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Existing at Points of Convergence

Existing at Points of Convergence

by | Jun 20, 2011 | Career Skills

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All my life, I have been an outsider. But not a conventional outsider, in the Rebel Without A Cause, the Outsiders, or even a [insert your favorite John Hughes film title] kind of outsider. I’m something different, and I thought that understanding a bit more about me and who I am might help readers relate to my coaching philosophy, and to understand the Unique Value Proposition of the Higher Ed Career Coach site and the programs and services I offer. I’m doing this in response to feedback from my recent reader survey, and as a result of some conversations I’ve had with others recently about what exactly this brand is and is not about.

As I mentioned, I’ve always been an outsider of sorts. But I’ve always been an insider of a different sort, or of several different sorts. I wasn’t a jock, I was the manager. I wasn’t a complete nerd, but definitely a geek. I was in AP classes but thought they were boring, and never tried very hard in them. I wasn’t a redneck, a prep, a punk or a stoner, but I knew and got along with all of them. I’ve spent all my life existing at points of convergence…those areas where circles cross, lines get blurred, and no one is exactly sure where to say it is that you belong.

It’s the burden of people that Jack Kerouac called the “mad ones” in his epic They danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled after them, as I’ve been doing all my life, after people who interest me. The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”

These are the people who this brand serves…the people like me, who have various interests and skills, but somehow find themselves stuck, because they “get” too much, but focus too little, who believe more in honesty and drive than in positioning and “angles.” The ones who want to do good work, in many areas, and earn the respect of others for their intellect, honesty, integrity, creativity and originality.

These are the people who exist and are most comfortable living at points of convergence, moving in and out of groups, because of an innate interest in relating to people and their interests. They are the people that smash old ideas together and bring new ideas to life.

They are the convergents. They are my people, and if you are reading this, you are probably one of them. Welcome to our point of convergence. Let’s see where we can go, together.

Game Theory 101: Don’t Play Games. Win Them!

by | Jun 14, 2011 | Career Skills, Negotiation, Site News

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Games are always a part of business, and many times a part of life. Whether you enjoy a game or not depends on a couple of factors:

  • Whether you want to play a game
  • Whether you are playing the same game others are playing
  • Whether you agree with the other players about how the game should be played
  • Whether one side or the other has an unfair advantage (or is cheating)
  • How big the risk is, in comparison to the reward

I’m not a hard-core gamer. I appreciate those who are, and can identify with where they are coming from. I used to play video games quite a bit, but I wasn’t very good at them. Not terrible, just easily bored. I only have a certain amount of energy to put into playing a game, and when I get bored, I usually stop playing and don’t go back to the game for a long, long time–and then more to figure out why I liked it, or to intentionally waste time. So, in most cases, I don’t want to play games (at least not the ones other people are playing.) Tactical exchange bores me easily, because I’m less worried about objectives, and more worried about winning the war.

This is different for me if the game is strategic, but most video games aren’t. They are tactical, and have clear objectives, definite results, and limited rewards. I like that stuff for a little while, but overall, I am a strategic, long-haul thinker, and as a result, people don’t get what I’m doing, because I am often playing another game altogether (a game within the game, or a game I am making up outside of the game.) So it’s about understanding game theory, more than winning a particular game

I also don’t believe that life is a zero-sum game, like poker, where someone has to lose for others to win. I actually think that cooperative games, played over the long haul, can result in unexpected outcomes for all players. The point of playing the game is still to win. But more than one person can win, and it doesn’t have to be at the expense of others.

This doesn’t remove the need to be self-interested and protect your goals. It just means that you don’t have to take something away from others to win. It does reinforce the inherent need to keep others from causing you harm. Like I said before, I generally prefer not to play games. But if forced to play, I do my best to win. And if people go for my throat, I don’t hesitate to fight back, and to do so on my own terms.

In a couple of recent conversations, I’ve tried explaining to people what exactly I am trying to do with my coaching business, programs and websites. They didn’t get it. I had a conversation with another person about these conversations. It was a social setting and this was a friend, so our talk was free-flowing as we had beers with a few others involved in a community organization (Athfest) that I am involved in.

These are the conclusions we arrived at:

  1. I need to do a better job explaining myself and what I do.
  2. Other people probably still won’t get it, because they think I am playing a different game. And…
  3. People will understand what I am talking about in five years, when it’s an established way of doing things, and accepted as common wisdom and common practice.

What game are you playing?

Whose rules are you playing by?

How committed are you to winning?

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Interview Ecology and Your Job Search

Interview Ecology and Your Job Search

by | Jun 6, 2011 | Higher Education, Interview Tips, Job Search, job search tools, Student Affairs

bigstock-Daffodils-blooming-through-the-30407135Today’s institutions spend a lot of time assessing environments and  making sure they understand them, so that people will feel comfortable and welcome. We also spend a lot of time struggling with ways to promote sustainability and integrate new technology into our approaches. So let’s crash these concepts together to examine the ecology of the job search, and apply the resulting framework to different aspects of the job search.

(This is one of those moments when I’m going to get a little de-constructionist, so if you are not interested in the theory behind this strategy, come back later this week, as we explore some particular issues and strategies  you might take when working through them and making intelligent career choices. I’ll try to come full circle by ending with some more practical to-dos for those who don’t care about theory.)

Interview Ecology: Definition

One of the great things about mashing up concepts into something new is that you can make up a term to describe the new concept. So I’m going to call this interview ecology: the study of the co-created environment that exists when persons interact with each other during a search process, and the impacts on the shared environment, when new variables are introduced.

Key questions for consideration

  • If the job search process is an ecosystem, how could we describe the “natural environment” which exists before we introduce humans, interactions, and other variables?
  • How will the introduction of a new variable affect the environment and the people in it?
  • How could each human player in a given job-search ecosystem control the introduction of new or unexpected variables into the process, and limit any adverse impacts on the environment?
  • What new variables might be considered “invasive” (i.e., not present in the “natural environment” of the job search, and creating an imbalance that disrupts or destroys that environment)?
  • How should one evaluate the risks and benefits of introducing a new variable into a search process?

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SuperVision: How to Answer Questions About Your Supervisory Style

by | Jun 2, 2011 | Interview Tips, Job Search, job search tools, Podcast

bigstock_Steak_435080Supervision is hard. Developing a coherent supervisory style is even harder. And explaining your supervisory style in an interview? Really, really hard.

On tomorrow’s episode of The Grill,  at 11 a.m. ET, John Mayo and I will be discussing how to approach questions about supervision and your supervisory style in a job interview.

As usual, we’ll throw a few typical interview questions  on “The Grill,” and discuss:

  • What an interviewer is really asking (the question within the question–i.e., what they really mean)
  • How to approach answering the real question
  • Good ways to answer
  • Bad ways to answer

And then, hopefully, we’ll take your calls. Call us at 1 (347) 989-0055 to take a stab at answering the questions, and we’ll offer you a live critique and our honest feedback. If you’d prefer, you can also Skype in from the episode page on BlogTalkRadio, by using the Blue “S” click-to-talk button on the page. And whether you listen live or not, we’ll continue the discussions on the Cook Coaching Facebook page, where you can also check out past questions and try your luck at answering those, too. And a few times each day, I add some interesting posts there, and you can discuss any past articles from the website.

Since we did not have a live segment last week, anyone who listened to the previous episode, What Comes Easy and What Comes Hard, will be welcome to call in and give a shot at those questions. I had a few people express interest, and had hope to schedule a follow-up teleconference, but some other business details got in the way this week. So please feel free to call in and answer those questions, too.

Please join us as we throw this week’s questions on The Grill. We’re looking forward to talking to you!

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What Comes Easy, What Comes Hard: This Week’s Questions on The Grill

What Comes Easy, What Comes Hard: This Week’s Questions on The Grill

by | May 27, 2011 | Career Skills, Job Search, Podcast

Retro MicrophoneIn any job, some things come easy, and some come hard. This is definitely true for positions in higher education, even at the entry level, but even moreso as you move up the ladder. This week on the Grill, John Mayo and I will be discussing the right ways and the wrong ways to answer questions in your interview about what you think will come easily in a new position, and what will require a steep learning curve.

This weeks we tackle two thought-provoking and tightly connected questions that ask you to share your thoughts about how your strengths and weaknesses match up to the position you are applying for.

“Given your current level of education, skills and experience:

  • What part of the position will be easiest for you, and why?
  • What part of the position will require the steepest learning curve and how will you approach closing the gap?”

The show today is pre-recorded and due to a minor disaster here in Athens (see photo), we will not have the live call-in portion of the show, as a storm blew down a branch onto my house and cars and I am working on cleanup and insurance-claim-related stuff.

To listen, use the player in the sidebar.