by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | May 7, 2010 | life purpose
Attention: Crankypants Alert! You have been warned. That is all.
I don’t know if it’s something in the water or the air lately, but I’ve been in several internet conversations recently about “gurus” and how to differentiate them from the posers out there, as you seek advice for whatever ails you, life-wise, career-wise…whatever-wise. I’m not sure who stuck something in the internet’s collective craw, but now I can certainly tell you that my craw has been stuck. So allow me to spill some wisdom on you. I seem to have lost my Band-Aids ® and well…these thoughts have to go somewhere. (Beg pardon. Excuse me. So sorry about your new shoes.)
The first conversation happened on Twitter, from a tweet by my friend from State College, @Robin2Go, who also seems to cross paths with a lot of interesting people related to the Student Affairs chat (#sachat) community. It continued with a reply from Brian Panulla, one of my best friends, who used to live in State College and whose better half, Michelle, sang “Power of Two” by the Indigo Girls at my wedding with another great friend Beth Hayden. (If you’re wondering where I am going with all this…I will return to my point…eventually.)
Here’s the exchange (Click on each image for full-size version.)
Now, I know that some of the youngsters out there, or those who weren’t college radio station DJs, music critics and wannabe hipsters (like I was in college) may not get the reference to the great Australian band the Hoodoo Gurus. It’s okay, some people are just cooler than you. (Or possibly older, deluded, and hopelessly self-referential)
But I digress…. Let’s move on, as I continue my effort to raise some dramatic tension, and build up t0 part 2 (yes, part 2) of what may eventually become a “field guide” of sorts to assist the less experienced in distinguishing the charlatans from the true gurus. (By the way, I really liked Charlatans UK when I was in college, too. Check them out!)
The Call of “Who-Dos”
There are true gurus and false prophets. Upon first glance, you may notice some similarities. You might listen to one or the other, and not be able to distinguish the twitter of one from the tweet of the other. Each has it’s own sweet particularities… pleasing to the ear, inspiring. And either may give you welcome respite from the problems before you on any particular day. But the ability to discern between a “who-do” and a “guru” is essential for those who want to become experts in their own right.
Now, you may not have crossed paths with Robin, Brian, Michelle or Beth, or even heard their twitters and chirps. It’s probably because they don’t toot their own horn as much as they could. They don’t claim to be “gurus.” They just do what they do, because it makes them happy and keeps them busy with things that interest them. But let’s take a look at what these people do, and if it piques your interest, you can cyber-stalk them on the intertubes and arrive at your own conclusions.
(By the way, none of these people have any idea I am writing this about them, so won’t they be surprised? Consider this a #FollowFriday-in-overdrive attempt at “crossing the beams” of my various twitter circles, to see if the internet explodes or anything. You can just call me the Large Hadron Superconductor Super-Collider of the web. And just wait until later posts in this series: I’m hoping it’s going to be the social media equivalent of those proton beams circulating around and smashing together….And I seriously hope to break the internet, and possibly unravel the fabric of space/time itself. (Somebody call Steven Hawking and tell him to follow me. I might be on to something here.)
But I will also settle for at least causing some discussion…hopefully it won’t start with “Who is this nutcase?”
Robin Smail describes herself as a “disruptive technologist” and she does something or other that is awesome at Penn State. I really don’t know her exact expertise (something to do with Joomla and Moodle, I think) but she is someone who is out there connecting people through social media…at Penn State, across the Higher Ed Web community, and well…with anybody who’s interesting.
Robin doesn’t just talk about social media. She does it. A lot. All the time. With anyone. With everyone. If social media has a “raving fan,” it’s Robin. Visit her blog, Renegade Element, and if you dare tweet her (@Robin2Go) you won’t be able to say you weren’t warned. She has a quote from Serenity on her blog, and it pretty much describes her level of engagement… “You can’t stop the signal, Mal.”
If you haven’t heard of Brian Panulla, you have probably been exposed to his work. For a time, he worked at HigherEdJobs.com and developed a lot of the back-end stuff that makes their site and their search manager run. So you might want to follow him. Besides being smart and really capable, he’s funny.
Michelle Panulla and Beth Hayden were college roommates, and my wife and I knew them because they all sang for the PennHarmonics. Michelle is a gifted web designer as well as a singer. She is great with Flash and Flex, and has designed many different websites and blogs, including contributions to the original GoPSUSports.Com site for Penn State. She’s also a great cook, a dog lover, and an expert at dealing with people with ADD (okay, I’m talking about Brian). Beth is a social media coach and consultant, a certified wedding celebrant, and she has designed some great blogs and helped many people learn the basics of blogging. Both are also great singers.
These people are a few of my friends. But they are also a great examples of “Who-Dos”: people who spend their time doing what they love, what interests them, and what they are passionate about. You can recognize the subtle differences in the energy they put into their songs. Much like a collegiate A Capella group, they are well-practiced, and high energy. There are occasional breaks, stutters, even pauses. They have looser choreography than, for example, Lady Gaga on American Idol the other night. They don’t fluff their feathers and strut anything like that…they just sing their songs…occasionally together with the group, occasionally solo, but always engaging, because it’s not just about the beauty of the song…it’s the beauty of singing together… harmony and dissonance, individual nuance and collective choral harmony…primal, organic, chaotic, and mysterious.
“Who-dos” are like protons ready for that 7 trillion electronvolt jolt. Some people may look at them and just say “there’s a hydrogen ion.”But what happens when they all start smashing together?
You might just unlock some of the universe’s great mysteries.
- Are you a “Who-Do” or a “Guru?”
- How do you sing your song?
(This is a cross-post with HigherEdCareerCoach.Com. Look for part 2 early next week on both the SA Collaborative and Higher Ed Career Coach.)
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | May 3, 2010 | life purpose
As schools around the country start to close out the academic year, honor their student leaders and organizations with awards, check out students from the residence halls, and prepare for graduation, I can’t help but reflect on the ways my life and career path have changed in a few short months. Last Fall, as I was finishing up summer projects, and preparing for RA training, I was also contemplating some major life changes.
I’d planned to start a doctoral program here at the University of Georgia, but I wasn’t accepted. I’d applied to the program for several reasons: first, it’s a great program; second, it is close to my family (in South Carolina) and Sarah’s family (in Florida) and third, after 14 years in State College, I’d finally reached a point in my career at Penn State at which I’d accomplished what I set out to do. More importantly, I had to admit that I wasn’t motivated by my daily routine, and I found myself more than a little bit discouraged as I faced the prospect of another year of doing the same things.
I’d imagined (and worked quite diligently toward) a return to the classroom. From preparing for the GRE, to writing, fretting over, and re-writing my statement of purpose, I’d been single-minded about getting in to the University of Georgia, so it was kind of a blow to get rejected. Despite what some might expect, though, I won’t say a bad word about U. Ga. or their graduate admissions process, or about Residence Life at Penn State. I have deep respect for, and can honestly say that I learned a lot about myself, from both.
At Penn State, I had many opportunities to learn and grow as a professional, and my work was rewarded by several promotions and many great learning and leadership opportunities. The people there are not just my colleagues or my friends; many of them are family to me, and I will always value the time I spent there and the relationships I forged. And though it would be easy to be bitter about getting rejected from a grad program when you have a generation of experience behind you, good GRE scores and recommendations, etc., I’m not upset with anyone at U.Ga., because I learned something very valuable from the process. It was a simple but powerful realization, and it was this: I don’t love Student Development theory. I think it’s interesting, but my real love is for two things: the people and the process. While I am capable of doctoral-level work, and a Ph.D. would help me get to a logical next step, as a faculty member or senior administrator, I hadn’t really explored my other options enough, and I’d set some aside that were actually important to me (and that I have always wanted to do) because they didn’t fit with what many would consider conventional next steps along a “career path” in Student Affairs.
I’ve known several things about myself for most of my life, but wasn’t giving them a proper place in my personal “scheme of things.” First, I have always been a writer and a story-teller. Some of my earliest memories are of me telling my grandmother fabulous stories. When I was young, people didn’t read me bedtime stories: they asked me to tell them. Second, I’ve always been a “helper” and a “sounding board” for other people, and I like to challenge others to think about what they want to do with their lives. This was apparent in many ways as I grew up, became an RA and eventually moved into full-time work in higher ed. Third, I’ve always been creative and free-spirited, and Fourth, I hate bureaucratic nonsense and as much as possible, I do my own thing, and I seldom apologize for it. My track record on this count is pretty good. I am an original thinker who drives conversations in new directions, experiments, and takes risks. Usually, the results are good. When they aren’t, I explain my rationale, apologize for bad results if necessary, and move on.
Finally, late last summer, as training loomed in the near future, I took a pretty big leap of faith, and registered for a Coach Certification program with the Life Purpose Institute, and began to plan my departure from Penn State. The program was in October and after it, Sarah came down to meet me in Atlanta, and we went to Athens to look at houses for two days. We made an offer on our new house on the second day.
I’d planned to end the semester at Penn State, but finding the house kind of tipped things in a different direction, because it created a new sense of urgency toward unloading our old one and moving on. Pennsylvania winters are notoriously bad for selling houses, so we had to jump right on it. Things started to happen quickly, and before I knew it, the die was cast. After 14 1/2 years in Happy Valley,we were packing up our life, unloading our junk and starting something new.
The strangest part of this, for me, has been how easy it has been to not look back. I don’t have any “might-have-beens” to dwell on. I did what I went there to do, and I know that I made a difference while I was there. These days, I spend my time writing, and discussing life and career issues with people from all over. Through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, BrazenCareerist, and the wonderful #sachat community, I’m more connected that I ever have been to others working in Higher Ed.
Since I’m new in business, I spend a lot of time working on ways to bring in clients, do presentations and offer workshops. It’s challenging and very different from working for a large university. I set my schedule, pay for all my benefits, and I generally work alone. I don’t supervise anyone, and I don’t have a boss, but in some ways, I answer to everybody…either I get feedback that my work is helpful, or I work through the silence and keep trying until I find something that is both validating and (hopefully) potentially profitable. I’m not swimming in money by any means. I’ve earned less this year than I earned in a week at my old job, and most of what I’ve earned has gone to pay some of my fabulous guest writers. And let’s not get into what it costs to get certified as a professional coach through a reputable program, or to start a business.
Last August, I only imagined what it would be like to take this leap, and to forge out on my own. I had greater expectations for what the year would bring me, but, like many new graduates heading out into the world, or professionals moving on to their first (or next step), I choose to look back on the year with fondness, to reflect on everything I’ve learned…about business, about careers, about higher ed, and about myself, and to keep moving toward opportunities and experiences around each bend.
I know that I will get where I am meant to go in my career and in my life. I’ve found a purpose that drives me forward, and the realization that I’m doing the driving, so I’m the one who gets to decide where to go next.
It may be the end of the world as I knew it, but I feel fine.
How about you?
- Have you set aside aspects of yourself as you pursue the “next steps” in your career?
- Are there ways to incorporate these aspirations and skills into your current job?
- What risks are you willing to take to create more fulfillment in your life and career?
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Apr 23, 2010 | life purpose
Mickey Fitch’s previous post, “What Do You Value?” got my wheels spinning.
I can’t say it was the only thing, as I have been dwelling quite a bit lately on the idea of living in congruence with my values, using my time to advance the causes I care about, and setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-Limited) to help me reach them.
Since it was Earth Day, I also spent time thinking today about how I integrate my values with my lifestyle and how I take care of the Earth, as well as myself.
When I was a peer educator at Clemson, we had giveaway buttons and materials that said “Do what you value!” An interesting turn of phrase. And in that context, it was about sexual decision-making. But doing what you value is a powerful idea that should carry over into your everyday life and your work.
Here are some ways I am trying to live up to my own expectations.
- Living in a LEED certified new-construction green home in a transitional neighborhood.
- Driving a hybrid car (Prius). It gives me great satisfaction to know that most of my stops at the gas station are for snacks.
- Gardening only by organic methods, and composting when I can (I need to get a new composter, as I left the old one in PA, but soon enough we’ll get one.
- Spending my money locally whenever possible and avoiding chain restaurants in favor of local cuisine…It was easy in State College, and is becoming easier in Athens!
- I only take what I want at dinner, and unless it was undercooked and gross, I eat all of it.
- By stopping at having two children (in the interest of Zero Population Growth).
I also believe in volunteering, and as I build my client base for the coaching practice, I’ve been seeking out volunteer opportunities that I would like, and using them to get connected here in Athens and back in Clemson. Last week it was a 5K race for Ovarian Cancer Research, coupled with a butterfly release that raised money for the daughter of a high school friend who died recently after a 13-year battle. I am also volunteering for the AthFest Half-Marathon and getting involved in other Athfest committees and projects. I met today with a rep from Nuçi’s Space, a musician’s resource center, and I’ll be developing some presentations on career skills for the talented musicians who come into the center looking for a place to practice, to connect with other music types and to get referrals for medical care and counseling. I may soon begin doing free career counseling at Nuçi’s, in the forms of workshops and 1-on-1 coaching. I will explain more of the opportunities soon enough in other articles.
Why am I doing this? Because I love art and music. Because I somehow managed to get pulled in to race planning again because I have done it before. But most of all, I am doing these things because I value them and they make sense.
How do you live your values?
Sean Cook is a Life Purpose and Career Coach, based in Athens, GA. He specializes in work with college students and higher ed professionals. Before becoming a certified coach through the Life Purpose Institute, he earned his BA in Political Science and his M.Ed. in Counseling & Guidance Services from Clemson University, and spent over 15 years working full-time as a student affairs professional.
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by Mickey Fitch | Apr 21, 2010 | Career Skills, Job Search, life purpose
If money is all you love, then that is what you shall receive*
In this article, contributor Mickey Fitch takes readers on a values Q & A that they can apply in their own job searches, as well as personal lives.
When I was in college, at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, I was both a hall government representative as well as a community advisor. As part of the training and development for these roles, we attended a retreat at a local camp. Our supervising hall director would hold a “values auction,” where we would bid against our fellow staff for different values such as honesty, clear communication, competition, and difference. These auctions were interesting to me then, but what is fascinating to me now, as a student affairs professional, is this: The items I won at these auctions are now traits that I consider to be my strengths!
During a job search, it’s tempting to let your values take a back seat to getting the “right” job. It’s easy to spend more time looking at the duties listed in the job posting than looking at what isn’t found there: benefits, values, and institutional culture. Day in and day out, the overall picture of the position is what keeps us happy, motivated, and contributing to the success of our university, and to ourselves as people. Our job descriptions are not our life descriptions, people!
So, let me offer a few thoughts about values:
1) Your values define you as a person. Like character traits, they don’t change from job to job, or university to university.
2) While professionals talk a lot about values, it’s usually in the context of training, evaluation, or discussing problems we are having at work/with the job.
3) On the other hand, we often try to teach values to our students, or to get them to examine their own.
Does anyone else see the irony here? We are teaching and preaching, but don’t necessarily walk our own walk!
Since many of our readers are currently in job searches, I thought it would be appropriate to share the following series of questions to ask yourself, during your career exploration. (Although these topics aren’t as two-sided as I will present them, take the continuum into account as you think about them).
Do you value…
- Competition, or collaboration with peers/other colleagues?
- Regular, casual feedback, or formal evaluations?
- Individual/director decision-making, or team decision-making?
- Working alone everyday, or working with many others?
- Clear, written expectations and goals, or a general direction?
- Electronic primary communication, or non-electronic communication?
- Hands-on supervision, or hands-off supervision?
- Chains of approval, or immediate decision-making?
- Similar age/experience/education peers, or a variety of backgrounds represented?
- Clear, honest, direct communication with peers/supervisors, or passive, indirect communication?
To be more specific to our field, do you prefer…
- Structured learning communities, or general education programs?
- Supervision of several buildings/programs/operations, or supervision of one?
- Department-funded programming, or student activity fee-funded programming?
- National greek chapter affiliation, or local/university greek chapters?
- Traditional two-bed housing, or a variety of housing options?
- Being on call 24/7 or the opportunity to unplug from work each day?
- Departments as “silos,” or constant collaboration across campus?
What matters most to you, personally?:
- Living in a city, the country or the suburbs?
- Do you need full medical coverage, or is partial coverage acceptable?
- Full institution/employee contribution to a retirement plan vs. little/no investment
- Is proximity to an airport a major consideration?
- Finding employment in town for a partner? (Or is it okay if your partner must travel/stay behind?)
- Nearby opportunities for outdoor recreation? (Or are you willing to travel for outdoor recreation?)
- Would you prefer a position with a large salary, but few soft benefits, or a smaller salary with many soft benefits?
- How close do you need to be to members of your personal support network?
- What access do you need to shopping? (How far are you willing to travel to shop for things you need?)
- Will you have opportunities in the community to meet a potential partner in town, or will you have to travel? (If travel is necessary, are you willing to travel?)
- If you identify as an underrepresented person, do you need a community within your town or is it okay for you to travel to the nearest city to find other members of your community? (You can replace ‘community’ with food needs, personal needs, worship needs, cultural needs, etc., as well.)
Doing an internal audit of yourself and your own values is essential. I encourage you to have conversations like these with your peers, your teammates, and supervisors. And for those in relationships, have this conversation to see what values brought you and your partner together. For me, knowing my values is like knowing how to read a compass…they help guide and steer me not only when conditions are rough, but also when the sun in shining!
Have a question about values, or want to chat more with me about it? Please leave a comment!
Mickey Fitch is a higher education professional who has crafted her career around the residence life experience on the college campus. Mickey loves to tell stories and help students make the most of their residential experience on campus. A native to the upper Midwest, Mickey is currently undergoing a job search to find her opportunity to serve in residence life. On the personal side, Mickey is an avid fisherman and outdoorswoman and is currently engaged in a life-changing health and fitness journey! You can learn more about her at mickeyfitch.weebly.com.
*Caption is a quote from Star Wars (the first of the real ones.) Princess Leia says it to Han Solo, as he collects his reward to take back to Jabba the Hutt.
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Apr 4, 2010 | Coaching, life purpose
This weekend, I’m in Florida, for a visit with Sarah’s parents at the Villages. We go down a couple of times per year, take in the sun, and give Nana and Pop-Pop some quality time with our kids, Brendan and Susannah (Susie). We hang out, cook out, go out to eat, swim and generally enjoy the good weather and all that “America’s Favorite Hometown” has to offer.
But this time, it’s going to be a little different. Not just because it’s Easter. Not because we live closer since we moved to Georgia. This trip figures to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
No, we are not going to Disneyworld, Universal Studios or SeaWorld. (Been there done that. Going to do it again, but since I’ve been to all of those several times (9 or 10 times so far to Disneyworld), those don’t qualify as “once in a lifetime.”
We’re going to see the Space Shuttle take off. And they are only slated to have 4 more missions after this one, because they are slated to retire the whole fleet.
Sarah and I share a love for space exploration. At different times, we both dreamed of being astronauts. Not enough to actually go into the military and train for NASA, but it’s definitely a dream worth having. I actually think that Sarah would have been a great astronaut.
What greater metaphor exists for reaching your human potential than leaving the planet to see what else is out there in the universe? Space exploration represents the drive of humankind to conquer the unknown, to search for new knowledge and experiences, and to connect with the mysteries and wonders of all creation.
I’ve always had an affinity for the space program. Part of this actually comes from a family connection to NASA. One of my cousins, (1st cousin once removed) Edward Galen Givens, was an accomplished test pilot and instructor, and was tapped for NASA’s original group of 19 astronauts in 1966. He was a member of the Apollo 7 support crew before his untimely death in a car accident in 1967. He was 37 years old.
I never did meet Galen, since I was born two years later. But when I was young, I did hear stories about him from my Dad, and we did have visits from his parents: my great Uncle Bill, and great Aunt Helen. They were gentle, funny, good-natured people, and clearly enjoyed life, despite having lost both their sons (their other son, Don, was also a military pilot and was killed on a routine training mission when his plane crashed.)
Galen’s story is just one from the many people related to NASA, and to some, his life and career will seem one footnote on one page of one chapter of one book about mankind’s quest to explore the stars and the mysteries of the universe.
But to me and to members of my family, and to those who knew him, Galen’s life and career represent something far greater: the archetypal quest to discover your life purpose, reach your potential and perhaps to push beyond into uncharted territory, where the greatest learning can begin.
It’s a quest I hope to assist others with in my coaching practice.
Where are you going in your life?
- Do you know your life purpose?
- Are you striving to reach your maximum potential?
- If not, would you like a partner to assist you on your personal journey?
Like Fox Mulder used to say on The X Files, “The Truth is Out There.”
Are you ready for the search?
For a great article on the life, career and Death of Galen Givens visit the following excerpt of the book Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon. or visit the Amazon Reading List in the sidebar. (Affiliate Links)
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Aug 8, 2009 | Career Skills, Job Search, life purpose
I’d put safe money down on the possibility that most of us working in higher education didn’t have that dream as kids. As for me, I wanted to be Evil Kneivel , then I wanted to be Elvis.
Growing up in the ’80s, my attention soon turned to the yuppie lifestyles of the day, and I started college with dollar signs in my eyes, and dreams of a BMW. My first two years, I was a management major, but I really studied partying more than anything else. Calculus wasn’t my friend, and first semester my sophomore year, I earned the first “F” I made in anything. (But it was a high “F,” almost a “D,” and one of the hardest grades I ever earned. I was in hall council, because I liked pizza at meetings and cookouts with the women’s halls. By the end of sophomore year, I made two big decisions…changing my major from Management to Political Science, and applying to be a resident assistant.
The change of major was first a nod to the reality that calculus was a pre-req for several other classes later in the curriculum, and I just wasn’t that good at it. I chose Political Science because a.) politics always interested me, and b.) I thought is was a good background for law, and if I couldn’t be part of the big yuppie revolution through the glories of corporate management, I had heard that Political Science was a good background for law, and everyone knows that lawyers make SCADS of money. The RA thing grew out of two interests…doing cool programs and having fun, and the hope that being an RA would keep me out of trouble.
My junior year, I defined myself as an excellent programmer and jumped deeper into the whole student life realm, by becoming a peer health educator. It wasn’t where I saw myself coming in, but it was pretty good. Senior year, I kept enjoying life and the RA job, but somewhere along the way, I lost sight of the fact that I was going to need a job after college. I drank way too much, and one particularly bad evening, I overdid it and ended up getting arrested. Aimless is as aimless does, I guess.
The aftermath of this one event would stay with me, not because it destroyed my future, or caused me to be dismissed from my RA job; neither of those things happened. Instead, I learned that people were there for me, even when I made mistakes, and that some saw potential in me that I didn’t see myself. It wasn’t until this time that I started to understand that these people in Residence Life and other parts of Student Affairs weren’t just holding down jobs, they were answering a call, living out a higher purpose. In giving their time and energy to students like me, even when we faltered and arguably didn’t deserve the compassion, they were perhaps even performing a sacred duty.
Somewhere along the way, this message started to stick with me, and I started to think about going into Student Affairs. I was lucky enough to get an assistantship with Health Education, and I packed those 2 years of my M.Ed. program with activities in Housing, Health Ed, and Student Development; I came to know some great professionals and some great students, many of which I have kept track of in one way or another, as my generation passed into adulthood and another came to college.
There are days I ask myself why I wanted this, when an endless stream of issues waits at my door, or comes barging in, unannounced. It’s then I remember an aimless wanderer, and the people that pushed him back onto a path; I see myself in both, and it’s then I know I was meant to do this work.
So much for being Elvis.
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