and we begin the long climb to the top

i spent 12 years of my life going from preschool to my first year of college, spent 6 years putting off anything to do with creating a future for myself, and then i miraculously got a job in an industry i was always fascinated by, only to wonder if i need to go back to school to get to the top of the socalled corporate ladder (but not this kind).

the first step was a 30 minute discussion with the man whose position i imagine it will take me 20 years to attain about how he got started, the path he took to get where he was, and to pick his brain about the path i might need to get as we couldn't come from two more completely different worlds.

the second step was a 45 minute discussion with the man who was in the best position to tell me the path i would need to take to get to where i want to be, the challenges i will inevitably face, and what i can do to ensure i reach my somewhat overlyambitious goal.

the position i want and that i think will take 20 years to attain is more or less complete control of all product-based decisions within the company -- namely product development, manufacturing, marketing, and sales.

the second discussion, which was with HR (it's amazing how much a good HR person can help you), told me straight up that it's entirely possible for me to be the CHEESE: "get a couple people together, come up with an idea, get some funding, and start a company. voila, you're an officer." sounds easy enough.

as someone who is currently without the idea or funding and thinking i'm going to have to slowly work my way up, the question i've been asking myself is whether or not it is absolutely necessary to go back to school to get an MBA to be successful in said desired position.

the man that's currently signing my paychecks says he never got one and doesn't think that i would need one either, but then again, he started a toy company and was then bought out and brought into JAKKS. HR says i probably should get one, but if i want to work my way up, it's all about getting in tight with those already in the inner circle with some kind of C(E, F, M, O, T)O title. they need to know that there won't be any learning curve whatsoever when you move up, that you already know everything there is to know about what your boss does, and can probably do it better than him.

meanwhile, here i am with one foot on the bottom rung looking all the way up to the top waiting for each opportunity to show my stuff. one thing i've learned so far though, is that experience counts ten times more than any degree, so 20 years isn't such a bad thing. then again, who knows if in 20 years i haven't quit my job and jumped on a boat and sailed around the world.
- posted by yeah...about that... @ 10:10 PM