Book Review: Ahead of the Curve
Broughton, Philip Delves. Ahead of the curve : two years at Harvard Business School. Penguin Press, 2008.
In 2004, Philip Delves Broughton left his position as Paris bureau chief of the London Daily Telegraph and enrolled in Harvard Business School. In 2006, he graduated with an MBA. This book recounts the details of those two years HBS, providing details on classmates, faculty members, and the day-to-day workings at HBS.
Delves Broughton is an ambivalent MBA. He applied to Harvard because print newspapers were dying and he wanted to change careers. He immersed himself into a new world, learning about valuation, negotiation and trading. He learned how to speak like an MBA, analyzing a case and making points quickly. He heard speakers like Warren Buffett and Hank Paulson. Yet in the end, he was haunted by the imagined life of a corporate drone, giving up his life to “airports and sales meetings and a paunch.” He is the only person in his section who does not have a job offer by graduation.
Throughout the book, Delves Broughton describes his struggle to reconcile two things he wants: The financial security that comes with a career like consulting or banking. And a life outside of work. He is at his best when describing this struggle and the choices he makes.
© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.
Tags: Job Search
May 12th, 2009 at 11:22 am
very interesting book.