There was no shortage of challenges for former Rice Business dean Peter Rodriguez in his first six years in the role: Hurricane Harvey, a global pandemic, and a deep freeze. Peter not only led the school through these crises, but managed to foster major growth milestones along the way. He sat down with host Christine Dobbyn to discuss the business school, who his mentors are, and an appointment that gave him a front-row seat to what’s happening in the economy.

Episode Quotes:

How COVID affected business school education:

06:41 - I think sometimes when looking at education or thinking about business school, people think, “Well, I'm going to get the formula to solve every problem,” or, “There's a script and somewhere I can go and find out, well, this is what you do in the event X, Y, or Z happens.” It doesn't work that way. 

In large part, what you're training to do is to be prepared for things that you weren't prepared for, to be ready for things that were unforeseeable, and to have that ability to think clearly, mobilize a team, stick true to a mission or some objectives, and hold to some values while you do the very best. And it's a challenge to do.

On decision-making:

25:58 - If you’re frustrated or if you feel like you don’t know exactly which path to take, it usually goes back to reflecting on what you really intend, what is most important, and having the courage to make some choices that may be uncomfortable.

On mentorship:

26:15 - It's important to have relationships because without a relationship it's hard to have a mentor. It's not just someone who's an expert giving you advice. It's someone you trust and someone who has an interest in you and vice versa. So, spending time with people, getting to know them, offering it back. I think the whole idea of great mentorship is that you don't just have a one-way conversation, they’re two-way.

Show Links:

• Episode Transcript

Guest Profile:

• Faculty Profile at Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University
• Dean Peter Rodriguez on LinkedIn
• Dean Peter Rodriguez on Twitter