Small Leaders, Important Roles

I enjoyed reading “This Is What I Do” in the December Bulletin, with its profiles of three alumni who are changing things for the better in their fields of endeavor.

The vast majority of HBS alumni are not often in the news, but they are leaders in small but important ways in every corner, in every neighborhood, in every sector around the globe. They are parents and friends and coaches and colleagues who serve and inspire us with their kindness, thoughtfulness, commitment, and skills.

Thank you for showcasing such “human level” examples of the 72,000 alums who are trained to make a difference in the world. Such stories inspire the School’s majority of alums to feel more connected and akin to each other, to HBS, and to the mission we all share.

Lorne Adrain (MBA ’83)
Providence, RI

How to Make the Bulletin Sing

The title on the March cover, “The Future of Made in America: Lessons from the Front Lines of Global Commerce,” piqued my interest, so I ended up reading the entire magazine, not just the Class Notes.

Imagine my shock when I saw the “The Scene” photo of twelve singing tycoons in tuxedos. I was a member of the Harvard Krokodiloes, “Harvard University’s oldest a cappella singing group,” and spent seven years at HBS, so how was it possible that I’d never heard of singing at HBS?!

I saw the QR bar code but was frustrated because I didn’t know how to make it work. I tried photographing it with my smartphone and swiping the phone against the magazine, to no avail. Knowing that kids do this stuff, I called over my 12-year-old niece Julia, who told me, “I bet there’s an app for that.” She downloaded the free “Scanner” app and faster than you can say “HBS sings,” I was listening in awe to voices from the pages of the Bulletin. Kids rule!

Jim Botkin (MBA ’68, DBA ’73)
Cambridge, MA

A Vote for MVP

In the March Bulletin, writer Deborah Blagg touched all the bases in “Local Hero,” her article about San Francisco Giants president Larry Baer (MBA ’85).

For all his wizardry and success, Larry is a very normal guy. I saw him at a game several years ago at Dodger Stadium. The woman I was with had baked special original cookies for the game, and I introduced her and her wares to Larry. He was beyond cordial and later gave her a tour of AT&T Park. Larry is the Giants’ MVP.

Jeffrey Balash (MBA ’73/ JD ’74)
Beverly Hills, CA

Outside In at HBS

Regarding Debbie Rosenbaum’s March column “On the Outside at HBS,” I was one of those minorities at HBS.

I am of Mexican-American descent. My ancestors have been in this part of the world for over 2,000 years. I went to HBS as an architect who wanted some business skill, with no baggage from being a minority. I was a human sponge at HBS, learning all I could, participating in student government, meeting with faculty, and attending many club activities. Yes, the section contains “voluble” groups, but being hurt because I was a minority was left outside the section-room doors.

I don’t believe that increasing the number of minorities at the student and faculty level will do much to alleviate the discomfort of the HBS experience. The discomfort comes from the pressure-cooker environment created by the HBS experience. Accounting professor John Shank would, for example, start “peeling back the onion” on financial statements. He would use his chalk on the blackboards, walls, doors, and floors, taking us on a fascinating trip to the last numbers of the case. We had no idea how we got there. But the rides in Professor Shank’s classes were stressful on everyone. We were not over-stressed minorities; we were stressed-out students.

Life is not fair. To include opportunities for minorities to openly share their pain with discrimination could add something to organizational cases, but such a discussion would not be insightful nor meaningful. Pain is only felt by the injured. Expressing my experience about discrimination with my sectionmates would not have been a positive experience for anyone. We were at HBS for one thing and one thing only: to be human sponges and learn all we could about the world of business. If I felt discrimination at HBS, I did not have the time to dwell on it.

On recent trips to reunions, as I walked the campus, I have felt, minority or not, I was one of the lucky ones. I had been blessed. I had been “on the inside” at Harvard Business School.

Mike Enriquez (MBA ’77)
Litchfield Park, AZ

It Happens All the Time

In her “My Two Cents” column in the March Bulletin, I have difficulty understanding Debbie Rosenbaum’s “feelings of inadequacy or exclusion” given her obvious history of personal achievement and the clearly diversified class mix. Perhaps her discomfort is generated by the choices she has made and her personal makeup.

Certainly the HBS classroom has substantial opportunities for discussion, so I do not feel that specifically creating “opportunities for minorities to openly share their experiences with discrimination” is appropriate. So what if someone is judged unfairly by a few? It happens all the time, and sometimes people are applauded inaccurately too.

Jack Mayer (MBA ’64)
Mission, KS

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