I have been thinking a lot about what to do next (if anything) in regards to education now that I am just about done with the MBA program at Norwich.  The obvious choices are to go get another Master’s degree or a PhD.

There are two drawbacks to the PhD.  One deterrent is obviously the cost of the program.  An online PhD will run me about the same as my undergrad and my MBA combined.  A lot of that will be handled with student aid, but this would also require me to chip in a lot.  I do not mind doing that, but in an uncertain economy, it is a gamble.

The other concern is the time it would take.  It will probably take me about four years.  That is a huge addition to the six years I have already invested.  I need to ask myself if I really want to invest that much time.

One thing that attracts me to a second Master’s degree is the “servant leadership” focus with the Master's in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.  Gonzaga's liberal arts tradition lies in its core curriculum, which integrates philosophy, religious studies, mathematics, literature, natural and social sciences, and extensive writing in each major discipline.

Servant-leadership emphasizes the leader's role as steward of the resources (human, financial and otherwise) provided by the organization. It encourages leaders to serve others while staying focused on achieving results in line with the organization's values and integrity.

I have spoken to one of the program coordinators at Gonzaga and this program runs about $27,000 and lasts two years.  Furthermore, the topic of leadership is something I am very interested in from a management perspective.  In my many years of being a manager, there is a lot of stuff I know.  But I suspect that this program will enlighten me to more than I ever suspected (much like the MBA program at Norwich).

I am in “personal development” mode right now and this looks interesting to say the least.