by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 20, 2010 | Career Skills, Coaching, Job Search, Monday Morning Quarterback, Podcast, Who-Dos
A year has somehow passed since I first registered HigherEdCareerCoach.Com and HigherEdLifeCoach.Com, so today’s Tuesday Time-Out is a recap of important events in our first year. Thanks to all our readers and guest posters, and to all the other people who have supported and sustained the sites through this critical first year.
Some milestone events during year 1:
2009:
- July 11th, 2009. I registered higheredlifecoach.com with GoDaddy. Less than a week later, I decided that I wanted to host my site at Fatcow (aff. link), because they are geared toward small business, and host their servers with wind energy. I registered higheredcareercoach.com as well (this time through Fatcow).
- August 4, 2009: Published 1st post on HigherEdCareerCoach.Com. First month: 35 readers total.
- At the end of September and beginning of October, I attended the coach certification program, and posted a couple of video diary posts.
2010:
- In the new year, I started blogging more regularly on both sites, and recruiting guest writers, to broaden the perspectives offered beyond my own.
- As Placement season revved up, Higher Ed Career Coach began to feature articles on placement. In one, at the end of January, we began a ongoing Twitter hashtag conversation around the placement experience (#saplacement) to allow employers and prospective employees to share comments, questions, and tips related to job searching and the national and regional placement exchanges.
- In February:
- Bryan Koval became the first guest blogger, with the first installation of his “Doctoral Student from a Distance” series.
- Shannon Healy began chronicling her job search in what would become an 11-part series on her student affairs job hunt.
- Shonda Goward from FirstGenerationUniversity and I traded guest posts on each other’s sites. This would be the first guest post exchange for either site.
- Broadcast the first episode of the Higher Ed Life and Career Show on BlogTalkRadio
- The first episode had 10 live listeners and Bryan Koval guest hosted.
- The highest number of live audience members was 34, for “The Value of Twitter in Your Job Search,” with guests Mike Severy, Becca Fick, and Mallory Bower.
- So far, episodes of the show have been listened to 1,042 times.
- In March, Mickey Fitch began writing periodic posts for both sites, followed in April by Mallory Bower. Regular contributors and guest posters are now a regular part of both sites.
- In April and May:
- We ran articles and did radio shows on dealing with disappointment in your job search, staying motivated, and starting over.
- We also celebrated the graduation of many members of our reader and contributor community.
- I introduced my first hybrid coaching program (“8 Weeks to August”) for job seekers starting over with their search, featuring online activities, 1-on-1 coaching, mock interviews, and the opportunity to be featured on a page of the HigherEdCareerCoach site, and to be interviewed on BlogTalkRadio. The first of these client pages will be posted soon.
- Introduced the concept of differentiating “who-dos” from “gurus,” after a serendipitous exchange over Twitter with friends and an homage to the Australian band the Hoodoo Gurus.
- June and July:
- Began a comprehensive overhaul of all my sites, front end and back, including running a design contest on 99Designs.com
(aff. link) for new logos that would be academic and fun, and imply coaching, and to bring in sports metaphors; a re-design of all websites related to my business, Cook Coaching and Consulting, and back-end stuff, related to Search Engine Optimization, site security and other stuff that is probably not all that interesting to readers.
- Named Breakdrink.Com and their site creator, Jeff Jackson, as the first “Who-Do of the Month,” as part of an effort to identify a “Who-Do” of the Year in Higher Education. This person or organization will receive a new award, the “Who-Do” Highsman, plus bragging rights and some sort of other actual reward (probably money, but we’ll be taking suggestions and figuring that out over the next few months, based on community response.)
- Introduced some new regular features to bring more voices into the conversation, starting with the “Monday Morning Quarterback” series. Scott Helfrich (of StudentLifeGuru) took the first turn in what will be a regular rotation. Each month, we’ll introduce a topic related to higher education and/or careers, and have guest columnists respond with their take on the issues put forth.
- Discovered accidentally that, for at least one day, the blog ranked among the top 100 small business blogs on Technorati. Apparently, these rankings fluctuate pretty wildly, but seeing this blog listed just a few spaces away from Zen Habits (which is one of the most awesome blogs on the planet) was pretty freaking awesome. Maybe someday soon, we’ll do it again.
The development of these sites, (and my coaching practice) would not have been possible without the support of an awesome community of readers, contributors, friends and colleagues. You’ve helped the blogs “find their voice,” attract new readers, and explore new territory in our efforts to play a contributing role in discussions about the emerging directions in higher education, career development, and professional development and training for higher ed professionals.
In the next few weeks, you’ll see even more changes, including:
- A new tab where you can find more information on upcoming live webinar classes for job searchers and professionals starting their new positions, short courses, teleseminars, and the next editions of our hybrid coaching programs. (Another for students hoping to attend placement next Spring, and one on getting your act together to apply for graduate programs.)
- A new provider (aWeber) for our mailing list, and free e-mail “short courses” for new subscribers
- E-books, videos, and audio content, including interviews with higher ed professionals about their career development.)
- A membership area for premium content, career discussion forums, and online coaching.
- New sites in our web portfolio, including HigherEdCoach, a site for coaches and consultants working in higher ed to share their tips for getting into coaching and consulting, and to learn from each other. The site will also have a directory for coaches and consultants, that will hopefully assist those in need of coaching and consulting in finding someone appropriate to their needs.
Help celebrate our blog birthday! Your support and encouragement keep us going. Here are some great ways you can help us kick off Year 2:
- Tell a friend or colleague to check out the sites.
- Even better, send out links to your favorite articles from the last year to your Twitter List, or “like” them on Facebook (you can use the Wibiya toolbar)
- Go back and comment on your favorite post.
- Add our sites to your blogroll if you have a blog.
- Write a guest post.
- Sign up for an upcoming webinar class or coaching program.
- Give the gift of coaching to a friend, colleague or family member who needs a motivational kick-start in their job search.
- And most importantly, keep reading!
Thanks for everything! We’re looking forward to Year 2!
by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 15, 2010 | Podcast
There’s been a lot of talk in the past few years about setting learning outcomes for our students, and measuring success against achievement of these outcomes. Earlier this week I published this question to the Higher Ed Career Coach blog, earning Tuesday the most hits our site has seen to date in one day.
We got a lot of comments, too.
So, in a daring (and possibly foolhardy) gesture, this week’s edition of the Higher Ed Career Coach show will be “call-in” only. No scheduled guests, just me, and whoever has an opinion. Give me a call and save me from myself. I’ll also announce a couple of upcoming web classes and take call-in nominations for “who-do” of the Month for July.
Show time: 7/16/2010 11:00 AM
Show link: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/higheredlifecoach/2010/07/16/higher-ed-career-coach-what-do-institutions-of-hig#
(Please note that you should be able to listen in via the widget at right as well.)
Please feel free to comment via twitter to @hiedcareercoach or to join the chat via our Wibiya toolbar at the bottom of the page.
Sean Cook, M.Ed., Certified Life Purpose & Career Coach, Publisher & Lead Writer
Sean Cook is a certified Life Purpose and Career Coach from Athens, GA, who specializes in working with higher ed professionals, college students, their parents, and recent alumni. He is the lead writer and publisher for this blog, as well as Higher Ed Life Coach, SeanCook.Net. In addition to individual and group coaching, he is available for training and consulting to colleges and corporations in the higher ed market. Look for his upcoming book Putting Your Purpose to Work and an accompanying coaching program in Fall 2010.
by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 14, 2010 | Who-Dos
As regular readers will recall, I have been writing a lot about the idea of “gurus” out there who promote themselves as the be-all, end-all authorities for this-that-and-the-other-thing, and contrasting them with “who-dos,” which are people who are out there putting their passion and purpose to work, to change the way we do things in higher education, with social media, in helping people in their careers, and other ways that have positive impacts on society and the world.
Last month, I was glad to applaud our friends over at BreakDrink for their efforts to create free and low-cost-of-entry professional development programs for student affairs professionals, and for their groundbreaking attempt to put together a podcast network of sorts serving the field.
As I said in the introduction to this concept, I would like to take nominations each month and announce a “Who-Do” of the Month.
The Process
Here’s how I would like to do this:
- I’ll put up a post, like this one, once a month, asking people to submit nominations. Ideally, I’d like to take them in the comment section, so people can read all the good things about those nominated.
- I’ll post a poll on the blog about a week later with persons nominated
- People will vote.
- I will review nominations and votes and have a discussion with an advisory committee (which I am currently putting together-more on the makeup of that, once I have people lined up.)
- The last week of each month, I will announce the “Who-Do” of the month.
- In the latter part of Spring semester, I will have a process announced for selecting the “Who-Do” Highsman (get it?) award for the year.
Nominate Someone Now!
Please take a few minutes between now and next Tuesday at noon to nominate someone who deserves recognition, and to tell the world why you see this person as defining the spirit of the “Who-Do.” If you want to send the nomination directly to me, e-mail it to sean@higheredcareercoach.com and I will post some of the essential pieces here, so people can at least know who was nominated and why.
Have an Idea for How I Should Structure the “Highsman” selection?
Send me your ideas. I’d love to hear them, and I want to make this process engaging and fun. I’m looking forward to reading the nominations!
by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 13, 2010 | Tuesday Time-Out
This is my son, Brendan, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We were eating dinner and he managed somehow to get ahold of what was left of someone’s soda.
Brendan is 4 1/2 and really loves doing “experiments.” He mixes soft soap with toothpaste and hand sanitizer and pretends it’s a potion of some sort. He puts sticks and pine needles in water and tries to get them to grow. In this case, he took all sorts of random things and added them to the leftover soda…leaves, milk, maybe some dirt and rocks, a corn-dog stick, and I think at least one cast-off bone from my ribs.
Then he went around offering it to everyone, saying, “Would you like some soda pop? It’s really good!” and grinning from ear to ear. He repeated this joke in true 4-year-old fashion, about fifty times. Nobody took him up on his offer, and by attempt number 51, he was spent.
Every day, we’re assaulted by marketing messages. Thousands of them. So much so that we can repeat back slogans, taglines and all sorts of other nonsense that corporations tell us about their products, or politicians tell you about their platforms (or better yet, why you should hate the other guy’s platform), or that news sites tell you about things that are only marginally considered “news.”
Sometimes, even, this allows us to justify to ourselves those things that we consume, or pine for incessantly. But it doesn’t change the fact that some of these things are garbage. And we may not care, if the person pitching us is charismatic, or convincing, or even if he just wears us down with a constant barrage of nonsense.
There are certain things I don’t mind about with marketing, but in general, I find excessive marketing to be annoying. As a businessman, I am doing my best to learn ways not to be annoying, and to earn your trust. One way I am pursuing this goal is active membership in communities that talk about this issue, like Third Tribe Marketing (aff. link). I’m getting great advice and perspectives from some of the top minds in social media, marketing and business, like Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, Sonia Simone, and Darren Rowse. The monthly membership fee is less than I charge for one hour of my time, and I got my money’s worth for the whole year before the end of the first week. I am a solid convert.
Even though I didn’t gulp down that dirt-water-and-soda concoction, I can’t say that I don’t give in to marketing at times. If I trust the messenger, this is even more true. And I generally trust this guy, but there are times I take a look at that grin, and I know something’s up.
How am I doing with this whole marketing thing? How can I earn your trust?
What about you? How do you deal with constant marketing, repetitive claims and nonsense? What are you doing to sell yourself? Are you actively seeking natural ways to get your messages across? What are you doing to earn the trust of people you serve?
by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 12, 2010 | Monday Morning Quarterback
Over the last few years, as the economy went into the tank, our public discussions about the future of higher education have increasingly been about budget cuts, rising tuition, and the need for accountability. A central talking point in these discussion has been the need to implement outcomes-based measurement.
This new emphasis has changed the way we plan programs and services in higher education. At many schools, everything must be matched to an outcome, and every outcome must be assessed in some way. Institutions then use this data to drive decisions about funding and priorities, and to justify their programs and services to state legislatures, donors, accreditation bodies, incoming students, their parents, alumni and an ever-growing number of watchdog groups like the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
So, like it or not, we live in interesting times. This can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, and it’s my opinion that we need to find the blessing in this situation, and to be thankful for the opportunity today’s political and financial environment provides. Change isn’t easy, and in our personal and professional lives, we all have periods of doubt. There are healthy and productive ways of dealing with this reality. Wanting things to stay the same is not one of them.
As a career coach, I help individuals work through these issues, by discovering their purpose, and finding ways to align that purpose with their work. This involves discussions about a person’s background and professional history, but more importantly, it requires exploration and discovery. The process that gets people unstuck is co-creative. Coaches ask the “big questions” and give activities that help clients explore them. We challenge assumptions, conclusions and doubts. We work through blocks. We help people explore new interests, research them, and focus on creating new, more positive patterns of behavior. We try to integrate the important parts of a person (talents, skills, abilities, interests and values) into each individual’s plan to move forward, and to help clients set S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Limited) goals.
The best part of being a coach is that for the most part, clients come to you when they are ready to change. The discussions and activities are geared toward helping the client define, in real and measurable terms, what success means, and how they will know when they achieve it.
But lately, I’ve been wondering if higher education, as a field, is really ready to be coached. Furthermore, I’m not quite sure who should be coaching. I don’t think the state legislatures should be doing it, because they aren’t looking at the big picture, only at the cost of doing business, and who should be paying it. And politicians are more worried about re-election (their S.M.A.R.T. goal) and what institutions shouldn’t be teaching, than how they should be teaching. Watchdog groups like FIRE are often most passionate about the what than the how, and many times, their approach shuts down discussion, or erodes into a chaotic and mind-numbing clash of talking points or a game to be won, rather than a co-creative, purposeful process of discovery.
Here are three resources that really got me thinking about these issues.
I’d like to start a dialogue on this topic. Please share your thoughts and questions by commenting on this post. Take whatever direction you like, but here are some questions to get you started:
- What’s the purpose of higher education these days? Has it changed from in the past?
- What do institutions of higher education need to learn?
- Is higher education, as a field, ready for change? (And if so, is higher education “coachable?”)
- What learning outcomes do you think are most important?
- What S.M.A.R.T. goals should the field set for measuring improvement?
- Where should higher ed look for coaching on these goals? The legislature? The federal government? Professional associations? Somewhere else?
And if you have perspectives you’d like to share on these topics, in an upcoming guest post on Monday Morning QuarterBack, send me a message at sean@higheredcareercoach.com. I would ideally like to have guest posts on this topic each Monday for the next 2-3 weeks.
