***What Kind of Education Will Assure Your Success?

Conventional wisdom holds that an Ivy League degree virtually assures success. But like a lot of commonly held assumptions, it's turning out to be wrong.nnConsider "Route to the Top," Chief Executive Magazine's annual analysis of 700 top American CEOs. Of the findings in the latest 2004 survey, this one jumps out:nn"One final survey finding worth highlighting is that the percentage of CEOs with Ivy League educations continues to decline. The number fell from 11 to 10 percent in the latest survey, part of a long-term trend. In 1999, it was 13 percent . . . the preference for Ivy League-educated executives--once a genuine corporate bias--is coming to be seen as a vestige of an earlier era."nnIf Ivy League credentials are fading in importance, what kind of education will assure your success? One you get in the real world.nnChief Executive finds that people who have solved a lot of real-world problems get to the top faster than people who log years in prestigious institutions. Although 37 percent of the nation's top CEOs do have MBAs (up from 26 percent in 1998), most CEOs today turn out to be job hoppers who learn what they can in a variety of jobs, then move on quickly to the next opportunity. They are also likely to be former consultants who have analyzed and solved problems for many companies.nnSo the bottom line is that real-world experience is the main determinant of corporate success. The name of the school where you got your degree, if any, just doesn't matter as much as it used to.nnAnd then there is the question of motivation, which surveys rarely explore. All the statistics in the world can't explain how a man like Michael Dell, who had little formal education, outdistanced hordes of MBAs from top schools to become one of the wealthiest Americans. How did Mr. Dell and others like him do it? You won't find any ivy twined on their brows.nnThe key, again, is real world experience. Mr. Dell didn't learn about marketing by sitting in a classroom. He learned about it when his inventories started to pile up and he needed a way to generate more cash. That's when he had his flash of inspiration to sell computers directly to consumers, not through retailers. Of course, he would have learned about direct marketing at Harvard Business School, but the idea of applying it to computer sales was his and his alone.nnEducational theorists have a name for people like Michael Dell. They call him an active processor of information. That means he absorbs information quickly because he needs it to solve problems. He has what we might call a success personality.nnThose same educational theorists also have a name for people who like to analyze abstract information without necessarily putting it into practice. Those people are called reflective processors of information. They love learning for learning's sake, believing that abstract knowledge just might come in handy someday.nnYou don't have to be a genius to realize that real-world success depends on mastering both of those learning styles. You need the hard-knocks experience of building your own success. You also need to have MBA-level information under your belt. After all, the time might come when a business-school theory will provide just the answer you need about why your numbers aren't adding up or why your customers aren't buying what you have to sell.nnThat's why it is so important to put a foundation of knowledge beneath you, such as the one you will find in the 360° Business Briefings you can access online at Trump University. As you study those MBA-level ideas, try to envision how you will apply them in the real world. The day may come when they will provide just the answer you are looking for.nnBut don't just absorb theories. Get out into the real world and struggle for your success. You'll find that your passion, backed up by your knowledge, adds up to an education that is second to none.