For many years, I thought I didn’t need an MBA.

I ran non-profit organizations for a dozen years and held top leadership positions for years before that.  I had a BA and had gone for a year to graduate school before realizing it was time to be in action out in the wide world.  During my 25+ year career, I did not have an advanced degree, and saw no need for it.

I did see the need for further education to develop additional skills and took advantage of many resources:

• The Grantsmanship Center’s proposal writing workshop I took continues to inform my writing and proposal development.
• The Support Center of New York’s workshops in financial management, public speaking, public relations and staff supervision were invaluable because they were taught by people who were practitioners in the non-profit field.  Its Executive Director Roundtable exposed me to coaching for the first time and helped me grow an amazing network of colleagues.
• Columbia Business School’s Institute for Non-Profit Management (now folded into Executive Education) was an essential part of my growth as an Executive Director, both for its comprehensive education – especially in marketing and team leadership – and the collegiality of its format.
• NYU’s Wagner School’s program in negotiation and conflict management was fascinating and taught me some sophisticated problem-solving skills.
• AMA, AFP, and other association and university continuing education courses in conflict management, leadership development, direct marketing, major donor fundraising, and more rounded out my skill set.
• MBTI training opened my eyes to the wonders of diversity in personality preferences, work style, and team building.

I read voraciously and widely so gathered many insights and knowledge from sources both famous and obscure.  My colleagues and professional conferences also contributed to my continuing education.  And I took advantage of many personal development resources, many of which helped me be a far better leader than any of the formal courses I took.  So I felt and was both skilled and accomplished as a leader.

As I kept increasing my toolkit through regular learning, I didn’t feel a need for an advanced degree.  Yet times changed.

As Boards of Directors became increasingly populated by people from the financial services industry, I found that for-profit Board members tended to look down on us in the non-profit industry.  In the late 90’s and early 00’s, too, many for-profit people decided they wanted to “give back” and entered the non-profit industry – many with the attitude that they knew better how to run a non-profit “like a business.”  Despite my record of achievement, I didn’t feel respected or good enough for those for-profit folks.   Like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, I needed a diploma.

So I decided to get an MBA.  I wanted it for both the knowledge and the credibility I would gain. I found that I already knew much of the curriculum – no real surprise because I’d been managing and leading organizations for many years.  I had managed multi-million dollar financial operations, created and implemented strategic plans, strengthened operations, grown an organization from small to large, raised tens of millions of dollars, increased organizational visibility, developed a fantastic organizational culture, made strategic human resource decisions, solved multiple legal and risk challenges…everything that a for-profit CEO does, I had done.  It was quite validating to realize that my skill set already was quite sophisticated and comprehensive.

Getting an MBA was useful in many other ways, too. I concentrated in Leadership, which I found fascinating, engaging, and useful as I dove more deeply into this topic close to my heart.  I took other courses that interested me and learned a lot about financial modeling, ethics, and leadership.  Unexpectedly, the rigor of financial analysis appealed to me and I became quite adept at reading 10Ks, 10Qs and stock valuation charts.  I loved working in teams, and learned so much about mentoring younger professionals as I was one of the more experienced members of the class.  Graduating with honors felt fantastic.

Now that I’m a coach, I find that having an MBA in Leadership assures my clients that I know a lot about leadership development, motivation, style, etc. I decided not to get a coaching certification because I have the MBA. Just about every day, I use the leadership information from business school.

I view the credential as a good one to have. It shows I put in the work to get it, that I was interested in furthering my knowledge and studies, and that I am a professional. So for that reason, I recommend it if you’re thinking about it.

Does having an MBA make for-profit people respect me?  I think so in some cases.  In other cases, the bias against non-profit and government sector professionals continues.  There is an underlying attitude of “they couldn’t make it in the private sector.”  I can’t change those attitudes and I no longer try.

Today, I actually have compassion for those for-profit folks who look down on non-profit people.  I’ve always followed my heart in work, and have been compensated fairly for that work. I have always “given back” and have no regrets about any part of my career.

OK, I will never have a Jaguar or summer home or vacations in Provence.  That’s not important to me, though perhaps nice to have.  Most important to me, I know that my work has tangibly improved the quality of life for tens of thousands of people who live in or near poverty.  Sharing the bounty is more important to me than getting more for myself.

If having an MBA makes that work more possible, I am grateful to have the degree.