Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica
Title: Managing Director
Company: Mdk Advisory and Consulting Ltd.
Deika Morrison
My Story About Me
We couldn't have been more different, but we really helped each other achieve our goals.
Deika Morrison has "done it all" at Wharton. A Wharton undergrad alum who currently has her own advisory and consulting company, Deika completed the EMBA program in 2008 by flying to Philadelphia every other weekend. Apprehensive at first about joining such a rigorous program that is compressed into weekends only, she was surprised at how quickly she adjusted to the schedule and the pace.
Focused and productive
Because we were there for such a short time — you get in on a Friday, you're there all day Saturday — you're mostly focused on school work. You may see people out on a Friday night, but by 4 p.m. on Saturday, everyone is gone. So people really made the most of the time they had together. It was very productive.
Collegial from the start
I felt apprehension going in. I thought it would be very hard for me to make friendships. But that was not my experience. Right from the start I was invited to dinner by a group of students I had not met before. This is a group that had people from Russia, India, Nigeria, Mexico, and Germany, and everyone got along really well.
High-quality intellectual exercise
My favorite part of the Wharton experience has been the quality of the intellectual exercise. I define that as a confluence of factors: the curriculum, the coursework, the faculty and their experiences, and my classmates and their experiences. Taken together, the learning experience has been unparalleled in terms of diversity, depth, scope and degree of excellence. It's very rare that a person can sit down with leading researchers and practitioners from major companies on the weekend, learn something, and then go into the office on a Monday and try to do the same thing. That's incredible. That's the power of an executive program.
Classroom dynamics
That's the good thing about the executive program — people have a lot of good experience. And they talk about their experience, not only agreeing with the course material and the professors, but saying, "Yes, maybe part of it worked, but part of it didn't work and this is why." For example, the professor in our international finance class mentioned that the WTO was a highly procedural organization, and I was able to contribute because I had been through an investigation with the WTO when I chaired the Anti-Dumping and Subsidies Commission.
In the company of seasoned professionals
I think it's humbling. You go in and realize that you are in amazing company. People have expertise in different areas — that's a great thing about Wharton. Wharton has always stressed diversity in everything, whether it's geographic background or work experience or gender.
Total surprise at Total Leadership class
What really surprised me, and that's because I really wasn't expecting it to be as fulfilling as it was and continues to be, was the Total Leadership class. I had never taken a class where the requirement was to try to change my life. This course is really about excelling in your work, community, home and self. You have to be a leader in all domains of your life to be a better leader at work. We had these coaching trios in the class. There was me, a guy who leads his family's property management business, and a vice president at GE. We couldn't have been more different, but we really helped each other achieve our goals. What we were supposed to do was keep tabs on each other. But, we took it one step further. Although it was not usually done, we emailed each other every day and said, "How are you doing? You set your goal to get up in the morning and exercise. Did you do it?" We've become close friends from that experience.
Transitioning from public to private sector
I was a career changer. My initial motivation for doing the MBA was to transition out of the public and into the private sector. I'm confident that the framework I've been given, the friends that I've made, and being a part of this network have really prepared me to advance in that direction. Right now, I am a co-founder and MD of my own advisory and consulting company, and my primary objective is to build a world-class organization responsive to client needs in the organization. I feel that Wharton has equipped me with a lot of tools and resources to do that.
On the cutting edge of global change
Wharton has always, in my mind, prided itself on being on the cutting edge of global change. Whatever is happening, they are right there if not being the ones leading the change, then immediately transmitting that change. Being part of a network that prides itself on being dynamic is already a formula for success.
