Kirsten Moss, Stanford GSB’s Director of Evaluation, discusses this infamous question:
Essay A: What matters most to you and why? This question helps us learn about your ideals and values. They set the context for how you see the world. They are your guideposts when you make any decision from what type of job you pursue to what type of culture you will create in leading an organization.
The italics are mine — to underscore that this question is about ideals and values. I recently read a very well-written values essay that perfectly answers this question. Ironically, Robert Joss, the Dean of Stanford GSB, authored the essay.
In that essay, Dean Joss writes how he learned business and leadership lessons from a high-school educated, dairy farmer — his grandfather. In addition to getting a colorful glimpse of Joss’ grandfather, we get intimate look at his core passions and values:
- Love for business. It’s not easy explaining cash flow, customer service, and operational synergies in a breezy, easy-to-understand manner. He invested time to communicate tough business concepts for the layperson. Furthermore, it feels like he had fun doing so.
- Work ethic. For eight years, Joss helped his grandparents “24/7.”
- Honesty. Joss’ grandfather gave others the benefit of the doubt and always had others’ best interests at heart.
At the end of the essay, one can easily imagine Joss bringing the same work ethic, honesty, and sound business principles at work, home, or school. That’s the impression you want to create. You will win the hearts and minds of the Stanford admissions committee.
For our Stanford MBA applicants, what’s the best way to tackle this question? Here are my top three tips:
Gain an appreciation for values and ideals.
It’s not easy describing personal values. Most of us have never articulated our values. For some, being honest and working hard is like breathing and sleeping. Nobody has asked me why and how I breathe and sleep. It’s just something I do. If I had to describe it, I’d have to do some research first. Similarly, if you need to articulate values, you need to do some probing and gain some perspective. If you’ve worked at several companies, compare and contrast companies with strong and weak values. Do the different value systems lead to different behaviors and results?
After the introspective, it’ll be easier to explain how your values have impacted past decisions and how your values are likely to guide you in the future.
How about if you don’t have any values? It’s probably not true. If you dig deep and hard enough, a set of values will likely emerge. But let’s say you’ve done the digging, and you’re still turning up empty. Don’t be hard on yourself. You get credit for being honest.
And here’s the good news. Figure out your values and live them, starting today. You’ll be amazed. Strong values will produce results immediately, and you can use those stories in your essays.
Brainstorm a list of values.
Google has a very close-knit culture, driven by a strong set of values — written down on a list called “ten things Google has found to be true.” On the list, you’ll find many Googly mantras: “You can make money without doing evil,” “Focus on the user and all else will follow,” and “Great just isn’t good enough.”
What are the ten things you’ve found to be true? My list has 14 items. Those are my values.
Having trouble getting started? Use Google’s list and Joss’ essay for inspiration.
Identify stories that exemplify how you live those values.
If you’re living your values every single day, then you probably don’t have to look very far. But you are looking for the top 2-3 stories that best exemplify your values. You need to find stories that are easy-to-understand and engaging. I grew up in Los Angeles, so when I help my clients with their stories, I’m always thinking to myself, how do we go “Hollywood” with this story? That is, present a daunting challenge, explain how you added a little bit of ingenuity and a lot of hard work, and summarize how this led to a happy Hollywood ending.
Linda Abraham over at Accepted.com points out that successful responses to this question usually involve initiative and self-awareness. Those with strong values usually demonstrate initiative. When they see an opportunity that aligns with their value system, they’ll jump on it immediately.
Self-awareness is another great point. From time-to-time, Google’s value system gets questioned. How do they approach it? Ignore and avoid? Or do they confront the inconsistencies? Here’s an example:
When we first wrote these “10 things” four years ago, we included the phrase “Google does not do horoscopes, financial advice or chat.” Over time we’ve expanded our view of the range of services we can offer –- web search, for instance, isn’t the only way for people to access or use information -– and products that then seemed unlikely are now key aspects of our portfolio. This doesn’t mean we’ve changed our core mission; just that the farther we travel toward achieving it, the more those blurry objects on the horizon come into sharper focus (to be replaced, of course, by more blurry objects).
Do you have enough courage and conviction to retain your core, while having enough flexibility to adapt as circumstances change? In this instance, Google shows maturity and willingness to tackle uncomfortable questions.
Read the full article: How to Answer Stanford’s "What matters most to you and why?" Essay Question