Throughout his young career, recent GBA graduate Jeremy Coffey has applied an arsenal of diverse talents to his professional roles, which include head of operations at a software company that builds blockchain applications, product marketing manager at a marketing firm, project manager at a brand management firm, and sommelier(!). Open to and curious about everything in the business world, Coffey sought a graduate degree with broad applicability when he realized he “had a skills gap.”
“I had worked in a number of roles where I felt under-utilized,” he explains. “I did not think I would be able to move up to senior management or executive leadership unless I developed my strategic thinking and my ability to work with data. I also needed to get better at thinking about an organization holistically rather than just thinking about my function area.” After considering several online MBA programs, Coffey found himself intrigued by the Master of Graduate Business Administration (GBA) at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
“I was initially reluctant to go with the GBA because it didn’t have the wider recognition of an MBA,” Coffey concedes. “However, when I thought about what I value, gaining a global perspective was high on my list, as was community. I knew several Fletcher alums professionally. I really respected them and enjoyed working with them. I thought, well, if the GBA program is filled with people like that, then I’m going to have a great time there. And it was filled with wonderful people, and I did have a great time.”
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“An MBA With an International Focus”
When colleagues and potential employers ask Coffey about his GBA degree, he tells them it’s “a master’s in business administration with a global focus. That’s the easiest way to ground their understanding or expectations of my expertise. I usually talk specifically about strategy, especially in a global, international context. Also risk analysis, which seems to resonate very well. When I talk about risks at a global scale and my ability to break those down into a single firm or single industry context, people see the value of the degree.”
As Coffey sees it, the GBA provides “a bigger frame of reference” than the MBA “so you’re not thinking specifically about managing at a firm or being a professional manager; you’re thinking about being an actor on the global stage. The GBA makes you more aware of all the functions occurring simultaneously to the business around you… I really enjoyed the courses in international politics, international security, and the economics of emerging markets. They broadened my perspective and forced me to think deeply about how different factors are connected around the world, their knock-on effects in different sectors.”
For example, “I work with developers in Latin America. The economics, the politics of the region with recent upheavals in certain countries—understanding those gives me greater empathy. They sometimes have trouble connecting to the internet because of infrastructure issues. When we discuss pay packages, my training helps me understand what inflation does to their weekly wage and I get why they want to be paid in dollars or stablecoins. The program helped me develop a macro perspective.”
That broadened perspective is “very helpful in thinking about the disruption that will come from advanced technologies, specifically AI, but also in my industry, in blockchain—where there will be barriers to penetration and where there’ll be opportunities to see some major gains. That will help me position myself to maximize the impact that I can have and the income that I can draw. It’s really helpful to have those globally framing courses peppered in with some of these much more technical, much more managerial-focused courses.”
Developing Diverse Skills in the GBA Program
Coffey “learned so many relevant skills from the GBA,” with “different skills coming to the forefront in different professional situations… If I have to pick a top skill, that would be strategic analysis. I chose this program specifically to improve my ability to see the bigger picture around certain decisions, especially when it comes to framing issues in a bigger context and helping explain the reasoning behind decisions. I have the tools to do that now.”
Strategy pervades the curriculum; as Coffey explains, “Managerial economics and macroeconomics may not sound like decision-making courses, but if you are thinking at a macro level, then you’re piecing together big fundamental factors. Being able to pull back and think at that level is extremely helpful, especially when tying short-term trends into a longer-term program, or identifying and pulling out features of a short-term trend that could speak to a longer-term program.”
Coffey adds that the data analysis and statistics course “was so helpful, especially when paired with the capstone project, which was essentially a consulting course. Those two combined really helped me tell stories better, to use data more effectively, to visualize data, pull out what’s important and communicate that in a slide deck… Communication is critical. It makes it easier to get your point across and achieve buy in, which, in the client-services world, is the goal.”
Keys to Success in the GBA Program
Coffey has remained committed to the GBA program even after earning his degree. He serves as a mentor to current students; he “loves talking to GBAs when they’re toward the beginning of their journey, because I am so enthusiastic about the program and its value.” The advice he gives all students? “Do all the readings. If you’re looking to maximize the value of your time in the program, you really need to dig into the material. It’s really important to engage with those readings so you can have a better discussion” in class.
Classes build on readings. “Top-notch” instructors “supplement the online materials with topical materials, updates in the field and recent events.” As a result, “I felt I was getting the most relevant and up-to-date instruction in each particular area of study from subject matter experts. The only way that I was able to take the most value from all of that instruction was by digging into the readings.”
Coffey also advises new students: “Don’t stress about the whole journey yet. Take it one layer at a time. See what you’re really digging into and what you’re enjoying. I had no idea I would love corporate finance as much as I did. I had zero idea. It was a shock to me, and I absolutely loved it. I loved building models. I loved getting into valuation questions. I look for excuses to do this kind of cashflow analysis now.” The takeaway: “There are just some things that you won’t know until you get into them. Focus on the fundamentals early on: strategy, corporate finance, macroeconomics. Then see where your joy takes you and drill down deeper.”
Finally, he says, engage faculty and peers, in and out of the classroom. He suggests that you “talk in class a lot and not let there be any dead periods, because at that point everyone’s just paying for silence, which is a silly thing to do unless you’re taking a meditation course. The more people in the discussion, the better the discussion is. There are so many wonderful and unique thinkers in these courses.” Also, “Stay after class is over. Many professors offer to stay late, and you can also meet with them during office hours. Why would you not? You have a top-level expert in their field at your disposal and they are so generous with their time, even though their time is so valuable.”
Launch the Next Phase of Your Career With a GBA
Jeremy Coffey has applied his talents across industries and functions throughout his career. He’s already contemplating his next move: “The company I worked at through my studies was just acquired, so I’m a free agent for the first time in a long time. And it couldn’t have come at a better moment. The GBA has prepared me to contribute in so many new ways. Now I get to explore. It’s going to be really exciting!”
Coffey believes the skills and knowledge he acquired in the GBA program at the Fletcher School have prepared him for the challenges ahead. As he puts it, “I feel I’ve earned my place in a meaningful global community, and I feel I’ve earned the right to be a senior decision-maker, which I couldn’t say before I took on this degree.” In short: “I love this program. It’s changed the trajectory of my career.”