At Dell, Nathan Taylor has a responsibility that really is as big as his title of Global Program Manager suggests. “As companies seek to expand or maintain their use of technology across their global presences,” he says, “my role is to ensure that they receive the same level of support in Jakarta as they do in Michigan.” It is a responsibility that his Executive MBA from Vanderbilt both prepared him for and helped him earn.

Like many executives, Nathan’s career had taken a fairly linear path of increasing responsibility and expertise. “My fear,” he says, “was that organic, on-the-job growth could take me only so far.” An Executive MBA could take him much farther, he believed, and earning it from Vanderbilt “afforded me the opportunity to continue working and supporting my family while still pursuing an academically rigorous degree.”

The experience, Nathan says, was “transformative.” He particularly values the experience of working with a diverse group of peers in his “C-team” and courses like Professor Michael Burcham’s Launching the Venture class, which he describes as “a mini-MBA” in itself. “Even if I never launch a new, entrepreneurial venture, the skills I learned in this class will help me sell new ideas with the company and get bigger, more effective projects off the ground with a much higher chance of success.”

Most of all, Nathan says, the experience has given him more confidence — not just in himself but also “more confidence to act in ambiguous situations or start down a path with limited knowledge of where it will end.” His bosses at Dell seem to have noticed. While he was still in the program, Nathan received a promotion to a new role in the company’s global consumer and small business segment division — one that literally comes with a world of responsibility.

Fun Fact: Nathan enjoys mountain biking, spending time with his four year old daughter, and flying airplanes.

“My fear was that organic, on-the-job growth could take me only so far.”