High-flying Luca Luciani demonstrates how dedication, hard work and initiative pay off. We will be reading his story in two parts, understanding how he fulfilled his ambitious goal of getting onto the fast track to senior management with the Amazon Pathway programme.
- How did you come to settle on POLIMI GSoM as your best choice for your further education?
My choice did not take long once I felt it was the moment to apply for an MBA. The perfect school for me had to fulfil the following criteria: it had to be affirmed and recognized worldwide, I wanted an Italian institution, but with an international environment, a practical approach, and cooperation with big enterprises in the industry sector was important too — and finally, (for personal reasons), a bit of flexibility in terms of class attendance was necessary.
But let me explain these points a bit further. POLIMI GSoM is certainly recognized worldwide, as is proved by its accreditations; for instance, it is AMBA accredited. To give you an idea of this accreditation, AMBA accredits less than 5% of the entire portfolio of business schools worldwide. My preference for an Italian institution was related to my wish to work in Italy, because with the Recovery Plan and EU funding made available for the Green Economy I believe there will be plenty of opportunities over the next few years and that I could contribute positively to the “renaissance” of post-Covid Italy. Having said this, I must admit that a multicultural environment is optimal for witnessing others’ beliefs, attitudes, and approaches, which can be used as food for thought. POLIMI GsoM’s MBA class was made up of almost 70% international students, the perfect combination. Finally, If you consider that I have a technical background and years of work experience in construction companies, I felt that it was realistic to remain in the industry sector (I could not imagine myself in the financial sector, for instance), and POLIMI GsoM’s partner companies come from there.
- You are clearly someone with great motivation, to have planned so well and achieved so much in a short space of time. What would be your advice to future MBA candidates in terms of learning to harness their inner motivation?
This is a hard question to answer. I can give my tips, which may or may not work, based on each person. First, for the sake of clarity, intrinsic motivation means a motivation driven by a real desire to do something for the pure fun of doing it and not for some separable consequence. I have always had the desire to improve my knowledge and to enhance my career position. This latter was mainly driven by the desire to face new challenges every time and overcome them — the ability to go beyond any new task gives me a feeling of fulfilment. So, for me, it was important to search for new challenges. First, at the company I was working for, I used to proactively put myself forward for tasks, even when they were outside my area of responsibility. In addition, as I alluded to before, I was always researching the job market to be aware of any role which could be more interesting for me compared to the position I was performing. Even if it seems trivial, it is necessary to look for something which you recognize as your pathway, independently of any external reward you might get by achieving it.
- Which feature of your MBA course did you most appreciate?
I would say the approach and sensitivity towards innovation and digitalization. A student who attends the POLIMI GSoM MBA course can feel, right from the beginning, the perfect mix among economic, financial, and other topics common to any MBA school, and the technical ones. Industry 4.0, through the digital technologies, is transforming business models and creating new opportunities. And POLIMI GSoM makes this point clear during the year and provides you with all the knowledge you need to be able to address these issues as a future leader. From my point of view —but I think this is a general concept — leaders nowadays should understand emerging technologies, or at least, they must have an idea of what is available on the market and perceive the potential impact on their business. This, both to create a competitive advantage using such tools, and to recognize possible threats from incumbents which could place your enterprise at risk. I can still remember a particular business case we dealt with during the innovation strategy class, which is a clear example of what I said before, as well as the importance given to the emerging key roles of the Chief Innovation Officer or Chief Technology Officer, which were mentioned in many disciplines we studied. Through this approach, POLIMI GSoM seems to be a step ahead in preparing new leaders.