Alumni Spotlight: Michael Mayall MBA 17

Now thriving in supply chain management at Intel, alumnus Michael Mayall MBA 17 shares his thoughts on global collaboration and offers advice for new business students.

I'm a Program Manager at Intel. I focus on Strategic Supply Chain capabilities. My team works on bringing to bear the planning capabilities of the future to support new requirements as our customer base evolves, so it's a challenging dance that we do to coordinate the requirements between our business groups, and then the teams that actually have to bring supply to the customers.

What does being a collaborative leader mean to you?

Collaborative leadership depends on an aligned vision and I think that's where it starts. Between leaders that are trying to get an organization to work in a direction they see is necessary in the future, it takes few people that are bought into the same vision, same terms, particularly speaking in the same language. That buy-in has to be translated down throughout the organization. And that takes dedication, that takes consistency and that takes alignment amongst those leaders.

How do you collaborate at work to make an impact?

My job is 90% collaboration. I would never get anything done as a Program Manager, if it weren't for the rest of my team: people that are capable to actually develop the tools and systems we need to bring about the vision that we're trying to communicate throughout the organization. Business doesn't get done without collaboration, and so, you know, I'm dependent on it.

What professor had the biggest impact on you?

Professor Tsai did not only teach me a majority of my analytical skills that I use today, he was also somebody who wanted you to do business with heart, and that has had a lasting impact on me as I go forward in my career.

Any advice for future business school graduates?

Technology is changing quite rapidly. I think that you focus a lot on that in your schooling, but the things that don't change are the needs to be able to influence other stakeholders throughout an organization. I pride myself on my ability to present. It's an entirely necessary skill set, even though we are heading in the direction of more automation, smarter technology to help us make better decisions, those decisions don't get made unless people are able to communicate them effectively and ensure that people are aligned.