Mark Albion - More Than Money: Questions Every MBA Needs to Answer: Redefining Risk and Reward for a Life of Purpose

More than a master of business administration, Mark Albion offers his readers an advanced degree in the meaning of life. His MBA is a Master of Blessed Attitude, and it suggests a course of personal development that will give everyone more than moneyit will give them purpose, direction, and hope.

Alan M. Webber, former editorial director and
managing editor, Harvard Business Review

Dr. Albion has developed the tools for helping us find our way in our professional lives. While this book is written for MBAs, it will speak to anyone who has struggled to find more meaning in his or her career. A compelling writer, Dr. Albion is open about himself, admits his mistakes, and through his own telling of how he learned from them, teaches us how to recognize ours and change the course of our lives for the better.

Phoebe Higgins, Dominican University of
California, MBA, 2007

The basic messages of the book summon up, and resonate with, my own experiences as an MBA student, and I realize that I would have been one of the people this book was intended for. Im reminded of some of the lessons Ive learned the hard way since leaving my MBA program. Not only does More Than Money invite us to question how success is really best measured, but it also offers some practical tools for finding a more holistic return on an MBA investment.

David Wood, Fisher Graduate School,
Monterey Institute, MBA, 1993

Before getting an MBA, read More Than Money. This book revolutionizes business school education and will help any MBA student get more out of school. In his special way, Dr. Mark leads you to define first what you want to do with your life. He does so by guiding you not with answers but with crucial questions that help you connect with who you are and what you wanted as a child but deemed impossible. Now it is possible.

Anton Arapetyan, Lviv (Ukraine) University
MBA, 2006, Lviv Business School

More Than Money reaffirms that as human beings we first need to love and be lovedbefore we are MBAs. Our MBA degrees, our positions, money, and assets are tools that can help us to love. For when all is said and done, on our deathbeds, love is the only thing that will have mattered. Thank you, Dr. Mark, for being that voice that speaks to our spirits, not just our heads.

Tolulope Ilesanmi, McGill University,
MBA, 2005

This book has me thinking in a very serious way about my life, my place in the world, and how my strengths and talents can be of service. It has me remembering the best times at work and how good it felt to be working together toward common objectives with a common purpose and with passion. Id like to find that again. More Than Money is really going to help me focus on doing so.

Douglas Hammer, New York University, Stern
School of Business, MBA, 1999

We have all heard stories of business school graduates who took decades to realize the careers they chose right out of school were the wrong ones for them. Benefit from the teachings in this book and start building yourself a sustainable career now, so you dont have to undo your mistakes later.

Erika Haas, Stanford Graduate School of
Business, MBA, 1998

iii

MORE THAN MONEY

QUESTIONS EVERY MBA NEEDS TO ANSWER

Redefining Risk and Reward for a Life of Purpose

Mark Albion

Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
San Francisco
a BK Life book

iv

More Than Money

Copyright 2008 by Mark Albion
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
235 Montgomery Street, Suite 650
San Francisco, California 94104-2916
Tel: (415) 288-0260, Fax: (415) 362-2512
www.bkconnection.com

Ordering information for print editions
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Berrett-Koehler and the BK logo are registered trademarks of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

First Edition
Hardcover print edition ISBN 978-1-57675-656-0
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-57675-983-7
IDPF ISBN 978-1-60994-450-6

2008-1

Project management, design, and composition by Dovetail Publishing Services. Cover design by MvB Design.

v

To Joy
for thirty years

ix

FOREWORD

Liz Cutler Maw, Executive Director, Net Impact

Incredible. Dynamic. Inspiring. Awesome.

As MBAs, you encounter many kinds of teachers. There are tenured professors who recite lectures from memory. There are guest lecturers who bring real-live case studies into the classroom. There are patient tutors who symbolically hold your hand through the crunch of the core curriculum.

And then there is Mark Albion.

Mark is a different kind of teacher, one who ventures outside the classroom walls to teach what he loves to people he loves. Mark is passionate about finding meaning in life and work, and he has made it his lifes mission to share that passion with others.

At the Net Impact annual conference, we are fortunate to see countless great speakers, but few have made the impact on students that Mark Albion has. The adjectives at the beginning of this section are just a few of the accolades heard yearly as we poll attendees on their favorite speakers. Marks name is always at the top of that list.

Why is Mark such a hit with MBAs and other business students or professionals?

I have my theories:

• Mark embodies the advice he gives. In More Than Money, Mark advises readers to think differently about career possibilities. Marks personal story is one in which he thought differently, chose differently, and acted differentlyand he glows with personal peace from doing so.
• xMark understands that his topic is a hard one. Its not easy to make career choices during business school, with the many options, sources of advice, and financial constraints you face. Choosing the right job or internship can seem like the most important decision in the world to stressed and overwhelmed MBA students. Mark knows this, and he doesnt belittle the seriousness of the choice but rather supports his audience to make the decision the right way.