{"id":1830,"date":"2017-03-16T18:10:57","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T18:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/?p=1830"},"modified":"2020-05-28T18:09:02","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T18:09:02","slug":"jennifer-wolf-ms-management-strategy-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/resources\/student-spotlight\/jennifer-wolf-ms-management-strategy-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer Wolf, MS in Management, Strategy and Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/cdnapisec.kaltura.com\/p\/2353281\/sp\/235328100\/embedIframeJs\/uiconf_id\/41315042\/partner_id\/2353281\"><\/script>\n<div style=\"width: 100%;display: inline-block;position: relative;\"> \n\t<div id=\"dummy\" style=\"margin-top: 56.25%;\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"kaltura_player_1\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;left: 0;right: 0;bottom:0;border:solid thin black;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script>\nvar partnerId = 2353281,\n    uiconfId = 41315042,\n    entryId = '0_z845u5lb';\nkWidget.embed({\n  \"targetId\": \"kaltura_player_1\",\n  \"wid\": \"_\"+partnerId,\n  \"uiconf_id\": uiconfId,\n  \"flashvars\": {},\n  \"cache_st\": 1590173330,\n  \"entry_id\": entryId\n});\n<\/script>\n<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In her spare time, Jennifer Wolf serves as a Girl Scout troop co-leader and helps her husband with the restoration of a classic 1956 Ford F100.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Professionally, her accomplishments span a 20-year career marked with achievements in the fields of computer science and information technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">While serving in the U.S. Navy, Wolf earned an associate degree in computer technologies. She then went on to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in computer science with an emphasis in computer information systems, attending night classes&nbsp;after her naval career.&nbsp;Jennifer later obtained a master\u2019s degree in business administration, and in 2016 she earned her Master of Science in Management, Strategy and Leadership (MS MSL) degree through Michigan State University\u2019s 100% online program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI chose to pursue this MS degree from MSU for two reasons,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cThe first was that it was a nice complement to the MBA I already have. The second was for self-worth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Currently, Wolf, an IT senior manager, runs a portfolio of $30 million, as well as a small group of junior program managers for Lowe\u2019s. During her career, she helped create a successful and profitable business&nbsp;in less than four years with no initial investment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Through all of this, she still wanted to find ways to better herself and her career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cIn obtaining an MBA, I learned&nbsp;it helps to teach you the different aspects of businesses. Upon researching the MSL degree, it appeared I would receive more of the people component. The two combined together, I figured, would complement each other nicely,\u201d Wolf said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The MS MSL program teaches different styles of leadership, and that\u2019s what Wolf says is her most valued learning so far.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cIt changes how my employees respond to my leadership and have created more dedicated employees,\u201d Wolf said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">She has already implemented elements of being a supportive leader with her teams&nbsp;and uses the DISC model to communicate and interact with her teams, peers,&nbsp;and leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThis is a great tool,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cI have also shared the DISC model with my peers and my employees in hope to build their soft skills.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The DISC model has taught her about herself as well \u2013 she learned she is a high \u201cD\u201d (dominant) person, which lines up to her top five strengths of achiever, activator, futuristic, competition and command, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">During the program, Wolf drove herself to succeed. She created a spreadsheet to help track classes, costs, GPA and details of each class. The spreadsheet was even set up to calculate the remaining points she needed to obtain a 4.0 average&nbsp;and monitored her progress throughout the program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThis helps to keep me looking forward,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cI also set up a reward system for myself in the beginning. I love shopping, so I set up a system where I was allowed to purchase an MSU apparel item if I obtained a 4.0 in a class.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Wolf hopes to master the new skills and techniques she\u2019s learned&nbsp;and hopes they will help her climb to the next level in her career. Her advice for those considering enrolling in the program is to embrace the weekly quizzes, keep track of assignments and take a lot of notes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cIf you\u2019re looking to expand your knowledge of leading people and understanding, creating, [or] implementing strategy, then this is a great degree,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cAs long as you\u2019re disciplined enough and you can manage your time enough, anybody can do this program.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Are you a student or graduate of Michigan State University&#8217;s online master&#8217;s degree or certificate programs? We would love to share your success story in our Student Spotlight series. Contact us at&nbsp;<\/i><a title=\"MSU Testimonials\" href=\"mailto:testimonial@MSUonline.com\"><i>testimonial@msuonline.com<\/i><\/a><i>&nbsp;for additional details. And for more stories like this be sure to check out our&nbsp;<\/i><a title=\"Student Spotlight\" href=\"\/resources\/category\/student-spotlight\/\"><i>Success Stories<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In her spare time, Jennifer Wolf serves as a Girl Scout troop co-leader and helps her husband with the restoration of a classic 1956 Ford F100. Professionally, her accomplishments span a 20-year career marked with achievements in the fields of computer science and information technology. While serving in the U.S. Navy, Wolf earned an associate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":6047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-spotlight"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/03\/Jennifer-Wolf-Student-Spotlight-MS-MSL.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8xwI-tw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1830"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8035,"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions\/8035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bisk-preprod.go-vip.co\/msu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}