ATTAINING THE ULTIMATE PRIZE

He dropped out of high school. His first business venture filed for bankruptcy. But after 1350 days of study, Sharn Piper is celebrating his defining achievement and his confidence has never been higher.

H is business card reads “CEO, Attain NZ; sales and marketing director, Ruption Consulting Group”. And Sharn Piper can now add the letters MBA after his name – three letters that represent so much to a man who has experienced business’s school of hard knocks.

Born and raised in Gisborne, Sharn was viewed as a trouble-maker at high school and encouraged to quit at age 15. He had no idea of what he wanted to do. Fortunately, his uncle, a block-layer, literally dragged him out of bed and into the workforce, and after six months of demonstrating his work ethic, Sharn was offered a builder’s apprenticeship. It proved a tough indoctrination, but there were tougher times to follow.

Over 13 years he built up a construction firm to the point where it was turning over $27 million and employing up to 25 staff – only to be bankrupted by the GFC and an unforgiving industry with its risky cashflow model.

With the collapse of his company, Sharn suffered depression and spent a year soul searching – trying to figure out where he’d gone wrong, how he could help others, how he could rebuild himself to eventually go back, front up and put things right. Although he had “huge support” from his creditors, there is still unfinished business. Sharn still harbours that personal responsibility.

Despite the bankruptcy, Sharn has still managed to build and sell three successful Hawke’s Bay businesses – a boxing gym, an inspection company and a milk distribution business. He later embarked on a sales career in the corporate world and it was a job promotion that brought him to Auckland, where he was encouraged to pursue an MBA qualification.

Despite his concerns about returning to the classroom, Sharn signed up for AUT’s MBA – encouraged by the programme’s flexibility and consistency of delivery.

“There was also a good mix of group assignments and individual assignments throughout the whole program,” he says, “which encouraged interaction.”

Sharn’s initial fears about his studying capability proved groundless and although it was full- on, he was genuinely surprised by how much he enjoyed the whole experience. “It gave me the hunger to learn,” he says.

The programme also provided context to his past business experiences.

Time management was critical to Sharn’s MBA studies, and he’s grateful for the support of his family (he has a wife and two children). “Luckily I’m focused and can compartmentalise [my life],” he says. “So while Saturday mornings might be study time, Saturday afternoons was time spent with family.”

In the third year of his studies, Sharn had rebuilt his confidence enough to step back into business ownership – co-founding Ruption Consulting Group, which works with local government and today employs 20 staff, and his other business, Attain NZ – a fast- growing media marketing and sales strategy company that already employs 14 people.

Sharn admits that his motivation for taking on his MBA studies was a feeling of having missed out on education, and the whole process has been a massive confidence booster.

“I realised I do know what I’m talking about and what I need to do. I also learned how to carry out proper research.”

He believes the MBA programme provided a good balance of theory and academic input, as well as hard data and facts and real-world experience.

“It was largely a facilitation process. Students are given certain information but then they have to go and work things out for themselves in the real world. That’s what worked for me.”

DON’T HOLD BACK

Looking back over his MBA experience, Sharn now wishes he had started the program earlier. Questioning his motives and ability initially held him back. But now that he’s graduated, he looks back with some satisfaction on how his view of the world was challenged and his mind opened up to other points of view. And he’s grateful for the wide mix of people he studied alongside.

“Originally I thought I could complete the MBA in two years. I’m glad it took me four because it meant I met more people and made more contacts, and I could focus on one core subject at a time and really apply that subject,” he says.

“I was also able to apply the teachings directly to my work.

“The programme suited my lifestyle and allowed me to be quite structured [in my approach]. And I could take a break if I needed one,” he adds. And yes, he’s very happy that his grades were sufficient for him to be awarded the MBA “with distinction”.

For those people analysing the cost-versus- benefit of an MBA, Sharn believes the question to ask themselves is “What’s my reason?”

Anything that makes you a better person, that you can emerge from with greater knowledge and experience that you can apply in your life and career, is definitely worth it, he says.

The fact that the MBA is globally recognised is another major benefit, he adds. “It’s a ‘ big tick’ in your favour when fronting up to potential employers.”

(Sharn has personally put this theory into practice by hiring some of his cohort members.)

Those three letters after your name tell future employers that you have stickability and commitment – you stick at something until it’s completed.

Sharn did it all those years ago with his builder’s apprenticeship, and now he’s done it again with his MBA.