Recent college graduates are brighter, more energetic and possess far greater technological abilities than their counterparts from previous generations, but according to the board chairman and former CEO of LabCorp, who spoke Feb. 12 with four business classes, students today need to improve their communication skills.
Mac Mahon, an Elon trustee, is the executive-in-residence in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. In this position, he spends several days each semester on campus meeting with undergraduate and MBA students and faculty.
“When you leave school, do many things,” Mac Mahon said. “That’s how you become a CEO … by having experiences where you know a little bit about everything.”
Mac Mahon offered three pieces of advice to current students. They include the following:
1.) Obtain a certificate of public accounting. “Everything in Corporate America now is based on numbers. And you are at an enormous advantage if you have a CPA.”
2.) Develop your writing ability. “Written communication skills are becoming a lost art in America. If you don’t like to write, start to like to write.”
3.) Go to law school. “Lawyers are taught how to think better than anyone else.”
Mac Mahon has served as LabCorp chairman since 1996 and served as chief executive officer from 1997 to 2006. LabCorp is one of the world’s largest clinical laboratories, with revenues of approximately $3.6 billion and more than 25,000 employees. The business has been recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the best performing companies in the United States.
Before joining LabCorp, Mac Mahon held various executive positions with Hoffmann-La Roche, serving as senior vice president from 1993 to 1997 and president of Roche Diagnostics Group from 1988 to 1996. Mac Mahon earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from St. Peter’s College and an MBA in marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University.