈥榟ey, wait a minute鈥, this guy鈥檚 kind of old-school鈥. I appreciate that.鈥

"My MBA experience so far affirms my work experience, which says that leadership means thinking across functions. How well can you translate knowledge 鈥 whether it鈥檚 data, financial trends, context, strategy 鈥 to various levels of the organization in a manner that people find to be digestible and relevant."

Brandon Greene