Welcome back to Life in Business Casual! I'm starting this off with a disclaimer. I DO NOT, in any capacity, claim to be an expert on the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. However, a conversation I had with a friend the other day got me thinking. If society categorized itself by the characteristics that correspond with each house in Harry Potter, where would the sorting hat place Business school kids?
Courtesy of Pottermore.com
Without any hesitation, my friend immediately said Slytherin. As someone who has not read any of the books and has only seen a handful of the movies, if I knew anything, it was that you do not want to be in Slytherin House. Right? I mean Draco Malfoy and his cronies were the faces of Slytherin, and they weren't exactly selling me on Slytherin as a brand. Why would anyone want to be associated with that type of underhandedness?
We started doing some research, and what we found surprised us. We went to Pottermore.com, the digital hub and backbone for all things Harry Potter. It even fortifies it's credibility by having J.K. Rowling's seal of approval. After reading through the Slytherin house biography, receiving input from several Harry Potter-loving friends, and hours of scouring through countless articles about the series and it's characters, here's what we found:
There are 5 key characteristics that describe a member of Slytherin house:
- Cunning
- Ambitious
- Resourceful
- Determined
- Shrewd
Slytherin is known for producing its fair share of "Dark Wizards" (i.e. Voldemort), which is why many perceive it as nothing more than a house full of ne'er-do-wells. However, that doesn't mean each member lacks a moral compass. Severus Snape, alum of Slytherin House and Professor of potions, gained much acclaim after playing a vital role in the Battle of Hogwarts. After he was *spoiler alert* killed by Voldemort, Harry Potter himself ensured that Snape would be recognized and remembered as a hero. A similar notion can be applied to the business school/business world. While the business world has produced its fair share of misguided businessmen like, Charles Ponzi, and Bernie Madoff, not every businessman or businesswoman is looking for a "cunning" or dubious means of gaining success. The business students I know and the Business professionals I admire embody the latter 4 adjectives.
Ambition: In the B-school drive is crucial. Setting a far off goal and blindly working toward making it a reality is a quintessential component of being successful in this field. With ambition naturally comes determination.
Being determined is a quality that I immediately associate with being gutsy. Those who are willing to take risks, and make intuitive decisions rather than playing things by the book. Regardless of the circumstance or past failures you continue to improve. You continue to improve yourself and your product or brand.
Resourceful: When starting a new job or internship there is no instruction manual. You're doing a lot of your learning on the fly, and as you go. Being able to adapt and problem solve are essential to cracking a difficult case competition or learning a new skill (i.e. coding or excel).
Shrewd: Business school students and professionals are sharp minded. Allowing us to see directly through bull and straight through to the substance of the matter. We're blunt and bold.
Additionally, Slytherin is very community oriented. It's a house that values loyalty and brotherhood. These qualities, align with group project oriented structure of most business schools. An emphasis of how to work well with others and depend on those around you is point that has been consistently stressed in my classes.
All of this, is not to say that students or professionals in other fields can not/do not embody these characteristics, but rather serves to shine a light on what I've seen first hand in my short time as a business school student. From the students/professors I've met, to the brothers in my business fraternity, across the board the most prominent qualities are one if not all four of these adjectives. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be able to call these people my friends, and mentors.
Finally, I took the quiz available on Pottermore purely for investigative purposes, and the hat placed me into Slytherin, take that as you will.
I want to hear what you think. Leave a comment below! Do you think B-school kids belong in Slytherin? Why or why not? If you enjoyed this post feel free to give it a like!
Until next time, keep it (business) casual.