The LGO Program is a blend of both the MIT School of Engineering and the MIT Sloan School of Management. LGO Students gain both the hard-technical skills and the softer skills that will help them succeed in the business world. Jake Pellegrini is an LGO 2019 student pursuing his degree in Mechanical Engineering. Here he reflects on why he chose a dual degree with the business school and one of his favorite classes from Sloan.
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Why business school? Why now? Even when applying for schools, I thought extensively about these questions. Coming from a consulting background, I felt that I had a broad business base and there was a path to the post-MBA role at my firm without the need to leave for an MBA. I had worked on over two dozen cases: acquisition screens (What should we buy?), commercial due diligence (Should we buy it?), post-merger integration (How does 2+2 become 5?), and growth strategy (What next?). I realized, though, that as I transitioned from more of an individual contributor role to one of leadership and management, I knew I needed to work on some of the softer skills like communication and team building.
After completing my undergrad in MechE at the University of Notre Dame and working at L.E,K Consulting, I knew it was time to take the leap and apply to graduate school. I stumbled upon the LGO website and cold-contacted a current student who happened to have attended the same undergrad as I did. That conversation plus meeting other current students at the Preview Day event helped me better understand how complementary the engineering / operations and business ideas could be. I applied, got in, and began my LGO journey.
After spending the summer with my LGO Cohort and taking classes that are specifically targeted for LGOs, it was time to move into the Sloan world and join my fellow Sloanies as an MBA Candidate. I was excited to take on classes that were outside of my comfort zone, particularly a Communications class that was a required part of the core semester. The class offered opportunities for impromptu speaking, structured communication, and effective writing. My two favorite experiences with this were giving a prepared five-minute persuasive presentation and learning to give and receive feedback.
While decked out in Notre Dame gear, I gave my presentation on how Notre Dame should be ranked higher than Alabama in college football (at the time, there was a case for that… a persuasive case might I add J). Reflecting after, I realized the Powerpoint skills developed as a consultant combined with the tools learned in the Communications class complemented each other.
The second experience I look back on as critical in my development involved giving and receiving feedback with my core Sloan team, a group I had become very close with over the course of the semester. We carefully prepared feedback for each person, including one positive and one constructive. While I had been in feedback sessions before, the structure of the session and the thoughtfulness of my peers helped me realize what effective feedback is and how to give it.
Looking forward to my future career, I know there will be times when I am on the other side of the table, looking to grow and develop those around me to be leaders. I know I will leverage the softer skills developed throughout my time at Sloan, particularly with the Communications class.
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By Jake Pellegrini, LGO Class of 2019