Looking forward to some time "off" at Wharton

There’s never really a good time to step off the treadmill, which really means that it is ALWAYS the right time to do so.

Like most of you in the entrepreneurial world, I never had a chance to spend much time honing my academic skills once school was over. There was always a job to go to, or a mortgage to pay, or other mouths that relied upon you.

But, with the encouragement of Jeff Chisholm, one of Wellington Financial’s Advisory Council members, now seems to be as good a time as any to spend the next 6+ months living at the Wharton School of Business Executive Program. Mr. Chisholm was once on the school’s advisory board, and is a big fan of the place. We just closed our first financing in the State of Pennsylvania, and it’s in the same time zone as most of our team, which makes for three good reasons to pick the site over other equally worthy places.

Here’s what Wharton has in store for me:

•Advance your strategic decision making capabilities to think faster and more creatively about current competitive strategies and solutions
•Deepen understanding of organizational dynamics to improve the design and implementation of new initiatives and avoid destructive conflicts
•Build capabilities for leading cross-border teams across functions and countries.
•Develop knowledge in core areas of business, including finance, marketing, management, and strategy based on current research and best practice
•Put your knowledge and skills to the test in a custom strategy simulation that incorporates program content, sustainability issues, and teamwork
•Develop a global network of peers and experts
•Create a plan to implement the lessons of EDP when you return to work

Now, being out of the country for more than half the year means I’ll no longer count as a Canadian resident for the purposes of staying on the Board of the Toronto Port Authority. That’ll come as a great relief to Toronto City Councillor Adam Vaughan, who is surely tired of reading (and ignoring) my treatises on his many fibs about the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

I’m not sure I’ll have time to keep up the blogging, either. I’d hate to spend all of the that money on Exec education and then never quite do it justice for our modest, yet loyal, backwater blog readership.

This couldn’t come at a better time for Master Fundraiser Kevin O’Leary (see prior post “O’Leary Funds appear to shed another 20% of assets in 2012” Jan. 27-13), or the Board of Directors of our CPP Investment Board (see prior post “12 questions CPP Investment Board won’t be answering on BNN today” Jan. 17-13). Just think how much better their lives will be without any bloggers around to shine a light on them.

We’re about to find out. See you in the Fall.

MRM