Every thought of doing an MBA in social entrepreneurship? Well, now there is an MBA programme that is specifically designed to meet your needs. Titled the “Master of Business Abundance”, the programme is deliberately focused on helping social entrepreneurs that are acting alone and that are action driven to start learning according to what they need to succeed. Indeed, in drawing candidates, the programme summary asks:
“Are you a social entrepreneur doing what you love, helping mankind, but would really love to generate abundance for yourself as well?”
However, the programme is clear not to distinguish, and it also targets those that work in a job that is not their passion that want to introduce a greater level of meaning to their lives. Other ways that you can know whether the programme is for you is if you want to do work that expresses your true gifts and talents, spend your time engaged in meaningful activities, want to attract more clients and generate more income, want to become better and marketing and want to build a solid business foundation for growth.
You might be wondering where you can find such a programme with such a strong focus on abundance. The creator is Lianne Bridges. With an extensive business background of 30 years working for multinationals, Bridges decided to transform her life, say goodbye to corporates and engage in assisting social entrepreneurs to achieve business success through her programme. Bridges describes herself as being an advocate for social change. She is qualified with a Bachelors in Economics as well as an MBA. She has worked in both the public and private sectors, and argues that her current work is social entrepreneurship because she aims to achieve social transformation. Interestingly she describes herself as a “Late Bloomer” which she indicates means that she was born at the end of the Baby Boomer years, giving her an interesting perspective on life and through the transformation of society that she has experienced over her years.
That may sound all well and good, but why would you select this programme in particular? This is due to their “one size fits all” attitude, and the fact that the approach is not holistic in nature, only focusing on certain specifics. Of importance is the fact that many traditional programmes only look at part of a person – the professional part – when in actual fact, particularly for social entrepreneurship it is essential to look at the person inside as well.
Another question you may have is what you would study on a Master of Business Abundance programme. The Master is structured around eight modules that are considered to be specifically suitable to the needs of social entrepreneurs. The first module is “Finding Your Zen Spot” and this aims to help students understand where passion meets purpose for them and from which skills and gifts they can derive prosperity. There is also “Being Your Authentic Self” which helps the person to understand the type of entrepreneur they are and the leadership type that they use and to be able to select the most appropriate business models and approaches for them. Charting Your Genuine Positioning Statement is the third module, which is considered to offer a basis for building a dynamic brand. Following this the person carries out a module that is focused on designing their signature programme, based on being able to communicate the solution to clients and generate an offering that is repeatable. Other modules look at areas like customer attraction, selling from the heart and really planning for success. Raising your Abundance Quotient is another important module that aims to understand people’s inability to achieve success and tackle these areas accordingly.
Learning is carried out in small groups of four to six people and the teaching is done in the town of Hudson, Quebec. The selection of setting means that the course is easily accessible from Montreal but also sufficiently quiet to be able to allow participants to disconnect and really focus on their studies.The interesting quality of this programme is it´s uniqueness, which facilitates collaboration of learning that simply is not possible on traditional programmes.
Paula Newton is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Paula’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Paula has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Paula has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
