Climbing to the Top: MBA Student Profile

You won’t find many MBA candidates with a background like Denise Eikelenboom, part of Rotterdam School of Management’s 2013 Global Executive OneMBA cohort. Up until the turn of the century, she was a helicopter pilot in the Dutch navy. She, however, left that career path behind at the turn of the century and started her own business as an aviation consultant in 2003.

What motivated her to make the transition? “The reason I stopped flying is because I like being creative,” she answers. “Being a pilot is anything but – you have to follow so many rules and regulations. For me, business is a lot more exciting.”

Despite having no formal business training, she says she did not find running her own enterprise particularly challenging. “I was just working for myself – I never had any intentions of building a big company, and because I was working in such a specific industry, getting assignments was not difficult.”

She caught the eye of the outgoing director of ANWB Medical Air Assistance when working with them on a project, and stepped in to fill the role in 2009. Two years on, a desire to gain an academic qualification and an offer of sponsorship from her manager convinced her to enroll an MBA program. “It just came together, and I realized that this is what I wanted to do.”

Away from intuition

Eikelenboom chose to study at the Rotterdam School of Management based on the in-depth theoretical underpinning of the course. “It’s definitely a different experience,” she states. “Before I started I did a lot of things based on gut feeling or intuition; learning by doing, really. The MBA really helps you to put a name to things, and see their basis. It also equips you with a bigger toolkit and gives you a lot more depth on the financial side of things.”

Despite this added depth, the financial and economical side of business education comes naturally to her. “I know I’m good with numbers – my father was self employed and my sister is an accountant, so I suppose it runs in the family. What is more challenging,” she continues, “is soft skills, and developing myself as a leader. I went into the military after high school; not known for being a place to develop soft skills!”

The personal leadership development program at RSM helps in this regard, she says: “It forces you to reflect on yourself. The atmosphere in the group is very open too, so it’s not difficult to show your real self and share your weaknesses.” The fact that the average age of the cohort is of a similar age to Eikelenboom helps, she feels: “They have the same life and work experience, which makes it easier to connect.”

Another challenge for the formerly self-employed student is working as a part of a team, particularly international ones (the OneMBA program is run at five premier universities on four different continents). It is, however, a welcome one. “It’s very new to me, working with people in Brazil or Mexico for example, but it really opens up your world. It’s an excellent add-on, I would say.”

Lessons from the mountaintop

Another colorful addition to Eikelenboom’s résumé is her participation on the Kilimanjaro Leadership Project 2012, which saw an all-female team of RSM students scale Africa’s tallest mountain. “I read about the expedition, and thought, that is so cool, I have to do this. Coming from a male-dominated military background, I thought it would be good to do something exclusively with women. So many people are prejudiced, and think a group of women can’t work together, and they’d just end up fighting.”

This was far from the case, she says, and speaks highly of the experience. “It pushed us beyond certain limitations. A lot of the women had never camped before or tested their physical limits, so it was good to show how strong we could be, individually and as a team.”

Altitude sickness forced Eikelenboom to abandon the trek before reaching the top, but that in itself provided her with an invaluable business – and life – lesson. “The guides said it wasn’t about reaching the top, but you think, why else am I here? I’m going to reach the top, so it was a disappointment. But when I came back and told people, they were still impressed. It was an eye opener, and really helped me lose the fear of failure. If sometimes you don’t make it, it doesn’t matter. People still respect you, and it doesn’t matter if now and then a task proves too big for you.”

A valuable lesson indeed. What other advice would she give those considering business school? “If in doubt about doing an MBA, just do it. It really opens up your world,” she reiterates. Coming from a former military helicopter pilot, that’s a pretty glowing confirmation of the potential excitement of business education!