Hometown: Houston, TX
Title: Regional Planner, East
Company: ExxonMobil Upstream Ventures
Travis Nichols
My Story About Me
The program draws a lot of high caliber students, so you get to work with the top people in their respective industries.
With an engineering background and army experience, Travis Nichols had both the technical and leadership skills to get ahead at ExxonMobil, where he worked on safety issues, advising senior management on systems, processes and strategies. Missing from his tool kit was the formal business training equally important in getting ahead at a multinational corporation. For Nichols, Wharton was the ideal vehicle to fill that gap and prepare him for more strategic roles in the future. The move has already paid off in the form of a new position within the company. Nichols talks about the program’s global perspective, the diversity in the student body, and rounding out your skill set.
Range of viewpoints and experiences
The program draws a lot of high caliber students, so you get to work with the top people in their respective industries. And there are a range of industries. In my learning team there are seven people, and in that group of seven, there are five countries represented and six different industries. When we tackle a problem, we get seven different viewpoints, and it really helps to widen the solution space.
Whenever we discuss a case in class, one of our classmates has an intimate working knowledge of it — maybe they worked for the company we’re discussing or perhaps they were directly involved in the deal. It’s extremely valuable to have a subject matter expert in the classroom who can provide greater background.
Rounding out a skill set
My professional goals are to continue to focus on the groups in our company that work on global strategy. Getting the global perspective at Wharton helps in doing that. The academic fundamentals combined with the rigor of the program complements my engineering and army leadership experience, rounding out my background so I can be a better leader in my company.
Getting buy-in
I recommend making your coworkers — who may not be involved in the decision to sponsor you in the program — aware of how your involvement will affect your performance in the short term. There will be times when your coworkers help fill the gaps when you are out of the loop. Also make sure your family is aware of how demanding the program is — let them know that you won’t be able to do as many things with them as you did before. It’s important to have alignment from all of the stakeholders involved. When the program starts and your time commitment changes, make sure everyone is aware and ready for it.
On sponsorship
For me sponsorship wasn’t a tough sell; my management at the time saw the value in the program. I didn’t have to go in there and try to persuade them. If I were to offer advice, it would be to help your management understand how an MBA will allow you to increase your productivity and capabilities in the future. It would be worthwhile, as well, to show them a copy of the courses you’ll be taking. Educate them on how your skills and depth of knowledge will change over the two years, and as a result, how you’ll add more value to the company.
