Naval Officer Round Table and Advice for Students Considering an Executive MBA with Bailey Smith & Noah Smith.

For this episode, I try something a bit different by having two guests on the show. I interview fellow classmates from the Executive MBA program at Duke. Bailey Smith and Noah Smith (no relation) were both Navy Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) with deployments in the Arabian Gulf and South China Sea. They both share their experiences from their time in the Navy and the challenges and similarities of managing sailors versus employees.

Noah completed this undergraduate degree from Clemson University and is now a Product Manager at Corning Incorporated, one of the world’s leading innovators in materials science. Bailey graduated from Cornell University and is an Assistant Vice President of Global Technology and Operations at the Bank of America.

In addition to talking about life in the Navy, we have open and candid conversations about what it is like to balance work, family and school during COVID-19, transitioning to all online classes, and in Bailey’s case, having a child while in the program and doing classes from the hospital the day after giving birth. If you are a perspective student contemplating an Executive MBA, I would encourage you to take a look at the podcast show notes to skip ahead as needed to where we provide our advice on how best to manage the program and give tips for success.

Discussion Topics:

(2:02) Deployments and navigating ships at Sea.
(9:22) Dealing with sleep deprivation.
(15:18) Naval officer portrayal in movies and literature.
(18:40) Traveling the world and favorite port calls.
(21:41) Earning trust and managing sailors versus employees.
(28:37) The decision to pursue an EMBA and why the format works.
(35:30) Adjusting to all online classes.
(42:55) Rapid fire questions on the pros and cons of an EMBA program.
(52:55) Time management advice for working parents doing an EMBA.
(1:04:01) #1 piece of advice for success in an EMBA program
(1:06:39) Having a child in the middle of term 2.