Karla Davidson-Brown
Head of Procurement, Landcorp
Class of 2022
Relevant, Applied Knowledge
Taking on a key senior leadership position meant Karla Davidson-Brown was looking for executive education - but she didn’t want to waste time on the kind of heavy-handed academic learning offered at university. On Not An MBA, she got exactly the kind of support she needed.
It's practical and it's applied knowledge - so you're not wading through a textbook, you're not reading about case studies that don't feel relevant to you and your work.
It’s been different because I can come away and use the skills straight away - but also be much more deliberate about where I add value into a business.
I don’t think there’s many courses that help you think about how you shop up at work everyday.
For Cheeky People Who Want Different
“naMBA would suit people who are ready for something a bit different. People who are in middle management and either have moved into a senior role, or are ready to. Also: people who are willing to be a little bit cheeky with their learning and do some things that are a little bit outside the square."
Accelerate Your Learning With Others
The Not An MBA learning journey is designed to leverage the expertise and insight of everyone in the group, creating an accelerated network effect.
Karla Davidson-Brown, Head of Procurement at Landcorp Farming, was blown away at how much she learned, not just from the curriculum, but from the group of smart, curious leaders that enrol in Not An MBA.
“This format has forced us to work alongside everyone in the group and there's been nuggets of gold to gain from everybody. It's been a fantastic group of people.
And some of those people who I made snap judgments about have contributed the most to my learning! It's been a really good format.”
All Not An MBA students are encouraged to share what they’ve learned widely - especially with their colleagues. Teaching is the best form of learning, and when people share their lessons with their teams, the results kick in faster, earlier, and are more sustained. Karla grabbed the challenge with both hands.
“Each week, I'll try and share with my peers or my team some of the learnings from the session that week. And everyone goes: ‘Yeah, I get that! Actually, that's that's really useful,'“
Sometimes it’s even the things that we actually already know, but don't necessarily put into practice, are the things that land.
Like empathy maps: taking the time to consciously think about where people around you are coming from. I've been using that that in my interactions with people, but also sharing it with my team for them to think about in their interactions. And it's been gold.”
Hear Karla talk about the double-whammy effect of tribe and tools here:
A Confidence Boost
Karla describes how her confidence has improved since taking the course, thanks to an ability to be more deliberate, intentional and clearer about her value and contribution.
“I feel more confident. I feel more deliberate and purposeful. I’m taking the time to think about my secret sauce, what I bring that no-one else around me can do, and how I make sure that I’m spending most of my time doing that."
Watch Karla talk about her confidence boost in this short clip: