Chris Mbangala, MIB’18

Chris Mbangala could not believe the diversity he found in the classrooms of Goodes Hall. It wasn’t the variety of nationalities, ethnicities and backgrounds represented in his MIB class that stood out—though, with students from “literally every place in the world you can think of” (including, in his own case, Belgium), it was certainly a heterogeneous cohort. Rather, what really floored Chris as he began his term abroad in Canada was the diversity of brainpower that came to light in every project and discussion.

Some of his classmates were quick to offer opinions; others waited to be asked for their thoughts. Some approached problems analytically; others leaned more on intuition. Each drew from a deep, unique tapestry of personal experiences, cultural conditioning, and societal norms. While he’d been exposed to some different perspectives during his undergrad at the Maastricht School of Business & Economics in the Netherlands, this was a whole new level. Combining it all in one classroom—and, more intensively, in small group projects with international scopes—made for a powerful crash course in diplomacy, empathy and productivity.

Chris admits that learning to accommodate different personalities, styles and points of view was, at times, frustrating. “There were a lot of moments when I thought ‘Wow, OK, we are really thinking differently about this,” he recalls. But in a program that offered no shortage of dazzling developmental milestones—including chatting with a guest-lecturing global finance executive about business sustainability (“I remember thinking, ‘I am so lucky to be here’”) and successfully delivering a year-long consulting project to a client (“They actually used our input, which was very satisfying”)—Chris insists that learning how to factor in the diverse views and experiences remains the most valuable skill learned during his MIB.

Chris is now working as a consultant in his hometown of Brussels, where considering varied points of view is a crucial—perhaps the most crucial—asset in his professional life. “I understand differences—what they are and how to work with them—and I never would have had the chance to become knowledgeable about that if I did not do the MIB program,” he says. “It taught me to avoid the groupthink that can make you assume everyone needs to be like us and do things the way we do. And that’s so important because the world doesn’t work like that.”