From Andy Dennis of Coburg Consultants

 

This week we had the opportunity to sit down with Dan Shaw, the new Director of Dalhousie’s CRMBA program.  No stranger to the Rowe, Shaw brings energy, business savvy, and a motivating presence to the CRMBA leadership team.

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, Mr. Dan Shaw:

Coburg Consultants: What do you like the most about working with the CRMBA program?

Dan Shaw: I like working with bright and engaged students, and we’ve got very bright and very engaged students. I love sitting down with students and talking about their careers and figuring out what they have to offer the world and identifying what their passions are. It’s important for MBA students to explore their strengths and weaknesses and our program is uniquely positioned to help them realize their goals and find that role that fits them perfectly.

CC: How has your role changed from the director of undergraduate BCOMM (Co-op) program to director of the MBA program?

DS: Even though I only moved down the hall, it’s a drastically different role. I find at the MBA level students are completely engaged and focused on their career and personal development. This role is different in that we advise students and manage the curriculum, but we are also quite externally focused. We do all of our own marketing and recruitment for the program. There is also a lot more employer engagement just because of the nature of the program and the residency. While the change was initially a little bewildering, and the difference in the roles significant, I think it aligns well with my strengths and I am enjoying the role immensely. It is a real challenge.

CC: The corporate residency is considered by many one of the competitive advantages of our program. In addition to that, what else do you think differentiates Dalhousie’s MBA program from others?

DS: It’s hard not to think about PPE [Personal and Professional Effectiveness]. I’ve got a fairly extensive corporate background working with big management consultancy firms, multinational packaged good firms, and software firms and I’ve never seen the kind of career developing training and experiences that we offer anywhere else. It’s quite remarkable, really.

CC: In one of our recent blog postings we touched on the challenges of developing a personal brand.  What is your personal brand, Dan?

DS: I’m a motivator and I’m all about career development. That’s what I get the most fun out of and what gets me out of bed each morning. I love interacting with students outside of the classroom, setting them at ease, and getting to know them more on an equal footing. I think my personal brand is intermeshed with the Dal brand. I basically grew up on campus so Dal is a part of my blood even though I never went here.

CC: What’s Dan Shaw like outside the Rowe?

DS: I lead just as busy of a life at home as I do at the office. My wife and I both have busy work schedules (she is Director of Fundraising, Marketing & Communications at Pier 21 Canada’s National Immigration Museum), but our home life is also fast paced. We have two boys (Matthew, 10 and Anthony, 7) who play just about every sport under the moon. I am passionate about sports and I coach basketball and baseball teams, in addition to volunteering in the classroom. Last year I helped lead a sex education class with a group of twenty 10-year-old boys – you can imagine what that was like.  As a family we love to travel. Our favourite destinations are Florida (where my parents have a golf condo near the beach) and Spain (where my wife’s family is from). We are an animated and social group and get together regularly with friends and family, and love to entertain in our newly renovated house.

CC: What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know?

DS: I haven’t gotten very far in life; I grew up a 2 blocks away from the Kenneth C. Rowe building. A lot of people don’t know that about me.

CC: What advice do you have for students trying to discover their career path for either a corporate residency or post-grad employment?

DS: Follow your energy level and think about what you’re passionate about. Ideally you can combine your passion with your employment.  Have you ever done something that felt easy or “effortless”? I believe your goal is to make sure you are spending 80-90% of your time working to leverage your strengths. You should definitely spend time trying to be well-rounded and work on your weaknesses, however, you could spend your whole lifetime nudging those weaknesses, and not get very far. But if you cultivate those strengths, you can move mountains.

Coburg Consultants wants to thank Dan for sitting down with us. If you want to keep up with the conversation you can follow Dan Shaw on twitter @DShawMKTG_Prof and the Dal CRMBA @dalmba.