Rotman MBA grad and executive Shahbaz Haque (EMBA ’22) is not afraid to admit that he dropped out of business school.
“It was the business undergraduate program at UTSC (University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus). I dropped out in 2003 because I didn’t have the study habits or the discipline I needed to succeed.”
Haque, who says his family was always very close, was 19 at the time. The first generation of his immigrant family to attend university in Canada, he remembers feeling that he’d let his parents down. “My failing the program was devastating to my mom and dad,” he says. “But even though they were upset, they were still so supportive. They sat me down and said, ‘your story doesn't have to end here. Keep going.’”
Haque did eventually go on to finish an undergraduate business degree at the University of Guelph. A decade ago, he was hired as a manager for the Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) - an insurance provider for healthcare organizations.
By 2020, he was working as a director there, and enjoying his work. “HIROC was doing unique and interesting things. And there was a path emerging to potentially move to an executive leadership position. But having a more formal leadership education was recommended to me by my leaders.”
Haque’s boss at the time – HIROC former vice president Heather Brown – was a Rotman alumni (EMBA) herself. Haque says she was instrumental in encouraging him to enrol in the same program. “Heather raved about the Executive MBA program at Rotman,” Haque says, “She talked a lot about how it improved her management skills, and really prepared her to be an executive leader.”
In his personal life, the timing seemed right: Haque’s only child at the time was five, and about to begin school. So in September 2021, Haque began Rotman’s Executive MBA program. But not long after, a series of unexpected life events happened. “The story is going to get personal pretty fast here,” Haque warns. As he was just into his second term, his wife gave birth to their second son, and suffered a related illness after her very difficult pregnancy. Then, in February of 2022 - when their newborn son was just days old - Haque’s father was diagnosed with a terminal illness. “It was just one thing after another,” he says.
Haque kept his Rotman community in the loop and says that both professors and fellow students were immensely understanding. “The program administrators found a path for me, and made accommodations so I could keep going,” he says. “I had taken about a month or so off from the program, but the Rotman staff and professors customized things for me and arranged for me to take extra courses. They were really kind.”
"My parents taught me that failure can be a stepping stone to success."
—Shahbaz Haque (EMBA ’22)
Just as life was getting back on track, Haque’s father passed away that August. Then, as if all of that wasn’t challenging enough, his otherwise healthy mother also took a very unexpected turn and passed away just weeks later.
Haque was devastated, and thought about leaving the program. But he stayed with it, citing his classmates, his leaders at HIROC and most of all his wife for giving him strength. At graduation, his class presented him with an inaugural honour: the Rotman MBA Award for Perseverance and Resilience.
Haque is now vice president at HIROC and managing director of HIROC Insurance Services Limited. He was offered the role after graduating from Rotman, stepping into it after Brown retired. He now oversees a team that manages the insurance programs of over 70 per cent of the hospitals across Canada.
Haque says he frequently uses tools he learned at Rotman in his new role, including value maps to analyze competitive advantages, process diagrams to optimize workflows and financial ratios to evaluate financial health. More broadly, he says, the EMBA program gave him the confidence to truly step up and be a leader. “I know I deserve a seat at the table now,” he says.
Two decades after he was forced to drop out of U of T’s undergraduate business program, Haque says he’s grateful for the lessons in resilience. He references his parents – who told him that failure was just a stepping stone to success.
“I was given a shot at redemption 20 years later. That’s an incredible blessing,” he says.
“To this date, it is my favourite failure.”
Written by Meaghan MacSween | More Student Stories »