No glove, no love!

This was one of the lessons we learned today at Richard Branson's speach. Apparently, that's also what his son learned after one night with a nice girl, while on holidays ;-)

As you can see from this example, this was a very laid back event. At least for Sir Branson himself, who appeared in his best style (jeans and shirt). No chit chat, no small talking, just Q&A. The conversation ranged from how to build and control such a huge brand as Virgin, corporate social responsibility, his entry in the airline business and how he picks people (basically he prefers to promote from within the company, but if recruiting... well, it just has to click... and I admire that, no bullshit case interviews, no useless and long tiring processes... if you're smart and passionate, he'll see that in a few seconds).

All in all, a fun event. Not as inspirational as I was expecting, but it's always nice to hear these great successful leaders. I guess that it really goes down to charisma. And that, he definitely has. Tons of it.

Dean wanted

As most of you should know, our Dean will be leaving LBS by the end of the year. If you want to apply for the position, just do it here :-)

Hmm... would they let me do it just as a summer internship? That would be cool.
"what did you do for the summer"
"I was a Dean!"
Niiiiiice!

Note: Laura Tyson, our current dean, is the lady on the photo. Not the dude with the green tie (it seems he's pretty famous, though...).

And the next one on the list is...

... Sir (ahem!) Richard Branson! Now, that's cool! A few weeks after having same-old Bill around, now we have an opportunity to listen to this charismatic dude. Can't wait to hear what he has to say about succession at Virgin. Can it survive without him? Microsoft without Billy Gates, Apple without Steve Jobs, Dell without... uhh... Dell. Hard to imagine, right?

This term is at full speed now and, typically, courses go from the very interesting to the very boring. At top of the list is Understanding Entrepreneurial Management. I only attended one session, but it was so interesting! And there's some really good ideas being pitched by my fellow students (and me too). At the bottom is International Macroeconomy. Not because of the course by itself (which is quite interesting, in my opinion) but because of the professor. He's an invited professor, which is hard to understand why. I mean, he may be very good and very knowledgeable of macroeconomy (and he indeed is, according to is resume) but.... that's not how you teach, dude!! Constantly walking from left to right, mumbling words, hands on your pocket, eyes on the floor. Sheesh!

Job hunting is also at full speed. Just have a look at the following workshops which I signed up for: Technology, Media & Telecoms Job Club; Cald Calling & Relationship Building (at last, someone came up with a different way of saying 'networking'!); Job Search Strategy; Brand Me (as if I needed that ;-) ).

All in all, it seems that this is going to be an interesting term. Oh! And if I could find a job, it would be even better! That's not asking much, is it?

PS: I just added Malcolm Gladwell's blog to my list of 'Other Good Links'. This is the guy that came up with really cool books such as 'The Tipping Point' and 'Blink'. Have a look!