Junaidi was accepted into Harvard Business School in 2006. (JG Photo)

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Junaidi likes to say being accepted to Harvard Business School in 2006 was all about luck. But don’t let the modesty fool you; he’s ambitious as they come and understands what it takes to be a true leader.
Today, the businessman, who recently became a father, tells us what type of leaders are lacking in Indonesia and what you should do if you’re thinking of going after an MBA.

Harvard Business School accepted you out of more than 10,000 applicants. What do you think they saw in you?

If you ask me, I’d say 80 percent to 90 percent was probably luck.

I came from an emerging market in a third-world country.

I went to ITB [Bandung Institute of Technology], a public university, and never studied abroad.

I was also a minority, being ethnic Chinese. Back in high school, only 10 percent were Chinese.

Harvard’s mission is to educate leaders or those with the potential to become leaders.

I was persistent and eager to change the community, the world.

I believe a leader can learn a lot from everyone and anyone. You don’t have to be a manager to be a leader.

An employee is a leader when he is proactive in helping his team to achieve a common goal.

I tried to state this in my essay to HBS.

How did you react when you heard you had been accepted?

I was happy and relieved. I told my family and my fiance at the time.

There were moments when I had doubts and asked myself, ‘Will this be the next failure or rejection like last year?’

See, I applied to Kellogg the previous year and failed.

I also almost missed Harvard.

I got my visa only days before I was supposed to fly there and three days before classes started.

HBS is very strict. If you miss even one day, you have to defer.

So you had wanted to go to Kellogg, not Harvard. Why?

I wanted to go to Kellogg because I just saw myself fitting in a Kellogg environment more.

But I applied to Kellogg twice in two years and failed.

Then I applied to HBS and got accepted.

Come to think about it, though, I think it was a blessing in disguise.

 I’m not an extrovert — I’m the kind of person who likes to just do my exam and get out of class.

HBS pushed me out of my comfort zone, to be more confident and able to express what I think in front of over 100 students and alumni and challenge them.

How did you finance your studies at Harvard?

Luckily, I got sponsored by my previous company.

See, a lot of people didn’t apply because they thought it was too expensive.

But if you get into a top school, there are a lot of ways to fund it.

You could get sponsored like I did, or get a student loan.

The school could also have some grants.

You’re also likely to get a decent job upon graduating so can pay back the loan. If you really want an MBA, just do it.

You’re the head of university relations for Harvard Club Indonesia. Are there plans to connect Indonesia and Harvard any further?

For sure, especially now that the son of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono goes to Harvard.

I think it would be stupid for Harvard not to work with Indonesia.

There’s a saying that a person’s IQ drops when they return to Jakarta. What’s your opinion?

Your IQ doesn’t drop.

It just doesn’t increase simply because there’s so much inefficiency in how we do things that our minds get bogged down and we don’t have time to think of things that are of better value.

It’s not as fast as in a more mature economy.

In the States, innovation is the way to compete.

Here, you don’t need to innovate.

Just remove one step out of the typical five steps and you’re already ahead of the competition.

You were once an intern at Microsoft and met Bill Gates. What’s your impression of him?

A good guy. He’s the type of leader Indonesia lacks.

First, he’s willing to have interns over at his house. Then, he’s willing to address questions — silly questions — from undergrads.

He wasn’t mad at all and addressed the questions one by one without sounding like he was lecturing us.

What can Harvard learn from Jakarta and Indonesia?

My advice would probably be for Harvard to work more with and open up to emerging markets.

There’s a lot of knowledge in emerging markets that mature markets have not seen.

Thailand and Indonesia, for example, have already experienced a financial crisis, but it’s new knowledge to them.

And what can Jakarta learn from Boston?

Boston really preserves its history, so you can feel and learn its history just strolling around the city.

In Jakarta, preserving history is not as important.

The demand is low because it’s an emerging market and younger generations prefer technology and going to the malls.
 

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