Theodore Prime, MBA’s Post

For all the incoming graduate students everywhere, congratulations on embarking on this journey with me! Here are some tips to ease your first year anxieties, imposter syndrome, and stress. Stay blessed, work hard, and share wisdom. Fall 2021 Takeaways 1. Professional relationships matter 2. Learn to learn your way 3. Being strategic is a talent 4. Additional stress for marginal success is not worth it 5. Bs get degrees, but As prove your excellence 6. The outcome is just as important as the inputs 7. Heed wisdom from 2nd years, but seek context for clarity 8. Be fast to think and slow to pass judgement 9. Fully understand the syllabus and class expectations 10. Dress well everyday Spring 2022 Takeaways 1. Use the weekend to get a week ahead 2. Invest discretionary income and take advantage of student deductions 3. For a simpler work plate, delegate 4. Be conscious of when to up and downshift your work gears 5. Only share content that matters 6. It’s OK to lead from behind 7. Tone matters (use your voice effectively and within context) 8. Giving money, time, and knowledge is humbling 9. Recognize and mitigate exclusion (wherever, whenever, and forever) 10. Secure your oxygen mask on first (on airplanes and in your career) #Wisconsin School of Business #The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Picture Credit: Victoria De Bella

For those interested in Johnson & Johnson, I wrote this blog post chronicling my amazing experience and summer learnings from end-to-end. Post: https://lnkd.in/edRzRs59 Unfortunately, I didn’t receive a return offer from Johnson & Johnson, but I can offer a prospective candidate an internal view of the company from an outsider’s perspective. While the news was not ideal, I was mindful to be present and appreciate the beauty around me in Alaska. To all interns, whether you received offers or not, enjoy your summer!

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With great jubilation, I’m excited to share that I've been accepted into Marsh McLennan’s RISE (Racial Inclusion & Social Equity) fellowship program for Black MBA/Master’s Professionals! I’m truly excited to meet and engage with other RISE fellows and learn how social justice intersects with business leadership. For more info about the program, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eNtX6eym Special thanks to Chloe Benson and former RISE fellow Andrew Shaw for encouraging me to apply and participate in this wonderful program.

August 3rd was a bittersweet day. It was the last day of my internship at Johnson & Johnson. I leave with knowing that my J&J experience ended in the same manner that it started with, The Credo. The Credo is our promise to do the right thing because its the right thing to do. The left picture: My first experience at J&J was learning about the Credo. The right picture: My last experience at J&J was living the Credo. In an effort to support Hope Against Hunger, we created works of art that would be transposed onto reusable tote bags and donated, with food, to local community food banks. Hunger is a global issue, where one billion people around the world do not have enough to eat. In the US, Feeding America projects a 6-8 billion meal shortfall in the next 12 months, with total need for charitable food tripling 2019 distribution figures. At Johnson & Johnson, we live to serve. My internship tested not only my people leader capabilities, but also my values as a human. Thank you to everyone below & my HR Community for making this internship special. My Amazing Manager(s): Sarah Ring, Andy Ritterman, Laurel Placeway Internship Colleagues: Daniel E. Jones, Alithu C., James Cox, Neal-Avery Gutierrez, Rachael Carrión, Joycelyn Finley, MPH, MBA, Anjali Bobba, Tristan Janowicz, SHRM-CP. Program Office: Kandice Keelen, MS-HRM, SHRM-CP, Elizabeth Baker, Nicolette Polos, Chelsea Burrell Internship Buddy: Rebecca Doyle The What? Reducing hunger The How? https://lnkd.in/eUJWUgDm

Sorry for the wait!!! With eight weeks into my E-HRLDP internship at Johnson & Johnson and four weeks left, I've had much time to reflect on my experience, lessons learned, and strategies I've utilized to help me stay on track. I breakdown most of my life activities into 3 domains (personal, social and professional), to ensure I'm growing holistically. I hope you enjoy this list, which is rather long, and take something noteworthy to improve your workday. Personal Organization & Stress Management -Give yourself daily "homework" at work -Use project management tools -Organize your mailbox= Peaceful mind  -Idle Time -> Do Something  -Know your What & How -Challenge yourself to define what success means to you -Stand up and take a walk when you need it Social Networking -Schedule 1:1 in real time (as you may forget later) -Find mentors, advisors, and sponsors who believe in you -Seek out the unwritten aspects of a company's culture  -Conduct purposeful and targeted stakeholder mapping that aligns with your goals and ambitions  -Happy hours matter Professional Development & Image -Understand the company language and speak to it -"Make connections count" - don't leave a call empty handed -Follow-up with people to close meeting times  -Understand how your business functions and makes money -Ask yourself: Do I really need a meeting or should I send an email? -Make your voice heard in meetings -Remember that the advice you receive from FT workers is within the context of their personal work experience and that may not be your experience -Seek out best practice templates and presentations  -Connect the dots -Get more external insights -Welcome feedback from everyone And to that end, have a wonderful day :)

Here’s the tea. I am currently at the midweek point of my fourth internship week. While ascertaining feedback on my current project strategy for my final presentation, I asked myself, “How would you define the J&J way of getting the work done?” After careful deliberation and mindfulness time, I posit a concept I call the 7C’s of the J&J Way. These steps illustrate the end-to-end nature of getting work done at J&J from my early career vantage point. The 7C’s of the J&J Way 1. (Simplify) Complexity - Shape issues to identify valuable problems 2. Clarify your goals and objectives 3. Collaborate as an HR partner and project/product owner with the business 4. Confirm- Validate your hypothesis with SMEs 5. Clearance - Seek approval and buy-in from managers and senior leadership 6. Cite - Manage and organize your sources to back up your claims 7. Confidence - Deliver your case and take learnings to the next project Thoughts? Special thanks to my fellow Badger Kate (Geier) Cummings for inspiring this post. Johnson & Johnson, The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, Wisconsin School of Business #leadership # #career #hr #management #problemsolving #thoughtleadership #thoughtoftheday

As a graduate student, balling on a budget is not a skill, but a necessity. Luckily, Johnson & Johnson provides a holistic Total Rewards program that positively impacts their interns’ lives everyday. For example: 1) Health & Wellness: I have access to delicious affordable meals everyday, multiple gym facilities, discounted J&J products and in-house beauty services (ex: hair salon). I’m bald, so I may have to be creative at the salon. 2) Flexibility: I can work from home two days a week. (Hello work tops and party bottoms.) 3) Transportation: When buying my train pass through J&J, my commuter benefits allows me to reduce my taxable income. (Every dollar counts, trust me.) 4) Healthcare: Who would think an intern can buy and access affordable medical insurance? (Not I, but its nice having options.) The best benefits are the ones you can’t buy anywhere else. The availability of these benefits either encourages talent to click the job acceptance button or join the Great Resignation movement. Show the HR community some love and share your favorite job benefit and why? #johnsonandjohnson #totalrewards #interns #badgers

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a fascinating HR buzz word to me. Call it DEI if you’re fond of acronyms or just fancy. What fascinates me is how a company’s culture or norms can bring your life energy or detract from you. Over the last week, I experienced the desired outcomes of DEI in the most subtle of ways. 1. I walked past a director of a prominent line of business who could clearly tell I was new. He surprisingly inquired to schedule a 1:1 with me to learn more about who I was. (We had a Zoom call a week later as he was powerwalking through Brooklyn. Cool guy.) 2. I saw a facilities person wearing a Wisconsin Badger shirt and waved hello. He struck up a conversation with me for 30-minutes, emailed me later in the work day to wish me a great day, and connected me with a senior HR professional in a division I never knew existed. (I guess you never know whose well-connected.) 3. I was contacted via LinkedIn a few days by a Badger Alum and current employee, who went out of their way to introduce themself, check in on me, and schedule a 1:1 to ensure I have a successful internship. (The Badger ❤️ is real.) What’s your DEI point? If you were to put these three people from the same company in the same room, you wouldn’t be able to readily identify how they were all connected. In my eyes, the common trait they shared was simple, just kindness. As HR people, we call that great hiring ;). If DEI is a concept that’s hard to grasp for you, be kind to everyone you meet, and you’re already making a difference. I hope you feel energized to be kind. “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou #johnsonandjohnson #hr #dei #kindness

Let’s talk about J&J’s Culture, Day 8 The rule of thumb for MBA interns is to evaluate a company’s culture as they evaluate you as a culture-add in 12 weeks.  This mindset is comparable to professional dating, where the intention is for both parties to swipe right. If you enjoy tv analogies, its the professional equivalent of 90 Day Fiancé.  Heading into my second week, a new connection posed the question, what’s the company’s culture like so far?  Hmmm. Great question. Here are my thoughts. My Mountaintop View of J&J J&J is a globally diverse community of smart people who exhibit self-awareness, value work-life balance, and humbly collaborate and execute large projects within a complex organizational structure. The Credo is the heartbeat that drives everyone’s integrity for the betterment of each patient, product, and project. My "Boots on the Ground" Perspective J&J is simply a relationship business.  Social currency is earned through intellectual curiosity, purposeful stakeholder mapping, and end-to-end project success assessed by one’s ability to accurately identify “The What” (the critically valuable problem or goal) and cost-efficiently execute “The How” (the most effective strategy to deliver people and business outcomes).  Your relationship with your manager can not be understated.  Depending on how you steer your career, this connection will evolve as an advisor, mentor, and sponsor both here and beyond. For example, J&J has only had eight CEOs in its 130+ years history with all positions filled through internal talent and promotions. (Shoutout to J&J's newest CEO, Joaquin Duato). My Early Culture Conclusions: The J&J healthcare ecosystem offers you a one-stop center for your entire career managed by you, propelled by your strategic decisions, and supported by colleagues whose trust you’ve earned during your professional saga.  My Personal Teaching Note: In a fireside chat with Head of Global Talent Management, Michael Ehret, Ph.D., he told the 2022 class of LDP summer interns, “If an employee leaves, we did something wrong.”  These powerful words struck me.  While just an intern with only eight days under my belt, I thought, “Sign me up to stay.” What’s next?  Today, I met with Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer, Peter Fasolo, Ph.D., who shared his knowledge about where the business is going, the importance of bending towards the future, and how critical it is to have a real desire to learn. How often does an intern have access to such as an opportunity? That’s how a company becomes one of the best places to work.  Also, Fernando Salinas delivers the best happy hours. Thank you for letting me deliver the toast to great food, new friendships, and a wonderful future. Cheers to you all! #Johnson & Johnson, #medtech #humanresourceintern, #Wisconsin School of Business, #The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management