Jimmy Fair '18 on Management and Leadership

The Management and Leadership Development Program (MLDP) is a one-term program that prepares students to succeed in all of their management and leadership endeavors.

Jimmy Fair ’18, an economics major and public policy minor, embraced the co-curricular programs offered at the Rockefeller Center shortly after matriculating and never looked back. During his first year, Jimmy was selected to be part of the Class of 2018 First-Year Fellows and participated in Dartmouth Leadership Attitudes and Behaviors (DLAB) and the Rockefeller Peer Mentoring Program (RPMP). As a Sophomore he both participated and worked as a student program assistant for the Rockefeller Global Leadership Program and the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI).

His motivation for participating in MLDP his sophomore winter was primarily to develop the communication skills employers look for during Dartmouth’s corporate recruiting process.

Jimmy’s first major takeaway from the program came after evaluating his Myers-Briggs personality type.

"I didn’t realize the role that our psychological preferences play in how we converse with each other, especially in team dynamics,” says Jimmy.

After the MLDP session facilitated by Kate Hilton ’99 “Dream Teams vs. Scream Teams,” where he learned about establishing group norms and navigating communication barriers, Jimmy felt more prepared to convey his past experiences working in teams during interviews for consulting internships.

“MLDP speaks directly to one of the key drivers of candidate selection for many companies," explains Jimmy. "Do you understand your own work style in fast-paced team settings?”

Another key take-away from the program was the practice of setting and successfully executing SMART goals, as practiced through the Personal Leadership Challenge each participant undertakes during the term. Jimmy felt more prepared to methodically manage his workload at a consulting firm during his junior winter term as a result. A skill he plans to apply interning at Morgan Stanley this upcoming summer.

“Whether students hope to “go corporate” or crush their next grad school interview," says Jimmy, "MLDP hones sought-after skills rarely developed in the traditional classroom environment that complement anyone’s efforts to prepare for their next step.”

Click here for more information about the Management and Leadership Development Program (MLDP).