The MBA advantage: A lawyer’s path to strategic leadership
How military experience and business education fueled Bill McHugh’s (MBA ’14) career growth.
After serving in the military for just under a decade, including as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and an active-duty U.S. Army JAG Corps attorney, Bill McHugh (MBA ’14) transitioned first into private practice law, then into the corporate world. His military experience gave him a unique foundation that set him up for success in his career as a corporate attorney.
“The military is very foundational and prepares you with a set of core values and an ability to work with teams in an environment where you’re focused on objectives,” he said. “Taking care of your people is also always top of mind.”
After several years into his now-over two-decade legal career, McHugh joined Rayonier as Assistant General Counsel. With the role, his scope started to extend beyond the law, participating in strategic business decisions. Seeing a need to expand his business acumen, McHugh applied to the University of Florida’s Executive MBA program.
While joining a program with a quality faculty and peers who were high-ranking business leaders was important to McHugh, his ultimate focus was on selecting a program that would assure his skill advancement.
“It was important to me to go to a school that had a strong reputation,” he said. “I had to be confident that I would benefit from the experience.”
McHugh’s decision to join the University of Florida’s MBA program ultimately proved to be the experience he needed. After a few more years with Rayonier, McHugh was selected as Vice President and General Counsel of Sea Island Company, a luxury ocean-side resort in Georgia.
“When I joined Sea Island, the CEO who hired me said, ‘I’m hiring an MBA, not just a lawyer,’” McHugh recalled.
A highly renowned resort destination, Sea Island Company’s business lines vary from accommodations to real estate to recreation activities. Each of the resort’s businesses provides McHugh with a new opportunity to blend his legal and business skills.
“You’re taught in law school and as a developing attorney that you have to ‘think like a lawyer’ and see that there’s risk around every corner,” McHugh explained. “An MBA [on the other hand] teaches you to think like a businessperson. My view is informed by both the legal risks and business opportunities, which allows me to process information in a way that’s different from that of a trial attorney.”
McHugh is particularly grateful for the financial education he received in the MBA program. During his time in the program, he had the opportunity to put his newly acquired finance skills into practice immediately.
At the time, China’s Ministry of Commerce weighed whether to impose trade duties on certain imports. After the required Global Immersion Experience that sent him and his classmates to Prague for a week to practice their business skills outside of the classroom, McHugh took a plane further East for meetings in Beijing which laid the groundwork China exempting his employer’s highest quality products from duties.
Overall, McHugh sees incredible value in the skills he learned in his MBA program, both as a veteran and lawyer, and encourages others with either experience to consider a business degree.
“Business school helps you learn to talk like a businessperson and frame things like a businessperson as opposed to a service member,” he said. “Learning how to operate within a different framework and different communication style will help from a transitioning service member perspective. It gives you a recent credential that is recognizable and translates well to those who may not understand the military experience.”
