For the first 10 years of his career, software developer Harry Walsh's rise was unstoppable. Starting just months after his arrival in the Silicon Valley, the promotions arrived as regularly as the swallows returning to Capistrano.

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He was, in rapid succession, a software engineer, senior software engineer, project manager, lead software engineer, engineering manager and finally senior manager of engineering.

Over the course of this exciting decade, Harry learnеd a lot about team leadership whilе honing his technical skills. Like many technical professionals, he was eventually asked by his company to choose between a technical track and a leadership track in mapping his career. Harry made a very careful decision.

"I reasoned that the greatest long-term opportunities for me were in management. Teams have always responded to my leadership, and I enjoy furthering the careers of others. It seemed that with my people skills, the management track was the one for me."

That is, until Silicon Valley's sudden economic collapse led to widespread layoffs and salary reductions. The biggest status symbol in the Valley went overnight from having a brand-new Porsche to having a paycheck - any paycheck.

For several years, Harry had let his technical skills become rusty while he immersed himself in project management and team leadership. The Valley's notorious 18-hour-days left little time for anything else.

He knew everything about motivating others and getting products to market on time. But his programming skills were outdated and, worst of all, when the layoffs came he found himself competing with hundreds of other technical managers for a handful of opportunities.

Today, Harry is completing the second year of his MBA program. "This is just an incredible experience!" he exclaims. "I would have been so much more effective in the past if I'd had this knowledge.

Understanding budgets, finance, contracts . these are the tools I've always needed to be a top manager. I'm making lifelong connections with my colleagues, and I am confident that I will be a top prospect on the job market at graduation."

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