Jonathan Butler-White had always dreamed of working in the creative industries. His vision was to build a career behind the camera in the world of film and television and go on to become a respected producer or camera operator.
After finishing his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts with majors in TV and International Relations, he was on the right track to achieve these aspirations before fate and opportunity intervened.
Now, nearly 20 years later, Jonathan has established himself as a respected leader in the Human Resources sector while still fulfilling his passion for creativity as the Head of People, Culture and Safety at the Queensland Ballet.
While his career in HR started almost immediately after he completed his undergraduate degree, Jonathan attributes his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at QUT Business School to helping the transition into a senior executive role at a large organisation, allowing him to combine his passion for the creative industries.
“I initially sort of fell into HR while still doing my undergraduate degree when I was doing a traineeship at the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA),” he said. “The role I was in was more akin to an HR-type role, which I enjoyed, so instead of going down the creative industries path, my career followed the HR path.”
“From the role with the MEAA, I moved across into the public sector and then spent the bulk of my career in a range of different HR and people and culture roles.”
After nearly ten years in the sector, he recognised the importance of formal qualifications in leadership and HR to take on more senior roles.
Eventually, he landed on three different options – a Master in Human Resources, a Master in Applied Law or a Master of Business Administration (MBA).
“I spent a lot of time researching and considering the options but eventually landed on an MBA because it had a strong focus on HR and leadership. I felt that a Master’s in HR would serve me better in the short term, but an MBA would have better medium and long-term benefits.”
After initially starting an online MBA with another institution, he quickly realised that he would get far more out of an MBA that offered face-to-face delivery, so he switched over to the QUT MBA.
“I really got a lot out of the face-to-face nature of the program. Some of the most valuable learning would happen in the coffee lounge chatting to other students before and after lectures,” he said.
“I’ve lost count of the number of times that someone else, or I, would raise a workplace issue, and someone else in the group would have the solution from their own experience.
“There was also a very strong leadership and strategy focus in the QUT MBA which aligned with my own personal goals and my approach to leadership development of others in their careers,” he said.
The flexible structure of the QUT MBA was also an important consideration in making the switch, with each MBA unit of six credit points conveniently delivered on weeknights outside of work hours over a seven-week teaching period (comprising six weeks of teaching with a final assessment in week seven). The degree can be completed in 1.5 years full-time or three years part-time equivalent.
“It gave me a great deal of flexibility. My brother and sister-in-law got married in New York so I could go and have a wonderful time with them and didn’t have to skip a whole semester or try and keep up with the workload while travelling,” he said.
“The delivery structure also makes it much easier to manage your workload, particularly if you are working full-time. When you have busy period at work you can wind back your studies a bit and when work is a bit quieter, you can ramp up your study.”
After finishing his studies in 2019, he is incredibly grateful for the experience. He believes it has helped him achieve his goal of transitioning to more senior roles and his ability to make meaningful contributions in those positions.
“The MBA has done everything I hoped it would do and more. I still have a folder within all my lecture notes full of tools and frameworks that I use regularly to this day,” he said.
As for the future, Jonathan is happy to continue developing his current role and helping Queensland Ballet to transition to a new era following the retirement last year of high-profile Artistic Director Li Cunxin.
“It is a real period of change and growth for the organisation, and I am loving being able to contribute meaningfully to its future success. The MBA has definitely provided me with knowledge and tools to help me do that.”
Applications for QUT’s MBA are open until August. Find out more about their MBA here.
