What They Don't Teach You At Stanford Business School

Chapter 4: Hardship

Hardship and dealing with adversity isn't taught in the nurturing confines of b-school.

I lead this chapter off with an interview of a super model where she reveals stuff a Stanford MBA does not know:

(Reprinted from Business Week)

What a SuperModel Can Teach a Stanford MBA
Larry Chiang gets way-behind-the-scenes interviews. Harvard Business School's, Harbus, featured him in a cover story that shares the same title as his book, " What They Don't Teach You At Stanford Business School ". In this post, Chiang reveals what super-models know that Stanford MBAs don't.


WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT, MATURE THEMES AND PARTIAL NUDITY

By Larry Chiang

Palo Alto, Calif -- August 11th --

Supermodels are not at the top of the game because of god-given good looks... there is very little discrepancy in facial structure, inseam length or cup size. What puts the 'super' in model is their business savvy and particularly their ability to bounceback from defeat, failure, dry-spells and hardship.

I spent a long weekend getting this interview and getting a peek into what a supermodel knows that is " What They STILL Don't Teach You At Stanford Business School ". OMG, I just came up with a sequel!

Behold, I present, " What a Supermodel can Teach a Stanford MBA".


If You Slip and Your Vi-Jay-Jay Pops Out, Recover .

A heel breaking is par for the course. Often the shoes are make-shift prototypes built for a one-time wearing. But when a heel breaks and you wipe out, you try to keep your legs together. Why?! Cuz you're not wearing underwear and you fall, legs open, your wuwu gets exposed to the flashbulbs.


Photo credit Kris Krug

Accept Your New Brand.

From New York Fashion Week forward, you're known as the model that flashes her punani. There will be jokes and back-talk in perpituity. Accept and take a bow versus re-experiencing the agony.

Laugh and say, "Ahhaaa". Your best revenge is full acceptance of the new brand. My weekend interview said, "Larry, I always remember what I read of yours, 'If they make you wear a burlap bag on the runway, make that burlap bag shine". For the record, I did write that but I was quoting MY mentor from Ford.


Photo credit Kris Krug

Blogger Disclosure : Under the new FTC self -regulation guidelines, I must disclose I make money from modeling and my image has been used to promote Symantec, Oldsmobile, PetSmart, Pulte Homes, Insight, AT&T and 30+ Fortune 500 brands


Use the New Brand .

There's a saying: 'Own Your Experiences'. It applies when you use the puddy-exposing wipe-out to land you more business and book yourself onto more gigs. My super-model interview said, "Pretty soon, you're no longer Larry Chiang. You are the model that slipped, ripped his khaki pants and let his trouser snake wiggle free". Word. Words to live by (I think).

Getting back on the Horse .

Hardship in super-modeling is normal. An agent may double-book you, a show may change your deal, a manager may over-commit you, but you stay on your horse. The best of the best stay on the horse during hardship, hustle for new contacts, stay pleasant during strenuous situations and make everything look easy.

This post took me hours to compile and summarize and you get all the best nuggets in seven minutes or less. If this were of value to you, cut and paste this as if you wrote it because it isn't copyright protected.